Annual report
2023/24

Milestones

The Milestones section of our Annual Report records some of the significant highlights of Visionwest’s 2023 – 2024 year. These are:

  • The introduction of Home Healthcare MobilityPlus.
  • The opening of Whare Hiwa.
  • The expansion of Mātanga Oranga through new programmes.
  • The first year of Manaaki Kai, our social supermarket.
  • The adaptation of our Christmas From The Heart strategy.
  • The opening of new Home Healthcare offices in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton.
  • The confirmation of Visionwest’s shared leadership model

Home Healthcare MobilityPlus

Every day, Visionwest’s 1,300 Support Workers deliver around 3,500 hours of in-home healthcare throughout West Auckland, North Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Rotorua/Taupō. The daily coordination of these services presents a mammoth challenge for our Home Healthcare Coordination team which makes the introduction of MobilityPlus a significant step forward for the service.

MobilityPlus is a tool that enables efficient and effective live communication between Support Workers and their Coordination team resulting in consistent and well organised service delivery.

In the 2023 – 2024 financial year, Visionwest’s Home Healthcare service delivered 1,298,834 hours of quality in-home healthcare to over 7,000 clients. To maintain the quality of this volume of care, at the end of 2022, Home Healthcare embarked on its largest ever communication project. In the 18 months that followed, the project team strengthened its IT infrastructure, implemented a new phone system, automated Support Worker travel calculations, determined how to combine two client systems into one, and launched a communication/training podcast for Support Workers. All this work led up to April 2024 and the launch of MobilityPlus.

As part of this system, each Support Worker has received a mobile phone loaded with the MobilityPlus App. 

Home healthcare worker on phone

This provides them with the ability to organise their rosters, record start and finish times, communicate with Coordinators, receive schedule adjustments and other updates, access client information, and request leave. It also gives access to Google Maps for navigating to appointments and provides the ability to connect with the wider Home Healthcare team.

This live communication tool is a significant step into the future for Home Healthcare. Previously the coordination of Support Workers was managed primarily through phone calls and a paper-based system between the office and our Support Workers. It was hugely labour intensive, and communications were sometimes missed or overlooked.

The transformation programme officially ended at the end of June 2024 and the initial responses from all staff have been positive. You can read more about this mahi in the Home Healthcare page of this report.

The Opening of Whare Hiwa

Youth homelessness in Aotearoa New Zealand is an ongoing and pressing issue. Of the more than 41,000 Kiwis who have no place to call home, half are under 25 years old. In response to this, on 17 March 2024, as part of Visionwest’s work to address youth homelessness, Whare Hiwa – the house of hopes and dreams – was officially opened.

Whare Hiwa provides Kaupapa Māori designed housing support for 18- to 22-year-old wāhine who are experiencing homelessness or facing housing insecurity. It gives young wāhine safe and comfortable accommodation and an opportunity
to learn the skills needed for independent living
and flatting.

Because Whare Hiwa works in association with Visionwest’s Ōhinga Tū youth work support service, it means wāhine receive training in the skills that will enable them to gain the confidence and abilities to prepare for employment or further education.

Girls wearing pink tees

Live-in supervision is provided for up to five wāhine at a time, and youth mentors work alongside them to help them achieve goals relating to self-confidence, stability and employment.

The Whare Hiwa annual report is included in the Community Housing section of this report –  and the story of one of our wahine is included in the stories section of this report.

Mātanga Oranga Expansion Through New Programmes

The awarding of two new support contracts during the past year has significantly broadened the reach Mātanga Oranga has into our local communities and will have a major impact on the staffing and busyness of this service.

These two new programmes are:

  • Te Huarahi ki te Oranga.
  • Mana Tiaki.
Te Huarahi ki te Oranga

In recent times, the Historic Claims process has received much media publicity. This process manages claims for people who experienced abuse or neglect while in the care, custody or guardianship of Child, Youth and Family or its predecessor agencies and associated care facilities before 1 April 2017. Flowing out of Historic Claims is the Te Huarahi ki te Oranga (Pathway to Wellbeing) contract. This is for whānau who have lodged a claim and guides them towards appropriate wraparound support services that will enable them to move ahead and ultimately experience the support they need on their own terms.

Since being awarded this contract, a social worker has been employed to meet with referrals. The social worker’s role is to determine what needs these whānau have and direct them to the social support services that can best meet those needs. The suite of wraparound support services provided by Visionwest, is invaluable in walking alongside these whānau. Services from outside of Visionwest are also recommended when appropriate.

Two woman hugging
Mana Tiaki

Mana Tiaki provides confidential and compassionate support to kaumātua and kuia who are experiencing or at risk of elder abuse. Established in late June 2024, the programme will be promoted and rolled out by Mātanga Oranga from July 2024 onwards. The large number of whānau needing support in this area means Mātanga Oranga has had to add two full-time therapists to its kaimahi team, bringing the overall team to six.

Faye Pouesi, the Mātanga Oranga Kaiārahi Lead Therapist, says of the Mana Tiāki programme, “This service is absolutely vital. The incidence of elder abuse in Aotearoa is very high. The reality is, when people are desperate, they will do some bizarre things and these often impact negatively on older family members, either through neglect, or physical or emotional abuse.”

Visionwest’s Mana Tiāki contract encompasses a large geographical area throughout West Auckland and Rodney District and is expected to have a huge impact on kaumatua and kuia in these areas. The Mātanga Oranga annual report is included in the Huia Mai section of this report.

The first year of Manaaki Kai, our social supermarket

Last year’s Annual Report reported that, “Thursday 8 June 2023 heralded a new day for our food support service with the official opening of Manaaki Kai, Visionwest’s social supermarket – the first of its kind in Tāmaki Makaurau.” A year on, Manaaki Kai has become a vital part of Whai Manaaki Kai, the food support service at Visionwest.

In the past year, we have seen 2,455 shoppers use Manaaki Kai. This equates to over ten per day for the days we were open. Not surprisingly, almost 86% of those shoppers stated financial hardship, either temporary or ongoing, as being the reason for requiring support with food. 12% listed their consistently low income as the major reason. Of these, an increasing proportion are whānau who are either in full-time employment or are superannuants.

Manaaki Kai was opened with the vision that it would provide food support to whānau facing tough times in a way that preserves dignity and mana. Over the past year, many of those who have shopped at Manaaki Kai have shared that this has been their experience, commenting that paying a small amount towards their groceries and then being able to select food as they would at a conventional supermarket has left them feeling empowered. A secondary result of this self-selection is that food wastage is decreased because people only take what they know they will use.

Alongside Manaaki Kai, our Pātaka Kai still provides emergency food parcels for those who need them. In this past year, 13,585 food parcels were distributed through Pātaka Kai (this does not include Christmas From the Heart parcels). This equates to around 80 parcels a day for the days the Pātaka Kai was open and adds up to $1,970,140 worth of food (not including Manaaki Kai). The Manaaki Kai annual report is included in the Whai Manaaki Kai section of this report.

Woman standing in supermarket
Woman standing in supermarket

Here are some whānau comments about how they felt shopping at Manaaki Kai:

“The first time I came here to shop I was blown away. Everyone is so down to earth, helpful and really respectful. My experience here has been a fantastic one; it’s helped my family so much. It’s allowed us to use what little money we have to pay our bills rather than spending it on half the amount of groceries we would get from Manaaki Kai. On behalf of my whānau, I would sincerely like to thank Visionwest for everything you do for our community.”

“Manaaki Kai has helped so much that I’ve caught up with both my water bill and power bill. Don’t know what would have happened if Manaaki Kai wasn’t here.”

“It has put food on the table for my three young kids when I have struggled with the cost of living.”

“I rate this place Manaaki Kai a 10 out of 10. It’s great for our community and whānau who are struggling.”

Aligning Christmas From The Heart with Visionwest’s support philosophy

In the recent past, the delivery of Christmas From The Heart focused on a drive-through model where whānau in the community could preregister using an 0800 phone number. Registered whānau would then park in the Visionwest carpark at their predetermined time and a pre-packed food parcel and gifts were loaded into the boot of their vehicle. Whānau drove off without even leaving their car.

While being efficient in terms of catering to large numbers, this system did not allow for the depth of connection that could lead to transformation and which sits at the heart of Visionwest’s support philosophy. We wanted Christmas From The Heart 2023 to be more than a one-off transaction; we wanted it to be an integral part of the transformational relationship that we have with our whānau. In other words, whatever system of food distribution was used, we wanted it to be part of our journey alongside whānau who need social support and are on a pathway to life transformation.

This works best when we are meeting face-to-face with whānau in a welcoming and mana-empowering way; in a way that encourages korero and enables whānau to tell their stories and share their needs so that the support services of Visionwest can recognise them and respond.

This connection was facilitated in two ways. First, around 50% of the families coming through Christmas From The Heart 2023 already had a relationship with a Visionwest 

Two woman with Christmas gifts

keyworker who was working with them and supporting them in some way. These whānau were invited to Christmas From The Heart by their keyworker who accompanied them through the event. Second, there were many whānau who heard about the event through other means. These whānau connected with Christmas From The Heart through key staff members in a way that enabled them to share their stories and hear about the other supports Visionwest could provide to them. Our Community Connectors were on hand to respond to any urgent needs and several whānau were referred to other kaimahi for immediate additional support.

This process and these deeper conversations are vital if we are to walk alongside whānau who are experiencing tough times. The realignment of strategy was key in achieving the event’s overall goal which was not simply to get whānau through Christmas. The overall goal of Christmas From The Heart is always to provide hope and an introduction to services that could ultimately shift individuals and whānau away from a life marked by poverty. The Christmas From The Heart annual report is included in the Campaigns section of this report.

The opening of new Home Healthcare offices in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton

On 30 May, new offices for the Waikato branch of Home Healthcare were officially opened in Kirikiriroa, Hamilton.

Visionwest began Home Healthcare services in Waikato in 2017. Since then, the Waikato team have outgrown their slowly aging premises. The decision to look for a new home was easy to make; finding something suitable took a lot longer.

The new property is located in Liverpool Street, Hamilton. After months of renovating and decorating with the Visionwest brand, an official opening event was held with representatives from across Visionwest attending. The subsequent moving of staff into the building occurred gradually over a few weeks with everyone excited about their new workplace.

Shifting such a busy and fast-paced team as Waikato Home Healthcare is no easy task and much thanks goes 

Two woman with Christmas gifts

Head of Finance and Operations Mark Bogusz, Brendon Gaze and Cynara Firmo from Gaze Commercial and Dave Brimble (Project Manager) at the Hamilton Office opening. 

to the staff as well as the project teams that pushed through and made it happen. The new building is light filled and spacious with an open plan office space, meeting and training rooms, a large lunchroom and an openair atrium.

Our Payroll team that was located in the previous Waikato HHC building has relocated to our Koru Paihere offices in Auckland.

The confirmation of Visionwest’s shared leadership model

For some years, Visionwest has implemented a leadership structure that incorporated both Māori and Pākehā. In the past 24 months, korero and wānanga relating to this has become a more focused exploration of what a shared leadership model could look like and how it could be implemented at Visionwest. Both Matua Fred and Lisa Woolley, our CEO, with the Trustees, are extremely grateful for the many leaders around the motu who contributed their wisdom as we sought to understand different ways of working to incorporate the principle of mana ōrite and the outworking of the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

On 16 March 2024, a wānanga was held at Te Mahurehure Marae in Point Chevalier with the Trustees and Glen Eden Baptist Church Elders in attendance. Facilitated by The Right Reverand Te Kitohi Pikaahu (Bishop Kito) ONZM and Brad Haami, the wānanga was to help participants understand God’s intention of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, what this meant at the time of signing and what the outworking of the principles of Te Tiriti could look like today within the work of Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga. 

Two woman with Christmas gifts

This led to the Board approving a shared leadership model at their Strategic Planning Retreat on 3 – 4 May 2024.

This decision culminated in the welcoming of Fred Astle (Tainui) into the position of Tumu, Deputy Chief Executive commencing on the 12 August 2024, to share leadership with Visionwest’s Tumu Whakarae, CEO, Lisa Woolley. This is an outworking of Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga acknowledging and honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi, as we seek to put into action a true partnership between Māori and Pākehā. (The celebration event on the 8th of August and the outworking of our shared leadership will be reported on in full in next year’s Annual Report).

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