The Māra Kai initiative in Te Taitokerau continues to nurture relationships and grow respect amongst participants for the diverse ways the kaupapa helps whānau to stand taller.

Māra Kai is one of the three Whānau Social Assistance Programmes and since it began in 2009, Te Puni Kōkiri has funded more than 800 initiatives throughout the motu.

Te Taitokerau Regional Director Walter Wells says he has seen the Māra Kai programme bringing a multitude of benefits to communities.

“It brings together a range of outcomes. From the tangible benefit of enjoying healthy fresh kai – and knowing how to do that – to the less-measurable outcomes that are equally significant – including whanaungatanga.”

At the Te Uri O Hau settlement of Te Kōpuru, the Anglican Parish of Northern Wairoa aimed to find ways to awhi their younger community members who were, “involved on the wrong side of the law,” says the vicar, the Rev Susanne Green.

“Our community wanted to work alongside these young people to help them engage in a more positive way,” she says.

So when Violet Hutchinson from the Department of Corrections – learned of the Te Puni Kōkiri Māra Kai initiative, she saw an opportunity to nurture the potential of youth in the Kaipara by bringing together whānau, hapū and community resources.

Violet worked with the Rev Green and Darlene Lang, Community Development and Youth Mentoring Programme Co-ordinator at Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Whātua, to build a plan that would allow the youth to meet their community work sentence obligations while also creating a strong environment to grow the hearts and minds of rangatahi.

“The Māra Kai programme has been an invaluable tool to assist this outstanding community,” says Darlene. “The parish provided the land and volunteers worked to clear it and improve the run-down buildings to make the site more appealing.”

Since then, the local Te Kōpuru Church has been water-blasted, further improvements made to buildings at the community garden site, and huawhenua and huarākau have been produced and shared amongst the community.

“Many relationships have germinated and grown across the community. The workers have gained so much out of this community work ‘sentence’ that they continued to look after the gardens well after their hours were completed. They went on to buy their own plants and build gardens at their own homes,” Darlene says.

Kuia and kaumātua in the community also supported the programme by contributing seedlings to the cause and sharing wise mātauranga on growing a successful garden, and cooking and preserving the produce.

“Everyone involved is working together in a really positive way. The project is building trust and providing a safer and stronger community, something that we at Te Puni Kōkiri understand as critical for the wellbeing of all whānau,” says Walter.