Wai Ora Community Trust celebrates 30 years of service; featuring Eddie Churton, Karen Dey, Marama Dey, Stephen Lee and Gavin Brooks. Photo / Logan Tutty
Wai Ora Community Trust celebrates 30 years of service; featuring Eddie Churton, Karen Dey, Marama Dey, Stephen Lee and Gavin Brooks. Photo / Logan Tutty
Thirty-one years ago, Marama Dey arrived in Whanganui with nothing more than a suitcase.
"When I came here, I didn't know what to do, I followed the Lord and he said plant a church, so that's what I did. Out of that came a massive big move," Dey said.
Asshe was establishing her church, she was walking down the beach one day and found a group of teenagers abusing drugs.
"It was really sad, they were from about 12 to 16 years old. To have such young people that addicted, it broke my heart, really."
Dey picked them, took them to her home and cooked them food. On that day, it became clear why she was sent to Whanganui.
On Friday, locals gathered at their Brunswick Road whenua to celebrate 30 years of the Wai Ora Christian Community Trust.
Over those three decades, they have helped both young and old in the fields of employment, upskilling, advocacy and securing housing.
Stephen Lee, who took over as the Trust's CEO from Dey in July, applauded Dey and her family for all the sacrifices they have made over the last 30 years, as well as talking about the future mission of Wai Ora.
"Our vision is to nurture intergenerational prosperity and well-being in our community. "Quite simply, we want what we do today to impact not just the person we are working with, but their children and grandchildren.
"The story of Māori in New Zealand is that of always lagging behind, it is an intergenerational issue that requires an intergenerational solution."
Their goal is to impact 10,000 people in the next 10 years through three different avenues; change people's hearts and minds, assist in financial security and housing solutions.
"We aim to impact lives in one, some or all three of these ways."
Lee hopes to also expand the Trust's footprint in schools around Whanganui, providing intervention through support and education.
In the last few years, Wai Ora noticed the urgent need for social and transitional housing around Whanganui.
10 transitional homes are set to be on this part of Wai Ora's Brunswick Rd facility. Photo / Logan Tutty
Along came Eddie Churton, who launched Te Kakano Kainga Ora (TKKO), a branch to the Wai Ora tree focused on providing housing and helping families understand the complicated nuances of papaikainga.
The goal of TKKO is to provide healthy and affordable homes as well as a stable base of income and employment that would support and fund the social services side of Wai Ora and alleviate the inevitable lows in funding, something they rely heavily on as a trust.
Churton said the goal is to have a range of transitional and social housing on their Brunswick Rd whenua for 18- to 25-year-olds who need help to get back on their feet.
During their 12-week stay, they will be provided training and education from Wai Ora as well as be taught how to be good tenants so that they can secure stable housing in the future.
As well as housing, he hopes to have facilities where builders around the country could come to learn about their use of SIP (Structural Insulated Panels), which they could then take home and share their knowledge.
SIPs' cost efficiency, rapid construction, low maintenance, wastage minimisation, building strength and thermal performance all combine to make a very interesting product and an effective way of providing healthy, affordable homes.
They have been working extensively with marae all across the North Island, particularly in the papakainga space, assisting families in the nuances of housing and accessing funding.
"There is a gap in the knowledge and we are here trying to fill it," Churton said.
Dey applauded all those who have supported Wai Ora over that time, as the trust has heavily relied on Government funding, grants, donations and public support to fund their programmes and missions.
