Community Gap Homes

The Trust works in collaboration with a number of organisations in establishing Community Leadership Gap Homes throughout New Zealand.

The goal of this programme is to facilitate the education of young leaders in leadership skills and encourage them into service in the community.

What is a Community Gap Home?

A community gap home is a subsidized home allowing young people who are commited to development and service in their local community to pay minimal rent, enabling them to serve in their areas of passion.

A key objective of gap homes is to foster community - both within the home and outside of it. Ideally, the young people living in the home will be committed to each other, commited to developing themselves as leaders and committed to service in their local communities.

How is this done?

Through providing subsidized accommodation the home will enable young people to spend more time pursuing their community service activities. A level of commitment is expected from the participants to spend time in building relationships with each other and developing their leadership skills. Each home will have a mature house leader to facilitate discussions and leadership development as well as external “house parents” who will commit time each week to building relationships with and mentoring the young people living in the home.

The young people in the house will be connected with other similar community leadership homes across New Zealand and some will attend the annual Aspiring Leaders Forum on faith and values held in Wellington.

It is our vision that the home itself will become part of the community, and will be owned by, and accountable to its community. It is our hope that young people who wish to take a year off full-time work or study to serve are supported by their family, friends, and community.

Why the Gap Home?

At For The Sake of our Children we believe that the wellbeing of New Zealand’s children is dependent on strong families supported by strong communities. We believe community leaders are key to strong community. To that end, we are pioneering the community gap homes to foster leadership and encourage community service in New Zealand’s young people, growing them into young leaders in order to see long-term positive change across New Zeland.

Who can participate?

Young people selected to live in the Gap House will be approximately 18-26 year olds; who are mature and have exhibited a desire to serve their community. They may already have projects they are involved with or might be mentored into one that suits their goals and passions. Their time in the home will be tailored to their interests, and they will be commited to the home for between 3 to 12 months.

Contact for support

If you would like to be considered to move into a community home, nominate someone to be considered, or would like to set a GAP home up in your local area please contact our office. We would love to talk to you about making this a reality.