Hohepa Homes formed its first residential community for people with intellectual disabilities in 1957 in Poraiti and the first home school was added the following year. Further development was later completed at Clive in Hawke's Bay and today Hohepa provides schooling, residential and vocational services for over 200 intellectually disabled people in the three locations of Hawke's Bay, Christchurch and Auckland. Hohepa Auckland opened the new vocational service, Helios, in January 2008. Helios offers vocational programmes at its Avondale site and at the Titirangi residential site. 

Hohepa in New Zealand is part of an international movement for Curative Education for children and Social Therapy for adults. The first curative home, "Lauenstein", was established at Jena in Germany in 1924 following a question that was put to Rudolf Steiner by a group of young people working within established institutions for the disabled in Europe at the time. They saw in Rudolf Steiner's picture of the physical, soul, and spiritual nature of the human being, the possibility of increasing their understanding for the benefit of the disabled they were working with. 

Today there are over 320 homes, schools and workshop centres caring for the disabled and three of those are in New Zealand.

For further information contact one of the following: