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Welcome to Hononga Hapori, our August Community Update
Kia ora,
We hope you are keeping well over the cooler months.
This time of year is a good reminder about winter wellness and safety. Our partners at Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora and Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) have some useful tips and tricks for keeping yourself and your whānau safe and well this winter.
Check out their websites for more information:
Winter Fire Safety: See a fire before it starts | Fire and Emergency New Zealand
Go well this winter - Health Information and Services
In this update, we wanted to share with you some useful information about the wider Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatū place-based team. Over the coming updates, we will highlight some of our team members and share who they are, what they do and how they support the important work we do in your region.
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to reach out.
Ngā mihi,
Rebecca Kinloch
Senior Stakeholder Relationship Manager – Kaitūhono Matua
Community Engagement and Partnerships
021 228 3167 or 0800 801 601 (ask to be transferred)
Supporting our customers and communities - a place based approach
Regional Director Graeme Broderick stands proudly in front of one of the 44 new apartments in Central New Plymouth.
Taranaki, Whanganui and Manawatū (TWM) is a large area with Kāinga Ora housing in 28 towns and cities across the region. Each town or city has its own unique characteristics. Local knowledge and local people help us to better understand our customers and communities. It also allows us to deliver a more place-based approach, ensuring that the right response is brought to the right place at the right time.
Leading the Kāinga Ora TWM team, is Regional Director Graeme Broderick. Born and bred in Palmerston North, Graeme has worked in the social housing space for over 26 years.
“Providing our customers with warm, dry homes can make a big difference in their lives, but the journey doesn’t stop when we hand over the keys” says Graeme. “We aim to work alongside our customers and the community to help build a thriving, sustainable and inclusive neighbourhood.”
The relationships we have with local partners and stakeholders, including iwi, councils, central government support agencies and community groups, allow us to collectively understand local needs, and work together to identify local solutions.
“Building and supporting the continuation of thriving communities is something we can’t do alone. We are thankful for the support we receive from our partners and stakeholders in the different areas, for example, our partnership with Taranaki YMCA who will manage the community space in our new development in central New Plymouth. This partnership will help to create many fantastic opportunities for both our customers and community.”
“We’re looking at ways we can be good neighbours and add value to the community” added Graeme. Working collaboratively with local partners and stakeholders and hearing the positive stories about how a home makes a difference in people’s lives are some of the things Graeme likes the most about his job.
“There is nothing more satisfying than being able to support whānau into a place to call home and to help set them on a path to achieving their dreams and aspirations. It all starts with the security, safety and comfort of a stable home. From there, we see many examples of whānau who flourish – with their health and wellbeing, employment and education.”
Graeme is incredibly proud of the TWM kaimahi (staff) who are highly skilled, dedicated, and empathetic in their mahi supporting customers and serving their community.
“I love the stories about the connections we have made for whānau and the impact this has had on their lives,” says Graeme.
Spotlight on your local Housing Support Manager
Local Whanganui team including Haddy (front right).
Ever wondered who the friendly face behind managing local Kāinga Ora homes in your neighbourhood is? Below we delve into the role of your local Housing Support Manager, and how they play a crucial part in ensuring our customers are well supported.
“Having a decent place to live helps to provide a good foundation for our people to live well” says Haddy. “In my role as a Housing Support Manager, I have the opportunity to make a real difference in our customers lives.”
Based in Whanganui, Haddy is one of our Housing Support Manager’s providing support to many of Kāinga Ora customers living in parts of Whanganui, Rangitikei and Manawatu. Through building strong and lasting relationships with customers and their whānau, Housing Support Managers like Haddy ensure our customers housing and wellbeing needs are being met.
From in-person housing inspections, to answering customer enquiries, arranging maintenance services, or signing up new customers to Kāinga Ora “every day looks different.
“A big part of our role includes sharing knowledge or helping to connect our customers with key agencies within the community”. “It could be as simple as providing them with details to a local jobs and skills provider or budgeting service and that could make a real difference in their lives” adds Haddy.
One of Haddy’s favourite parts of the job is when she helps a customer move to a home that better meets their needs. “Whether it’s providing a Kuia and her moko with a larger home, so they have more space or helping to secure a mum-to-be with a place perfect to raise her new baby, providing our customers with stability and a place to call home is one of the many reasons I enjoy working at Kāinga Ora” says Haddy.
Connect with us virtually
Want to hear from Housing Support Managers like Haddy and learn more about how Kāinga Ora is operating in your community?
Join us online at our first regional session to learn more about the crucial role of our Housing Support Managers, who work with our customers to ensure they live well in their homes.
Learn more from our Housing Support Managers around how they work to build meaningful relationships with customers, and ensure their housing and wellbeing needs are met, and continue to be met as they change over time.
Over the coming months, we will be hosting a range of online sessions on Kāinga Ora social housing and the different teams that support our customers and communities across the 10 districts in our region.
An exciting partnership with the YMCA
Joanne and Jo from YMCA Taranaki in the new community space in Central New Plymouth.
As Graeme mentioned above “building and supporting the continuation of thriving communities is something we can’t do alone.” It is a collaborative effort from a range of agencies including Kāinga Ora. These partnerships not only benefit our customers, but also the wider community.
Kāinga Ora are always looking for opportunities to partner with other organisations to enhance our customers and communities ability to access healthcare services, educational programmes, sports and recreation activities and employment opportunities. Through combining our local knowledge, resources and expertise, these new partnership opportunities can help to empower and improve how people live day to day, but also helps to foster new, positive connections within each neighbourhood.
An example of this, is the partnership Kāinga Ora have with the YMCA Taranaki. With our 44 new apartments in the heart of New Plymouth CBD, we were looking to partner with a trusted, local organisation to support the co-ordination of a new community space within the apartment block.
The YMCA have a fantastic relationship with locals and understand the need to create and strengthen relationships between our customers and the wider community, whilst providing a range of activities and services for them to access regularly. The partnership will see YMCA Taranaki coordinating the space, managing bookings and facilitating activities and services for our customers and the wider community to access.
This partnership is just one example of many we have across the Taranaki Whanganui Manawatu region.
We’re always looking for opportunities to partner across the region.
Have you got any suggestions that can support bringing your community together? Please reach out to the team by emailing communities@kaingaora.govt.nz
An update on some of our developments
Kāinga Ora are continuing to deliver state homes across the region, with a number of homes in construction and under contract proceeding as planned.
We are working our way through decisions about future social housing developments in the area.
Some social housing developments are under assessment, while we ensure best value for money and work with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development on locations to be prioritised and our approach to renewing our homes.
For projects where we are part way through a consenting process, we may continue with obtaining consents, however any other work on those projects will not be progressed at this stage.
Questions?
If you have questions or would like to discuss anything further, you’re welcome to contact me:
Rebecca Kinloch
021 228 3167
If you would like to read our frequently asked questions or view our interactive map, please visit our website or by scan the QR code below:
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