Compassion House - the purchase and refurbishing of Compassion House for community groups in the inner City

In late 2003 the Sisters of Compassion were approached by the Coordinator of the Wellington People’s Centre, to become a guarantor in the purchase of a building to house the People’s Centre. At that time the building in Lukes Lane, which they occupied was being sold and the Centre had to find new premises. The People’s centre had close links with our Compassion Centre in Tory Street, including working with them and Downtown Community Ministry on many inner city projects. At that time the Sisters were unable to assist the People’s Centre.

The Lukes Lane property was put up for auction May 2004 but failed to sell. The property was put up for tender in early 2005. In early 2005 the Sisters were approached by the Director of the Downtown Community Ministry seeking help with finding new premises as their landlords were unwilling to renew their lease.

It became very clear to the Sisters that with the developments in downtown Wellington, particularly with the boom of inner city apartments, very soon there would be no facilities available in the inner city for community groups to provide support for the individuals and families on benefits and low incomes.

After two years of investing in socially responsible funds, the fund in which the Sisters had invested was closed by the funds manager as it was not producing an adequate return on investment for the majority of investors. The sale of the Lukes Lane property coincided with the Sisters looking for a suitable place to invest this money with the aim of it being socially responsible to the wider community.

In light of the Sisters’ mission values of Divine Providence, Simplicity, Action with the Poor, Justice and Partnership, they saw that the purchase of the Lukes Lane property fitted well with these values. An offer was made to the vendor of the building and was accepted in March 2005. The purchase has enabled the Sisters to fulfil their mission of provide secure tenancy with affordable rents to community groups. The building was completely refurbished during the latter part of 2006 following discussions with the People’s centre, Downtown Community Ministry, Parent Help and Compassion House.

Click here to see a map on how to find Compassion House.

Contact: T: 04 383 4952 F: 04 383 7718
E: monty.a@compassion.org.nz

For further information on the groups that work out of Compassion House, click on the links below: