Puhinui Homes Trust started in July 1999. The founder of the trust was Richard Arthur Slater and his wife Margaret Dawn Slater. Richard and Dawn attended church with several people with intellectual disabilities who were in need of not just a home, but a community. They wanted to provide a residential setting that was warm, friendly and felt like family. The trust was established solely for charitable purposes within New Zealand to promote the physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual welfare of all the persons with an intellectual disability.