The Whanau Ora Commissioning Agency for the South Island, Te Pūtahitanga, will roll out a series of initiatives to support whanau get through COVID-19.

Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu Chief Executive, Helen Leahy says the whānau support package will target those who need it most.

“We know Māori are over represented in the groups classified as vulnerable to COVID-19. There is a lot of work to do.”

“To ensure our whānau support package gets to those who need it most, Te Pūtahitanga is surveying whānau to see who needs support, and what that support looks like.”

Ms Leahy says the package will support whānau to connect and stay well at home.

“We know that whānau are great at coming together and supporting each other. Our challenge now is finding other ways of connect from a distance, through the use of technology and other creative approaches.

“Over the next few weeks we will be supporting our most vulnerable whānau to enable their essential needs to be met, and focusing on actions that enable whānau to stay connected at home.”

Leahy says a key component of Te Putahitanga’s response will be the #Manaaki20 website and social media campaign.

“Whānau are already doing amazing things to support each other, such as sharing kai parcels and supporting our kaumatua to digitally connect. The #Manaaki20 hashtag has been created to share all the great mahi that’s already happening, and inspire each other to keep working together.”

Whānau can share what they have been up to by using the hashtag #Manaaki20, and these contributions will then appear at

www.manaaki20.org

The whanau support package survey can be found at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Manaakicall

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