Mountain View Rest Home set to get warmer, safer and more energy-efficient with Trust Horizon support

Residents at Kawerau’s Mountain View Rest Home will soon benefit from more reliable heating and improved emergency preparedness, thanks to a $150,812 grant from Trust Horizon.

The funding will support the installation of heat pumps across five wings of the facility – Putauaki, Main, Armstrong, Sylvia and Mavis – as well as an upgrade to the electrical distribution board so a generator can be connected, improving the facility’s emergency preparedness.

The initial $71,000 of the funding has enabled Mountain View to purchase 40 heat pumps and complete the electrical upgrade, with the remaining funding to go towards the heat pump installation.

Established in 1989 by the Kawerau Social Services Trust, Mountain View began in the old hospital maternity home before expanding from its original 12-bed rest home to its current 54-bed facility. Today, the site also includes 18 retirement village units for independent living, alongside 27 pensioner flats.

Demand for the facility remains high, with Mountain View regularly operating at or near full capacity. As the rest home has expanded, its rooms are being built to hospital-level standards, allowing them to provide either rest home or hospital-level care as residents’ needs require.

As Mountain View Chair of the Board Gail Dobbin explains, replacing the ageing heating system has been an important investment in the comfort, health, and wellbeing of residents.

“The current radiators are getting very old, and some have begun to leak,” says Dobbin. “The heat pumps will give us much more reliable heating, and being able to control the temperature in individual rooms will make a huge difference in summer as well as winter.”

The upgrade is also expected to significantly reduce the facility’s energy costs. Mountain View currently uses gas for water heating and room heating, alongside electric water heaters. The organisation estimates the changes could ultimately reduce its energy bill by around 50 per cent.

Trust Horizon Trustee Edwina O’Brien says the project demonstrates the long-term value of investing in the infrastructure behind essential community services. “Mountain View is an important part of the Kawerau community, providing a home and high-quality care for older people in the region,” says O’Brien. “This project will make a practical difference to residents and staff, from more consistent and controllable heating through to greater resilience in the event of a power outage.”

For Mountain View, this latest Trust Horizon grant is part of a long history of support. “We are so grateful to Trust Horizon,” says Dobbin. “Over the years they have provided Mountain View with a number of grants to contribute to a range of energy-related projects, and we can’t express our thanks highly enough.”

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