Te Hiringa opens

30 September 2020

‘Ko te ringa tangata i hanga i te whare, engari ko te tuara o te whare i hanga i te tangata’.

(Those who build the house are also built by the house.)

A mauri stone donated by a community member in the foreground with people standing in the background.
A mauri stone donated by a community member. The stone is the lifeforce of the whare and the connection to Papatūānuku. All manuhiri and whānau are encouraged to rub the pounamu and add to the mauri.

The above whakatauākī was used to describe Te Hiringa the new supported accommodation facility officially opened on Wednesday 23 September by Kahungunu Health Service in partnership with the Department of Corrections.

A mauri stone donated by a community member. The stone is the lifeforce of the whare and the connection to Papatūānuku. All manuhiri and whānau are encouraged to rub the pounamu and add to the mauri.

Te Hiringa is a five-bed supported facility in Hastings which is designed to help men readjust back into living within the community.  It is one of the Māori Pathways projects looking at ways for the Corrections system to be more effective by using kaupapa Māori and whānau-centred approaches.

The emphasis of Te Hiringa is to provide a safe and stable environment with wrap around care by way of a house parent and support workers who support the men with securing long-term stable accommodation, employment, reconnecting with whānau and engaging with the community.

Project Lead Nathan Harrington from Kahungunu Health Service believes that the project has been a fantastic to be a part of. It has bought the Kahungunu Health Service teams and our Corrections whānau closer together to help strengthen the men that we work with, their whānau and ultimately our community.

Upon reflection Nathan talks about the journey from the concept to where we are today particularly the engagement with our neighbours.

“Understandably there was a sense of trepidation from the neighbours about a release facility opening in their neighbourhood, but we have worked hard to not only be a good neighbour but to also contribute back to our neighbourhood,” says Nathan.

The project team engaged with over fifty neighbouring properties and worked with community agencies like the Whānau Ora Commissioning Agency.

“Through them we distributed over fifty pandemic boxes and had a chance to enter into dialogue with our neighbours about the moemoeā (dream) of Te Hiringa and to get to know them,” says Nathan.

“The fact that we have Lance Anderson who was a Corrections Officer for 14 years has provided a sense of security for the neighbours but also a familiar face to the men and with Helen our Support Worker who has worked in restorative justice and emergency housing we have a really strong team.”

Although the whare is in its early days the signs look extremely promising. There are currently three men in Te Hiringa who have all found employment opportunities. One of the men obtaining his class four and five heavy truck licence and is driving a truck between Napier and Hastings and another one of the men has started a building apprenticeship.

Nathan said that the process has been a journey of over 18 months and throughout the journey the project group repeatedly asked the question “if my son or daughter was released to this address would they feel welcome?” and we are pleased to say that our whānau have answered the question with a resounding yes when they have visited the men.

“Where we are today shows that it was worth the time and effort and showcases what can be achieved through partnership and shared leadership as outlined in Hōkai Rangi,” says Nathan.