The Minister for Whānau Ora says that Whānau Ora providers are doing phenomenal work supporting whānau during the COVID-19 crisis.
Tui Ora is the largest community-based health and social services provider in Taranaki.
They have come up with innovative ways to engage and support their community.
CEO Hayden Wano (Te Ātiawa, Taranaki, Ngāti Awa) says we (Whānau Ora providers) go the extra mile that makes the difference. Wano spoke of why they took on the controversial framework.
“Whānau Ora, we embraced through our DNA as an organisation," Wano says.
Wano says that the Whānau Ora model fitted in neatly with the communities that they work with.
“So we were able to engage where the wider system typically can’t reach," Wano says.
The wider system has its failings, Wano says, because despite excellent policies, implementation is slow.
“We have some of slickest policy I would say around, but when it comes to actually making it happen, the system kind of gets in the way, Wano says.
"We're used to work in and around the system to make things happen."
The community CEO wanted to focus on the positive outcomes and changes that have come since COVID-19. He noted that his organisation now operates on a high trust relationship. That relationship means that they have been able to skip through the red tape.