Te Aka Whai Ora floods and hardship
Through close partnerships with funding agencies like TPK, MSD, and Kāinga Ora, we’ve been able to provide targeted support, coordinate fast solutions, and boost whānau resilience after crises and emergency events.
Our experience has given us a deep understanding of the unique needs of tāngata whaikaha Māori in times of hardship. This understanding was put to work in the aftermath of the Auckland Anniversary floods.
First, our service facilitators identified the tāngata whaikaha Māori who had been impacted. Then, through a skillfully coordinated rōpū kōrero with whānau, we worked out the unique challenges caused by the flooding. Next, we checked what funding, support, or services were available – all with a holistic focus on overall wellbeing.
Our all-Māori rōpū was key to making sure our response was culturally grounded. With the ‘by Māori, for Māori’ approach, we could address the inequities that tāngata whaikaha so often face in social services.
Mereana’s Story
Mereana’s backyard was a haven for her mokopuna – especially 9-year-old Zariah, who has autism. The little ones would spend hours in their playhouse, on the trampoline, or riding their scooters. But in the devastating Auckland Anniversary floods, all those toys were badly damaged, and the whānau hadn’t been able to replace them.
The floods also left behind an overwhelming mess, which made it hard for the family to move forward. On top of that, Mereana was becoming more and more concerned about Zariah’s mental wellbeing. She’d been thinking about getting counselling for her, but the added cost was one more stress on an already full plate.
When they had COVID, Mereana and her whānau had received support from social services. But this time, they weren’t sure whether to ask for help – they thought others might be worse off.
Because we’d built a close connection with Mereana and her family, we understood the challenges they were facing and sensed they could use some extra support.
We worked with Mereana to explore how we could help her whānau get back on track. We connected her with Student Volunteer Army (SVA) to help with the flood clean-up. We looked at the supports she was already receiving from DSS and talked to her about using her Carer Support subsidy to take a break and focus on her own mental health too.
We helped replace some of Zariah’s outdoor toys, and also provided art supplies so she and her siblings could keep themselves entertained indoors while waiting out the bad weather. Mereana described our support as being like a Christmas gift – giving her whānau a renewed sense of hope.
Thanks to funding from Te Aka Whai Ora, Mereana and her family – like many other tāngata whaikaha Māori we support – were able to explore a range of support options, recover from the flood damage, and move forward with their lives.
Mereana felt optimistic that the resources and support we provided would help her loved ones build up their resilience.
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To talk to us about new partnership opportunities, reach out to our development team.