Laid-back boss full of hope

New Merivale Community Centre general manager Tauha TeKani hopes to network with other agencies and focus on new strategies. Photo / John Borren

Sitting on a slightly worn sofa in the Merivale Community Centre dressed in shorts, a T-shirt and jandals, Tauha TeKani does not look like your average general manager.

"Well that is my official tag," he said "but you know I think general just means, generally do everything.

"But I'm cool with that, that is how we roll in New Zealand and as you can tell I'm not the flashiest," he laughs.

Joking aside, Mr TeKani's credentials are impressive and, although he has only been on the job for just over two weeks, his mind is already focused on building relationships and introducing new strategies.

He would draw on 25 years of experience in the social services arena that included youth work, alternative education, New Zealand Health Camp residential leader and mentoring programme manager, lecturer, drug and alcohol counsellor and most recently social work at Tauranga Hospital.

Born in Gisborne, Mr TeKani spent his boyhood in Mount Maunganui and said he had a close affinity to small communities like Merivale.

"I am from a small community in Gisborne but I grew up in the Mount and a lot of my friends lived in Arataki so I spent lots of time there so these are the communities that I come from."

He paid credit to those that had worked at the centre before him and said he had set high goals for 2016.

"It is really easy to come in here and stand up on the shoulders of those people that have been here before. Some great work has been done and the board is fantastic ... they have great vision."

The Merivale community had passion for the organisation and their community which would make his task easier, he said.

He hoped services could be extended in the future but said at the moment it relied heavily on volunteers as funding was an ongoing issue.

It had counsellors, social workers and a support worker that made up the professional arm of the organisation but there were a variety of needs in the community.

"A lot of our focus is on children and young people ... which is an essential pigeon hole that I have been in my whole life but I'd really like to expand our view going forward over the next five years," he said. "There is a real need for elder care in our community and I'd like to look at having some drug and alcohol services coming out here."

The ethnic makeup of the community was also changing with a large Indian and Pacific Island population, he said, that needed to know the door was open to them.

Meanwhile, networking was on the list of his priorities and Mr TeKani hoped to sit down with other agencies "to see how we can work together".

Now he was looking forward to getting stuck in at a slow, steady pace.

"I am quite excited ... and ready for the challenge."

Centre funding will continue:

* The Merivale Community Centre has passed its Ministry of Social Development audit with "flying colours" and will have its funding contract renewed for another year.

* Board chairman Chris Rapson said the organisation would still have to fundraise and seek donations from sponsors and other grant organisations.

* In September it faced a dim future over funding with the ministry as it feared its contracts and grants might not meet the increase in services provided.