
Huia Mai
Nau mai haere mai ki Huia Mai.
Huia Mai is part of Visionwest’s strategy to prioritise Kaupapa Māori and involves the provision of services that respond in a culturally appropriate way to the needs of whānau Māori and all who seek our support.
The Journey Continues
Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga has been on a journey to understand the story of this land and to walk alongside our whānau in a way that is firmly grounded in our organisational values. It is our hope that this journey will result in transformed lives as we work with whānau to find new solutions to current challenges.
Building on the governance commitment of our 2020 Te Tiriti o Waitangi Policy, Huia Mai and other kaupapa Māori initiatives continue to grow and mature.
Building Cultural Capability
Early this year, the Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga Executive and Trustee teams set aside time to wananga (intensive learning) about what has been learnt since 2020 and where the next steps on the journey might be leading us. The team is grateful for the wisdom and input of Brad Haami and Pihopa Kito Pikaahu as courageous next steps are explored. As we continue to find ways to grow the cultural capability across all staff and our organisation several initiatives have been commenced. Some of these are commented on below.
More than 250 kaimahi (staff) have now undertaken Ako Reko (Sweet Learning), our foundational Te Tiriti o Waitangi workshop. Teams are now seeking to embed these learnings into daily work plans and strategic thinking while considering how they can be used to fulfil our commitment to grow in our understanding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
We are seeking to grow our cultural capability in Te Ao Māori and across the wide cultural diversity of the whānau that we serve. In 2023, we had celebration and learning opportunities during Te Wiki o Te Reo and Tongan Language Week and continued to expand our cultural engagement in partnership with the Pasefika Development team. We are also seeking to find ways to support kaimahi on their journeys to reclaim their cultural knowledge and language so that we can better serve whānau from those communities.
The growth in this space has led to a continued growth of the Huia Mai team and to the securing of contracts that enable us to serve whānau in culturally meaningful ways. Examples such as Whare Hiwa (Youth Housing) and Mana Tiāki (Mātanga Oranga) are written about elsewhere in this report.
During the year, Billie-Jean Peita was appointed to the role of Pou Tikanga to lead, and continue to develop, Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga knowledge and expertise in all areas of tikanga. Part of this has involved weekly times of karakia and waiata at both our Glendale Road and Koru Paihere sites which have developed over the past year and are now popular amongst staff. Billie-Jean also takes a pivotal role in supporting powhiri, mihi whakatau, and tikanga practices at all Visionwest events.
Working With Other Services
Our work with Home Healthcare to expand the strategy and action plan of Te Rautaki Hauora continues. This will strengthen our capability to offer culturally meaningful care to all Home Healthcare clients.
Huia Mai work with the Housing team involves providing support for the Housing First Taumata group which, in turn, provides strategic input from a Te Ao Māori perspective into the work we are doing across the housing collective.
Huia Mai has also worked to support Glen Eden Baptist Church with its journey with Te Tiriti o Waitangi. and we have seen the growth of a great relationship with the Huia Mai team and the GEBC community chaplain and his team of church volunteers who use Te Kapu and other initiatives to reach out into the community.
Matariki
In June 2024, Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga once again celebrated te tau hou (the new year) with dawn karakia. While we continue to learn together about the full meaning of Matariki for Aotearoa New Zealand, we are seeking to apply the rhythms provided from this ancient wisdom of this land by looking back with gratitude, looking around with thankfulness of all that has been provided for us, and looking ahead with hope for what Atua (God) might have planned for the year ahead.
He ao te rangi ka uhia, ma te huruhuru te manu ka rere ai.
As the clouds cover the sky, so the bird needs feathers so it can fly.
– Whakatauākī – Tamaterangi
The feathers of Visionwest’s Huia Mai are the various initiatives that sit within this team.
Mātanga Oranga
Mātanga Oranga provides trauma-informed care in the form of therapy within a Kaupapa Māori framework.
Once again, Mātanga Oranga has experienced a year of growth in numbers of both kaimahi and client whānau. The gaining of two significant new contracts has had huge influence on this growth – for more information, see the Milestones section of this report.
A highlight of the service continues to be the engagement and subsequent transformation of whānau. There has been an increase in rangatahi (young person) work alongside our youth housing initiatives and a notable increase in the proportion of tane (males) receiving support.
Youth Housing
Visionwest has two youth housing initiatives overseen by Ōhinga Tū, these are My Whare and Whare Hiwa. These have been life-changing for those who have connected and journeyed with them. You can read about this mahi in the Community Housing section of this report.
Ōhinga Tū
Ōhinga Tū serves a vital role in addressing issues relating to the growth and development of rangatahi which will encourage their confidence, help them to discover and increase their mana, and prepare them for a flourishing future. You can read about this mahi in the Ōhinga Tū section of this report.
A highlight for the Mātanga Oranga team has been the employment outcomes, that is, whānau who have been able to move from a benefit and into employment.
The recently awarded Mana Tiāki contract will enable Mātanga Oranga to address the important issue of Elder Abuse within our community.
On average, each whānau receiving support from Mātanga Oranga attended 10 sessions with their therapist.
Mātanga Oranga has added two specialist trauma therapists and a therapist-trained social worker, growing their team to six.
Our culturally informed response
Tā mātou whakautu ki te āhuatanga ahurea

Whānau receiving Mātanga Oranga support
