Melissa Moore (centre) with her helpers and some of the at-risk youth the Pride Project Charitable Trust has been able to help with a donation from Auckland Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker
Melissa Moore (centre) with her helpers and some of the at-risk youth the Pride Project Charitable Trust has been able to help with a donation from Auckland Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker
The Herald is profiling 12 charities awarded $12,000 each from Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign. Each grant is made up of $10,000 from generous travellers who placed unwanted currency into moneyboxes dotted around the terminals in 2023 and as a cherry on top, Auckland Airport has gifted an additional $2000.
A simple story illustrates the transformation within a group of youth at risk of long-term disengagement from education and employment, at the end of a six-month programme with The Pride Project in Manurewa.
The Pride Project founder Melissa Moore says the cohort arrived on the first day of its Mangopare programme with their faces veiled by hoodies. They avoided eye contact with expressions of uncertainty and distrust.
“Six months later, the same group walked through the doors of our community house to sing happy birthday and a waiata to one of our Kaimahi ‘Matua Wa’ who had supported them on their first Marae Noho,” Moore says.
“Singing the waiata, they were just different people, standing straighter, smiling, more confident and they had grown together and become a family.”
Melissa Moore (centre) with her helpers and some of the at-risk youth the Pride Project Charitable Trust has been able to help with a donation from Auckland Airport. Photo / Greg Bowker
Mangopare is a programme focused on helping young people within Clendon and Manurewa who are identified as being the most at risk of poor long-term outcomes, who may also have complex whānau living situations and are often distrustful of the system.
Mangopare is a six-month intensive programme followed by a further six months of pastoral care. Education, training and employment are key funded outcomes but the ultimate aim is to nurture, restore, and grow the mana of each rangatahi.
“We have a high rate of non-attendance in schools in Manurewa. A lot of our young people disengage from quite an early age and the traditional school setting, coupled with complex home environments, is not a recipe for success,” Moore says.
“They have already got a lifetime of a story by the time they reach 14, and that’s what they carry with them when they walk in the door, so for us to take them forward, we have to look back and take our youth on a journey of healing to build their resilience and confidence.”
During the six-month course, they are picked up and dropped home, fed and engage with mindset-changing experiences through programmes to focus on their physical, mental and spiritual health. They each have individualised plans that identify their current barriers to education.
“We take a wholistic approach to their wellbeing and rebuild their kete (basket) with tools and skills and rebuild their mana, so they feel the path they thought they were going on doesn’t need to be their end path,” Moore says.
“When given the right environment and the right people around them who can help them to believe in themselves, they are incredibly artistic, creative kind and resilient young people.”
While the programme receives some government funding from the Ministry of Social Development, this doesn’t cover the extra support required to help meet the young people’s basic needs.
Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign has given The Pride Project a $12,000 boost. Photo / Greg Bowker
“Our youth often come needing shoes, clothing, bedding and basic hygiene items, and this can be a huge barrier to their engagement with the programme.
“Sometimes they need to go to a dentist or doctor, or we have to pay for an emergency hotel if there is a risk to their safety, so we need to have a discretionary fund to help meet these needs so they are not obstacles on their new path.”
Auckland Airport’s Twelve Days of Christmas campaign has given The Pride Project a $10,000 boost from the donations of generous travellers who visited the airport in 2023 and placed their spare foreign currency into moneyboxes around the terminals. As a cherry on the top, Auckland Airport has gifted an additional $2000 per grant.
Auckland Airport chief corporate services officer Melanie Dooney says the $12,000 grant will be used to support Mangopare’s year-end camp that celebrates the end of the programme.
“Some of the students have never left the community before and don’t have things such as a towel or warm clothing to take away, so we are delighted they will be supported with what they need to enjoy the experiences and activities on the camp and remove any stress or worry from them,” Dooney says.
Cost of living challenges have made Christmas a struggle for many, and Moore says part of the grant will also help provide a Christmas ham and gift pack for their families to share.
“We also know that many haven’t had a birthday cake in years, so now we will be able to provide a gift and cake on their birthday, which will be a huge blessing to them and make them feel special,” Moore says.
The Pride Project has grown out of Moore’s passion to address unloved spaces and anti-social behaviours around Clendon.
“I really wanted children and young people to have the best lives possible and to see that their past doesn’t have to define their future,” she says. “The Pride Project is all about pride in the place we live and pride in the people who live here.”
The project’s community house has a free op shop, kai hub, library and a team of “hope navigators” to support people who walk in off the street or are referred and need support.
Other programmes include “Grandparents raising mokos”, women’s support groups, building awesome whānau and Kura Manaaki – transport to kura, mentoring and whanau support for primary to intermediate kids at risk of disengaging from education.
