In 2019, Te Tūāpapa Kura Kāinga – Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (the Ministry) engaged Tiaho Limited, a respected kaupapa Māori research, evaluation, and policy development group, to develop two powerful and insightful narratives into homelessness derived from lived experience. The process of acquiring this kōrero and the way it has been shaped and shared was firmly grounded in the Ministry’s core principles of wānangatia, kōkiritia and arohatia. We wanted to enable the voices and stories of people to be heard.
Pūrākau are a traditional and intergenerational method of dissemination of mātauranga. They are stories that traditionally have a deeper message and are used to share knowledge of te ao Māori and to provide guidance. They also include storytelling in contemporary times. Sharing stories in this way feels intimate, personal, and intentional and at times they can be challenging to read.
The two pūrākau, He oranga ngākau, He pikinga wairua and He Whare Kōrero o Mangatakitahi, recount the journey to date of two Housing First programmes in Aotearoa and the whānau (known as kaewa and manaha respectively) they support.
To protect the integrity of the pūrākau and the voices of those who were interviewed, no changes have been made to the kōrero of the participants. These pūrākau tell their story as told to the researcher; they reflect the perceptions and personal truth of the participants. The pūrākau describe a point in time, vividly told by those who participated in their construction. We encourage all readers to really whakarongo (to listen, to feel) so that you learn from the kōrero shared, and to recognise the emotions that may be powerfully triggered by the personal stories told here.
The Ministry has commissioned a comprehensive evaluation of Housing First in Aotearoa with a focus on what works and what does not in our unique context. These pūrākau are the first building blocks in developing that understanding.
This pūrākau from Tīaho Limited tells the story of Mangatakitahi which opened its doors on 1 May 2019 to deliver the Housing First programme in Rotorua. It recounts the experiences and reflections of the programme to date from the perspectives of the collaborating entities involved, the managers and kaimahi on the ground and of mānaha themselves.² These experiences and reflections were gathered via semi-structured interviews in November 2019. The interviews centred around four key questions: What is working well? What’s been challenging and needs further work? What’s needed for the future? And, what does success look like?
Ka nui rā ngā mihi ki a koutou mō tō koutou kaha ki te whakakī i ā mātou kete ki te huhua o ngā kōrero.