Tributes are flowing from across the motu for staunch housing and community advocate, and revered leader from the Far North, Ricky Houghton.
Ricky Houghton pictured in 2018. Photo: RNZ / Dan Cook
The 62-year-old died in the early hours of Monday surrounded by his whānau in Auckland.
Houghton was known to work tirelessly for his community in improving the quality of life for whānau Māori.
He led He Korowai Trust which provided a range of services from emergency to transitional housing to a trades training academy for youth and restorative justice.
The trust also provided programmes for affordable home ownership, an early childhood centre, a social growth and economic innovation hub, and a safe home for men as an alternative to prison.
He is being described as a staunch and passionate advocate for communities and a leader who sought and gained effective solutions for whānau.
He Korowai Trust chair Waitai Petera said it was an honour to work with Houghton.
Houghton was a man who did not want praise but instead just wanted to do the mahi which was wide ranging, Petera said.
"He pulled everyone up when they were down, if they were before the courts, he went and took them to the courts, he just about fought for them in the courts too.
"He let anyone and everyone in regardless of what, just to help them out and to make sure their whānau aren't going to get cold. He never stopped working at all, he always had something going."
Petera said people must remember Houghton's work and the legacy he left, which would be carried on by his team and whānau who were mentored by him.
"He will be so, so missed."
As well as his tireless activism and ability to do the mahi, his cheeky smile and vivacious laugh is etched in the minds of those that knew him.
He won the 2018 Kiwibank New Zealand Local Hero Award in recognition of his dedication to improving the quality of life for whānau in the Far North.
His work spans over a number of years where he managed to save more than 550 homes from mortgagee sales, keeping more than 6000 people housed.
He oversaw services in justice and development to more than 800 whānau.
He also created housing programme Whare Ora, which helped shelter the homeless and used kaupapa Māori to aid development.
Nine families living in cow sheds, carports and on the streets were also looked after in one of his housing programmes where they received food, health care, and education for children in a safe environment.
In an interview with RNZ in 2018 on Whare Ora, he said the programme was to help people become self-sufficient.
"We wanted to develop a Māori model that was quite different to the other models that are out on the market there, so self-sustainability is at the front of everything Whare Ora represents. We're not selling houses, we're selling homes," Houghton said.
Houghton relocated 45 houses from Auckland to the Far North in recent years and planned to bring up another 34. They were used to teach building and constructions skills, and then reused for low-income Māori families to live in. They are rented at a price the families can afford, and will eventually own them.
He told RNZ in 2021 "there's a difference between a house and a home".
"A house is something that our families are running away from. A home is something that we want to drive home to, go home to and our kids want to run to everyday after school. And so it's just trying to create that home environment for them. And that's what I want."
In another interview, he said the cost of living was worst it had ever been for the underprivileged in Northland.
"The average income in Kaitaia is $22,000. If you think of the poverty line, the recognised and acknowledged poverty line is $29,000. We're already a third below the nationally recognised poverty line and it's getting worse," he said.
He was also awarded the Outstanding Māori Business Leader Award in 2019 in recognition of his exceptional career success and outstanding leadership characteristics.
Houghton will lay at Te Piringatahi o te Maungaarongo Marae for two nights before returning home to Pamapuria, near Kaitaia.
He is survived by his wife and their children and many mokopuna.
E te rangatira, moe mai rā.