Te Ngira is a collective of Whānau Ora partners that have identified employment and training as a vital component to whānau wellbeing and are working to improve this.
Employment contributes to whānau wellbeing. Although the obvious income that results from having a job is essential, there are many secondary benefits. Being meaningfully employed contributes to confidence and self-belief, knowing your participation and contribution is valued and part of a wider social-economic picture.
Led by Te Kōhao Health, Te Ngira is a collective of Whānau Ora partners (and others) from the Waikato region. The collective has identified employment and training as a vital component to whānau wellbeing and focuses on it as a means to increase disposable household incomes for whānau, using a Collective Impact framework.
The collective has nine partners and covers both rural and urban areas. It includes four iwi regions of Hauraki, Waikato, Maniapoto and Raukawa as well as Hamilton city.
In Waikato, a large proportion of Māori lives in high deprivation areas. Around half of those living in these areas are Māori.
A large part of the initiative is supporting whānau into jobs. Kaiārahi (specialist staff) identify priority whānau who are unemployed and wish to work and refers them to an Employment Co-ordinator (EC). Whānau then get support to develop CV’s; train in interview techniques; and source the right type of clothing for interviews and employment – as first impressions count
EC’s have developing relationships with employers and recruitment agencies and connect whānau to workshops, job opportunities and follow up on work placement for two years.
The period from 1 July 17 to 13 June 18 saw 99 successful employment placements and the initiative continues to enjoy growing outcomes into 2018.
