When we reflect on our year gone by, we see how this region keeps showing up unified and willing to collaborate, to try new and different, to learn from traditional indigenous wisdom, and to deeply listen to whānau. It is a beautiful uniqueness of this region - that when we are up against the unjust and unfair we lock arms and dig deep, believing the impossible can be overcome.
Now more than ever we need hope and courage. Hope illuminates the possibilities and courage is the fortitude to be active agents for change. There is nothing more powerful when communities rise up to meet the challenge with their own solutions and ideas.
We want to thank all of the courageous humans who keep showing up to make a difference for and with our communities. Even when times were tough you were persistent. Even when it looked almost impossible you were hopeful.
It is because of the collective commitment we've seen systems change strategies such as Growing Collective Wellbeing - Suicide Prevention and the Redesign of MH&AOD Service Delivery, Mokopuna Ora, Regenerative Kai Systems, Matauranga Māori Prevention Solutions, and Rangatahi Innovation, grow as movements.
As part of this growth the year appropriately began with one of our regional kaupapa Mokopuna Ora: Child Health and Wellbeing with the launch of Te Whare Piringa: A Hapūtanga Innovation Prototype - a model for what a hapūtanga hub or centre could look like. The team had visited maternity centres across the country to understand what has been effective, what hasn't, and the associated challenges and risks. Additionally, input from the Hapū māmā village or Core Design Village had been integral to designing a hapūtanga centre that meets their needs and aspirations. The launch was widely attended by the community and set the tone for the year.
Guiding the Waka: The Role of Strategic Leadership Groups
To continue driving such impactful initiatives, the role of Strategic Leadership Groups (SLGs) has been pivotal, they are a dynamic force. Each SLG has been pivotal in aligning local, regional, and national efforts, creating pathways for systemic change that will improve whānau health and wellbeing for generations to come. These groups include Smokefree Futures, Well Neighbourhoods, Growing Collective Wellbeing, and Mokopuna Ora – the Early Years.
The Smokefree Futures group is still in its formative stages, but it has already made significant strides in setting its direction, informed by the Smoke Free Future Insights and Recommendations artefact. This artefact has guided key collaborations, such as the partnership with Te Waipuna Health Centre and Te Oranganui to explore a Kaupapa Māori-led approach to engage Māori communities in a smokefree future. Our work has also led to partnerships with primary care providers like Gonville Health and Te Waipuna to further investigate how primary care and quit services can implement the recommendations outlined in the Smokefree Futures report.
Meanwhile, Well Neighbourhoods has shifted its focus to Healthy Communities, understanding that in today’s climate, cross-sector collaboration is essential for ensuring sustainable outcomes. The rise in socio-economic challenges such as poverty, homelessness, and family harm has made it clear that these challenges must be addressed as a whole-system problem, with health and wellbeing solutions integrated across multiple sectors. This year, we have seen increased coordination across agencies, particularly in the face of growing needs in housing, social services, and mental health support.
This year, we also saw the Mokopuna Ora: Child Health and Wellbeing SLG engage in a series of exciting developments. The SLG has made significant progress by mapping their sphere of influence, identifying key stakeholders, and sharing research to guide strategic decision-making. They have explored the impacts of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in Whanganui. The group also reviewed BIM reports, contributed to national discussions, and established a working group to analyse the social impact and return on investment for alternative maternity and antenatal options. Whānau have shared that maternal healthcare experiences are consistently inconsistent, with unexpected issues in the health system impacting even those who had positive experiences. To address this, our team has mapped the three most common hapūtanga journeys and is exploring the cost to the community and the social investment required to improve outcomes for Hapū Māmā.
Furthermore, they activated networks to engage with prototypes such as Te Whare Piringa and the Hapūtanga Wananga Antenatal Pathway, both backed by Healthy Families WRR and funded by Kahu Taurima. Their ongoing commitment includes strengthening partnerships with Māori leaders and communities to ensure culturally responsive initiatives.
Eighteen months ago, we released the Hapū Māmā Village Insights and Recommendations report. Building on this, in February, we launched Te Whare Piringa - Hapūtanga Innovation Prototype, co-designed with the Hapū Māmā core design village. We then partnered with Waihuia an indigenous consultancy group and produced Te Whakapiringa ki tetahi Whare Kohungahunga - A New System for Sustainable Maternal Care. This evidence-based feasibility report, shaped by the insights of māmā, pāpā, and whānau, envisions a transformative system called the Pā Network. Rooted in a te ao Māori worldview, this system outlines steps to establish a sustainable maternal and birthing centre, supporting whānau from conception through early parenting, with a focus on the first 2000 days of a child’s life. This ego-free, integrated approach places whānau at the centre, aiming to create a cohesive service network that can sustainably serve our entire region.
We were fortunate enough to have the Hauora Māori Services (Kahu Taurima) visit us onsite to do a Walkthrough. The Walkthrough experience, which involved immersive engagement with whānau voice, was an important moment in this journey. The feedback from the Hauora Māori services was overwhelmingly positive. As one participant shared, “You’ve set the standard for co-design. You are serving your people in the way they deserve to be served.”
The Growing Collective Wellbeing Regional Suicide Prevention Strategy has made a significant impact by driving community-led change and system transformation. Key initiatives have strengthened relationships, built local capacity, and promoted early intervention, resulting in improved mental health and addiction support. Notably, the Collaborative Redesign of Mental Health & Addiction Services and Maramataka Mental Health Crisis Patterns project are actively reshaping how care is delivered. Partnerships with Te Whatu Ora Whanganui and Te Oranganui are enhancing service accessibility and supporting national mental health reform. The strategy’s ongoing work on toxic stress awareness, workforce wellbeing, and policy change is set to further deepen its transformative impact. A Toxic Stress Symposium will be hosted next year in 2025, stay connected for more information.
Hapai Mauri Tangata is testing a Kaupapa Māori model of care to improve NZ Police crisis responses, reduce criminal charges, and hospitalisations. In partnership with Te Whatu Ora Whanganui, Balance peer support, and Te Oranganui Waiora Hinengaro services, it focuses on early intervention and prevention. Healthy Families WRR contributes strategic leadership, design testing, and evidence gathering, while addressing systemic barriers and ensuring sustainability. The initiative supports the Growing Collective Wellbeing Strategy and engages whānau and stakeholders to tackle toxic stress. It aims to deliver a transformational model for mental health and addiction services with broad leadership support.
We are also celebrating our 10 years Anniversary as a movement: 10 Years of Impact for Healthy Families NZ and as we look back our Kai initiative was one of the first kaupapa we ran with. At the heart of these achievements is our drive to transform the food system. We’re working to shift from a Degenerative Food System, to Regenerative Local Kai Systems that not only uplift whānau and communities but also honours the environment. The Aramoho/Papaiti Kai Sovereignty Initiative aims to bring about the kind of localised kai system imagined in HFWRR’s Local Regenerative Kai Systems - A Case for Change, which leads to increased community cohesion, ecological integrity, social wellbeing and cultural vitality. By increasing community awareness around the impact of kai systems, and uplifting community capacity to grow nutritious kai to feed the community as a whole, this initiative is strengthening a networked community that can not just provide nutritionally for itself but also provide social and cultural connection, physical activity, connection to whenua and awa, and nourishing built environments. The work that is currently underway among different networked initiatives in Aramoho/Papaiti is creating fertile grounds for the growth of abundant social gardens that provide for many aspects of our community wellbeing. Key events like the Harvest & Hauora Celebration and Kūmara Wānanga have inspired communities and strengthened local networks. The initiative has already led to increased community engagement, food security, and cultural connection, with plans to scale its success across Whanganui, influencing kai systems change regionally.
This year, we have seen the power of Rangatahi leadership in the Rangatahi Design Village, where young people are not only engaging in but also driving the innovation of new solutions for healthy relationships. By empowering rangatahi to lead, we are building a future where they are at the forefront of social and health systems innovation. Their contributions have been invaluable in shaping ideas that will have lasting positive impacts on their communities. Te Hoeroa ki Tū Manawa Ora a rangatahi initiative which started last year finished in June. The rangatahi that were a part of the kaupapa successfully graduated which was held at Te Ao Hou Marae, giving whānau the opportunity to celebrate the growth of their rangatahi over the 7 months seven months.
The delivery of Te Hoeroa ki Tū Manawa Ora was a collaboration between Te Oranganui Healthy Families WRR, Te Ao Hou Marae, the Learning Environment(Pīwaiwaka Farm), Te Awanui a Rua Charitable Trust and Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi. Our rangatahi journeyed from the mountains to the sea, immersed in te taiao and marae context, and learned to build, grow, hunt, camp, work with the whenua, manaaki each other and support their community - while picking up a number of credits and qualifications along the way.
“Kaupapa like this are important because a lot of our rangatahi are losing their way, they need to know that there are people and organisations like you that are here to help them, keeping them off the streets, teaching them about the whenua, teaching them about Māoritanga, self-love, self-respect… It’s been amazing for us, our rangatahi really need this.” - Whānau Member
Te Hoeroa ki Tū Manawa Ora has successfully demonstrated an alternative to the government's push for boot camps.
Our Rangatahi Systems Innovators have also contributed in backboning the Whanganui Youth Collective and responsible for leading out the Strategic Planning in 2025.
Building Capability: The Impact of Internships
Our Rangatahi Interns have contributed significantly to our team. At the start of the year Jarna Flintoff, one of our summer interns, worked on producing the Gambling Harm Insights Report. Jarna demonstrated outstanding leadership within the “Preventing and Minimising Gambling Harm Initiative” during her internship with us. She has since returned this summer and is working on a literature review on “Healthy Relationships” as well as other exciting kaupapa. She is also joined by students from Otago University, Daniel Hiroti, Pania Pari and Sami Harrison and our first international student from Global University, New York, Bella Smith.
Te Hoe o te Waka: A Mātauranga Māori Approach to Collective Wellbeing
In 2024, we focused on strengthening community-led, whānau-driven initiatives, putting the aspirations of whānau at the heart of health solutions. Through our Whānau Design Villages, we created spaces for whānau to lead the design of services rooted in their values and lived experiences. These initiatives have been instrumental in breaking down barriers to accessing care, offering solutions tailored to the unique needs of whānau.
The success of these efforts underscores the power of collective action. Partnerships have created new systems that work better for whānau. Whānau have created alternative kaupapa Māori options that work better for everyone. Frontline practitioners have tested and developed earlier interventions to avoid health crisis. Neighbourhoods have prioritised social connection by sharing kai, redefining their own social systems. Regional leaders have listened and prioritised the lived experiences and ideas of those most affected by failing systems, advocating for and protecting innovative place-based solutions that work.
This year has been about momentum building, shifting power, strengthening relationships, and honouring whānau as the experts in their own lives. Just as every hand is needed to steer a waka, it is through collective action, shared vision, and unity that we navigate toward a future where every community thrives.
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