Who We Hire

Initially, our employees were principally WINZ (Work and Income New Zealand) clients who are disadvantaged in the workplace, long-term unemployed, PB (probationary prisoners) or have limited physical or mental disability.   Roughly 80% have drug and alcohol addiction, and mild mental health issues.  For Te Whangai Miranda our employees come from the Thames, Kaiaua, Miranda, Franklin and Te Kauwhata areas.   We accept all WINZ participants. Our youth are classified as At Risk. We are an agency for Corrections in Hauraki and Franklin, an educational resource for local schools, Kohanga Reo, and mentors for At Risk youth through Child Young Person Family Services (CYPFS),  Corrections, and the local school. We provide transport to overcome the problem of client unwarranted and unregistered vehicles.

Currently we have people from 17 to 63 years of age.  By having a team with a wide age range, from diverse cultures, our team mirrors the community. Older employees see themselves and the errors of their past reflected in the youth. They mentor them and share their experiences and lost dreams, as they create new ones. Young people are involved in positive activities that will help them fulfil their potential and make a valuable contribution within their communities. 

Our current employees are predominantly Maori. We work with our local maraes. Te Whangai identifies strongly with cultural beliefs. By working at Te Whangai, Maori re-connect with their cultural values and their links with the earth.

We have found while working with Te Whangai employees that there is huge prejudice in the community, and that it is a self-fulfilling prophecy – people act according to how they are labelled.  We believe that the only time you should be put in a box is when you’ve passed on.  The average person would have no comprehension of the obstacles these people face every day. Through their welfare benefits, many have been in a state funded continuation of their addiction for years.

What Happens Day to Day

Our employees created the native plant nursery from a bare paddock in just a few months. Sharing knowledge with each other and with guidance, they built  the nursery space,  laid down matting, installed the irrigation systems, built shade areas and set up windbreaks. On an ongoing basis, they expand the nursery space, plant seedlings, pot them on, keep them watered and cared for to planting size, and then plant them out for  customers.  Every team member takes ownership of plant propagation and the growing programme. Duties are rostered so all have an understanding and appreciation of each others’ efforts. Bagging and planting records are kept daily to monitor targeted plant numbers and seeding dates on a species basis.  The only wheeled vehicle is a wheel barrow. Tools are kept to basics, and no sprays are used in the econursery.

We all share life skills, such as budgeting and how to grow and prepare vegetables from the communal garden.  Knowledge of cooking skills is shared through being rostered to prepare breakfast and lunch for the whole team. 

While team members work in the nursery, they also address personal issues, and resolve them to the point where they are ready for full time employment either within Te Whangai or in the larger community. We advocate with agencies to break barriers preventing members from working – such as housing, relationship issues, judicial, medical, community mental health issues, WINZ, and family-cultural. Many are encouraged to undertake distance learning to gain qualifications for higher levels of employment.

Communication

We live the vision and lead by example, which is the best way of communicating. We have team breakfast meetings to discuss the week’s programme and goals. All rules are developed by the team. As new team members join Te Whangai the rules are confirmed by the team in its new form.   In-house rosters are also set at these meetings. Management team meetings are every second Friday at noon to review progress, celebrate successes and discuss new knowledge and directions based on the previous fortnight. A stock take of people, environment and financial gains and needs is completed. Any personnel issues are addressed on a one to one basis, usually by working alongside the person concerned. A council member and Kuia from local marae deal with iwi issues within the Trust.

Shared meals give the unique opportunity to get alongside other team members to share thoughts, ideas, and experiences.

Leadership Style

Te Whangai is a family based work environment which provides a human approach to the team members to develop self esteem and work expectations.  The work environment has a No Blame policy.  Trust, transparency, and truth are paramount. We address issues, not personalities.

Te Whangai operates on employee wellness.  Days and work hours are negotiable to meet individual needs and circumstances. Work hours are flexible, but 30 hours per week is non-negotiable.

Te Whangai values and respects the individual team member’s development goals, by acknowledging people’s personal challenges. The focus is on life skills and nutrition, and supervisors advocate on a multi agency level, eroding the need for intergeneration welfare support.

Everyone works together. The goal is to create a self fulfilling prophecy of self worth and self belief.  Everyone’s contribution is valued and respected, and people are encouraged to build on that contribution.  Team work, joint goals and expectations are the norm. Supervisors lay down a challenge to employees, have high expectations of them and also make it a fun place to work.  Children of employees are catered for during school vacations and if ill, enabling employees to maintain their income. Unlike a normal workplace the ethos and empathy with the team are a prerequisite, then the skills!

The team takes ownership of the nursery, as it is their creation. Te Whangai Trust was established as a means of training the team and using their skills. And when they are ready, to help them find further employment. They remain a Te Whangai member for life as we continue to support them when they leave.

Motivation: Food, good nutrition, community garden, cooking lessons, transportation to and from work for some.

Compulsion: No work, no pay. If an employee doesn’t come to work, he or she does not get paid. For those who do, all work effort is acknowledged

Involvement: Everyone is part of the team/ family environment. There is a sense of belonging in a positive, rather than a negative structure and identity with positive values.

Pride: Self esteem, pride in their achievements

Celebrate success: birthdays, personal and work milestones are celebrated. If someone succeeds we all celebrate their success and try to emulate it.

Inter Agency and Other Support

Interagency support for Te Whangai ranges from but is not exclusive to:

·         Medical

·         Dental

·         Nutritional guidance (providing all breakfast and lunch meals)

·         Judicial (courts and corrections department)

·         Community mental health

·         Referral to relationship services

·         Drug and alcohol counseling

·         Budgeting advice

·         Assistance with literacy

Through this multi-agency advocacy we break down the barriers to work; on an individual basis at the individual’s own pace. Our success depends on the agencies, groups and individuals working and achieving together. We have seen that as people build their self esteem there has been a marked reduction in the need for community mental health intervention, social and medical assistance. There appears to be a strong link with the provision of basic needs and the reduced requirements for social and medical intervention.

Te Whangai, like all start ups, has been very very busy.  Already over 35 people have found full time employment through Te Whangai. More than 19 of these were employed outside Te Whangai during the year, after several months working at the nursery.

Here is how it went for one of Te Whangai’s members:

Karl Tapp spent about five months at Te Whangai, then moved on to a job with Jim Banner of DB Builders; he is currently working on a $4 million house the firm is building near coastal Kaiaua. Banner says Karl Tapp “came as a labourer, and now he’s one of the commanders-in-chief, he’s excellent, just the best in the book, the hardest-working man I’ve ever employed over 50 years.”  Source: Eco-Vision blooms in Miranda. Waikato Times Magazine, August 2, 2008.

At 40, Te Whangai nursery work is Donna’s first job.

Scott Oswald came to Te Whangai in April 2008. In mid May, Scott was driving with friends when he saw a car upside down in a creek in Kaiaua. He pulled over and, despite his fear of water, went into the creek to try to free the driver from the car. His friends left him there. Scott was unable to free the man on his own, and with help from a passing motorist’s vehicle they were able to pull the front of the car out of the water, but it was too late for the 76-year-old driver. Scott later told his workmates that before coming to Te Whangai, he would probably have driven on with his friends. The incident was reported in the Franklin County News.

Sandy Simmons, who has been with Te Whangai from the beginning, was awarded Franklin Employee of the Year 2008.

Year 1 Accomplishments; November 2007-October 2008

·         Te Whangai name selected, Vision clarified, key people recruited

·         Ministry of Social Development partner agreement finalised

·         Trust established

·         Top level people join as trustees

·         Nursery established, and expanded by year end to end to encompass 1000 square metres

·         Native planting team trained

·         Te Whangai logo, brochure, and Powerpoint presentation created

·         Planting advisory team trained

·         Kuia from local marae volunteers

·         Thousands of native trees and shrubs sold with 100% customer satisfaction among those customers using our planting services

·         NZ brown frog, thought to be near extinction, populates the nursery (an unexpected bonus)

·         Council member volunteers to deal with iwi issues within the Trust

·         At-risk youth re-enrolled in education courses

·         Holiday programme established for employees’ children, so parents could continue to work

·         Many professionals volunteered their time  and expertise in horticulture, medicine, chemistry, psychology, marketing, life skills coaching, counselling, law, and surveying

·         By year end, 14 long-term unemployed people were hired in full time jobs within the community, saving taxpayers thousands of dollars in decreased welfare payments and social services

·         All milestones set with the Ministry of Social Development partner were met, ahead of deadlines

·         Received  Waikato Sustainable Business Award. Commendation was received from the judges on the unique model that could revolutionise the welfare system in New Zealand

·         Website created

·         Paper-based accounting system replaces with MYOB (Mind Your Own Business) accounting and inventory system

·         Phase 2 of nursery expansion plans have been completed