Ngāti Raukawa presented their organisational history and detailed their key services and expressed how Whānau Ora was a old yet new way of doing things which was having direct benefits on the way staff operated and provided services.
Ngati Raukawa rangatira, Whatarangi Winiata was in also attendance. Matua Whatarangi was instrumental in helping to develop TAWO's tikanga and kawa document so it with great reverence that he was welcomed.
Their Whānau Ora project team presented to those gathered. The team detailed their own innovations in terms of delivery models as well as future plans. Importantly they detailed how they took a Whānau Ora approach within their own organisation's culture and the benefits of doing so.
Ngaroma Grant, Project Manager for Te Arawa Whānau Ora, then detailed Te Arawa's Whānau Ora experience, sharing its key resources and showcasing their website. An important innovation that was shared detailed the development of the TAWO database which has allowed the collective to understand key trends and anticipate future outcomes, community needs and related social returns on Whānau Ora as an investment within the community.
Later in the day, respective teams within both organisations (General Managers, Paearahi, Kaiarahi and admin staff) met and shared their experiences helping to benchmark relevant challenges and successes.
Hariata Vercoe, General Manager at Korowai Aroha expressed how valuable it was to come together and share their journeys with one another, saying;
It was a time to reflect on our own journey and see how far we have come, so often we are so busy doing the mahi, that we forget about the journey that we are going on, it was lovely to actually look back and say wow, we've travelled some miles."
