110 | COMMUNITY K’aute Pasifika Village Two years to build an icon With the first hub nearly complete they’re looking at both Tokoroa, which has the densest population of Pasifika in the Waikato region, and Ohinewa. from page 108 Proudly supporting K’aute Pasifika & the Pan Pasifika Community Hub REGAL JOINERY 102 Kent Street, Hamilton 07 847 9882 regal.joinery@xtra.co.nz Aluminium Joinery Commercial REGAL Proud to support K’aute Pasi ka Delivering commercial construction projects with precision and expertise | 022 618 7734 www.measuredconstruction.co.nz Your first choice for Painting Contractors in the Waikato region. 0800 555 535 or 022 061 4946 www.straightpaint.co.nz info@straightpaint.co.nz PO Box 355, Hamilton C O M M E R C I A L | | | R E S I D E N T I A L N E W B U I L D S R E N O V A T I O N S Over two days they discussed firstly the challenges and then whether they could work together as a group to change the outcomes for their people. “The answer was yes, we can take some ownership of the challenges and yes, we can work together to be part of the solution. Out of that fono K’aute was born As part of that first conversation they talked about the need for a Pacific Community space, for a Pacific GP and a Pacific Early Learning Centre (ELC). Those three things are now the components of the Pan Pacific Community hub or what we’re referring to now as the K’aute Pasifika Village, so the project literally is the physical manifestation of the community aspiration that was conceived 23 years ago,” explains Rachel. While this initiative dates back a long time, the model is very responsive to current and ongoing socio-economic needs. From the beginning there’s been a focus on collecting data to inform every stage of the project with view to putting their learnings to good use and being able to replicate what was being created elsewhere in New Zealand and the Pacific, if not the world, when the time came. With the first hub nearly complete they’re looking at both Tokoroa, which has the densest population of Pasifika in the Waikato region, and Ohinewai, where Sleepyhead will soon be bringing 400 Pacific families to live, and work in their new factory.. “There’ll be a need for community support and wrap around services for those families so that’s the current strategic thinking in terms of meeting that anticipated need,” says Rachel. With a standing capacity of 700 people or 500 people sitting, the K’aute Pasifika Fale is an asset for the city and the region at large, and its opening is being timed to coincide with the NZ Rugby 7’s in January with community engagements planned to host their South Pacific players. The service delivery expectations for the Wellbeing Centre include the existing nurseled health services, social services, employment and education services and Covid related support, and will include GP and pharmacy services integrated into the model in a way that responds to community needs. The driver is to improve health and wellbeing outcomes for the Pacific and broader community currently working within the status quo. “K’aute Pasifika’s services are for all people from all backgrounds and are informed by Pacific models of care. In terms of Pacific if you look at equity indicators, the mainstream models haven’t delivered better outcomes for our people in the last two decades in a number of areas. “So we’re doing a big data dive to better understand the issues in order that we can be more targeted in our approach and how we use our resources.” The community voice has been sought through several fono, small and large, and a number of online surveys, and that information has been fed into the development of the new operating model. “There are a number of different vehicles we’ve used to get input from our community, and this isn’t just something that’s happened in the last year or two. “We’ve regularly engaged with our community over the last two decades to make sure that the inspiration and the needs remain the same. Constantly asking how ‘does this need to work for better engagement, connectivity and understanding’ in order to drive better outcomes,” says Rachel. K’aute Pasifika are making good use of expert advice as they work towards a definitive operating model. Independents were engaged to support distilling community voice into key themes; Pacific Health experts and local PHO, Pinnacle, are supporting with the development of the health and wellbeing model, and experienced Pasifika Early Childhood operators are bringing their expertise to that area. Some community feedback can be easily addressed, such as the need for GP appointments to be available after work hours so that someone on an hourly wage doesn’t lose half a day’s pay travelling to and from the doctor, with all that might imply for the week’s groceries. Others are more specifically cultural, such as the design of the Early Learning Centre having its communal area at the entrance in order to reflect the importance of the traditional Pacific heart of the home where people are made welcome and congregate. The bottom line to it all is the need to be culturally responsive and respectful, with the Pasifika voice at the forefront of those being heard. The K’aute Pasifica Village is a well devised multi-million dollar project born out of community need; its merits explored with both a detailed feasibility study, and financial modelling of the different components by Deloittes to show its viability, and brought to fruition by a cross-cultural determination to succeed. For Rachel, while the building in itself symbolises the value that the community place on their Pasifika fellows “what’s most important is its potential to drive firstly equitable, then excellent, outcomes for our people.” The K’aute Pasifika Village, built as a fit-forpurpose iconic Pasifika Community space to deliver broad social outcomes for its people, speaks to the power that can be harnessed when different peoples find their commonalities in order to work together for the benefit of all.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=