Community Services
Weekly Kai Boxes
Kai is so integral to building the mana of a person and being able to send children to school with kai in their bellies is something we endeavor to achieve through our weekly kai boxes.
This begins on a Thursday morning when each whanau is contacted with a list of options that they can choose from.
On the following Monday we collate all the responses and prepare a schedule for our volunteer packing team.
Early Wednesday morning we pick up kai from our partners at Foodbank Canterbury and Kairos Food Rescue before returning it to Wai-Ora where our volunteer team sort it and pack each box with the items each whanau has requested.
These boxes are then picked up by the whanau which gives us an opportunity to engage and find out if we are able to assist in any other areas.
Community Gardens
Our allotment style Community Gardens allow us to engage with community and whanau groups who meet our simple criteria and are willing to work as a group in their garden plot on a weekly basis.
While there is a small koha, all tools, irrigation and plants are available free of charge.
All of the vegetables which are grown, belong to the group who has grown them and can be utilised as they see fit (excluding for sale).
Each week we Groups and whanau who have participated, have reported that they are now eating more vegetables, saving money on the groceries and also enjoying the physical activity required to tend their garden plots.
Fitness Centre
Our small on-site fitness centre is yet another way that we encourage our community members to stay healthy and restore their tinana (physical body).
Our Fitness Centre support worker Jenny has made dramatic transformations in her own life and began as a gym client almost 10 years ago. Jenny now supports all those that join our Fitness Centre through encouragement and fitness planning and knows the hard work it takes to get healthy.
The Fitness Centre is designed to be available for those who are already involved in a community organisation and whom would benefit from the additional exercise and community interaction that we provide
COMMUNITY WORKS
Our Community Works programme offers a supportive working environment for volunteers.
Predominantly attended by volunteers who have found employment difficult to secure due to physical, mental, or intellectual barriers we offer a “work” style environment where people are cherished and encouraged.
The volunteer team is picked up from the city each day and “works” on various city council sites undertaking basic beautification and environmental duties.
Whether an individual comes to heal, be part of a team, build self esteem or just to meet other people they are valued for their input.
In return they will learn how to work in a team, learn interpersonal relationship skills, build their self-esteem, and enter a friendly, encouraging working environment.
While people attend on a voluntary basis, we may be able to seek a small travel allowance which is on top of their current MSD benefit.