Close to $1.5 million is going into nationwide projects to uplift generations of mothers, babies and whānau in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, through the Community Innovation Fund. The full list of grantees is available on this page.
Te Hiringa Hauora has partnered with the Department of Internal Affairs, and, with the support of the Lottery Grants Board, to co-fund six of the projects. All initiatives are community-driven solutions to meet community and whānau need. Grants range from $20,000 to $100,000 and total $1.46 million. The Fund opened in February 2022. It invited applications for community projects around pre-conception, contraception, maternal mental health, pregnancy or baby’s first two years. More than 170 applications were received.
|
|
Project |
Group |
About |
Region |
|
$81 - $100k |
||||
| 1 |
Māmā Moving Mountains |
One double five whare awhina community house |
|
Northland, Te Tai Tokerau |
| 2 |
Moko Tu Rongo |
Moko Tu Rongo Charitable trust |
Whānau who attend this wānaga will explore the transition from kōtiro, to wahine, to hapūtanga and into motherhood. Ngā taonga tuku iho such as karanga, rongoā Māori, pūrākau and mōteatea will be used to explore this journey. Other kaupapa such as safe sex and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders will also be explored. |
Gisborne, Te Tai Rāwhiti |
| 3 |
Fa’afailele fa’atasi – Nurturing together: It takes a village to raise a child. |
Sosaiete Aoga Amata Samoa i Aotearoa (SAASIA) |
|
Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau |
| 4 |
Hākui |
Whare Manaaki o te Tai Poutini Ltd |
Hākui is a Southern solution to struggles faced by isolated whānau on the West Coast. Most Māori families on Te Tai Poutini/West Coast do not whakapapa to the area and have said they were missing connection and help. Hākui Manaaki will connect them with hākui from the community to take an active interest in the family’s wellbeing. Hākui is the Ngāi Tahu term for a respected mother, aunty, taua or grandmother. These experienced women will bring parenting know-how, cultural connection, aroha and local relationships. Their support may include joining whānau at appointments, cooking, meeting up for a cuppa or babysitting - whatever is needed to support the whānau. |
Te Tai Poutini/West Coast, Te Waipounamu |
| 5 |
Fala Pepe/Epaepa Pepe: Intergenerational celebration of Samoan and Tokelauan wellbeing |
Aoga Amata Transnational Aotearoa (AATA) |
Fala pepe (baby mats) were once common throughout the Pacific, today they are a dying art. The skill, resources and time that went into their creation showed the dedication a mother or grandmother had for her baby. For this project Dr Sala Faasaulala Tagoilelagi-Leota is reviving cultural knowledge about these special mats and will guide Samoan mothers to reclaim the art. As they learn, the women will be immersed in cultural expertise, affirmation and connection. The project will also inform early childhood education models for Pasifika children and families. |
Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau |
| 6 |
Kanapu |
Kanapu Retreat |
Our aim is to provide tools that allow a holistic approach to living. The diverse tools allow wāhine to choose a pathway that works best for them and their whānau. Practitioners will provide rongoā, mirimiri, meditation, yoga, nutrition, breath-work, breast feeding support, safe sleep and ante natal education. Wāhine building healthy relationships with themselves, each other, the community, pēpi and whānau creates good foundations for the future. Re-setting and passing on healthy habits to our pēpi will create ripple effects and empower generations to come. |
Waikato |
| 7 |
Masterclass Wānanga Series |
Hāpai Te Hauora Tapui Limited |
The masterclass will cover rāranga wahakura, smoking cessation and hapūtanga education for māmā and their whānau. The kaupapa are woven together by three experienced, trained and innovative parents and health professionals who each have a powerful track record of change for and with whānau. They are kuia and tohunga o Te Whare Pōra (House of Weaving), Jenny Firmin; digital wānanga stop smoking practitioner and influencer Patrick Salmon and childbirth antenatal educator Kelly Spriggs. Local hauora services are an essential element and are invited to participate in the sessions. The Masterclass wānanga will take place in Whanganui and Auckland. Both are areas with high rates of Māori hapūtanga, whānau smoking rates and SUDI cases. There is a strong need in these areas for excellent antenatal health promotion. |
Manawatū, Whanganui, Te Tai Hauāuru. |
| 8 |
Me Piki Tāua |
Ngāti Wai Trust Board |
This project will provide advocacy and support for pregnant wāhine Māori (urban and rural) of Ngātiwai descent and based in Te Tai Tokerau. The focus is to make sure they have equitable access to ante and postnatal services as well as clinical support. Wāhine will be able to join wānanga/workshops that offer them what they need to make informed decisions about their pregnancy, their own health and that of their pēpi and whānau. |
Whangarei, Te Tai Tokerau |
| 9 |
Kaumātua interviews about Tūpuna Whānau Wellbeing and Parenting ways |
Pēpi penapena Tapui Trust |
From Matutaera Clendon ONZM (Ngāpuhi) remembering his mother wearing her babies on her back while she did the gardening, to Tau Huirama (Tainui) reflecting on a hui at Te Kuiti marae in 1870 which addressed the hapū outcry at a teacher hitting a Māori child. Through these pūrākau, it is hoped today’s parents and whānau are inspired and informed about the gentle parenting styles their tūpuna had. With these korero they can learn about reviving those styles as they raise tomorrow’s rangatira. |
|
| 10 |
Mamia |
Taku Mamia Trust Dr Aria Graham |
The kaupapa is based on the PhD research of Dr Aria Graham who studied the things that matter, and have the most impact on young new, Māori māmā. At Mamia, wāhine can access nuruturng and support that enhances wellbeing, particularly related to the peri-natal and wāhine wellbeing continuum. This includes maternal mental health services, parenting and pregnancy services, baby gear, with links to other servies and health professionals. They also have waiata and pūrākau sessions, yoga, financial sessions, pamper days, a space to garden, a hot shower and a pace to moe while a ‘safe’ aunty or nanny holds your baby –just what you would have at your "mum" or your "nanny's" home so you feel warm and loved. Mamia is wāhine and community led. Volunteers or ‘ama’ awhi, role-model, listen and support. While ‘pou’, whāea/kuia from the marae and wider community uphold the kaupapa alongside koroua and other tāne are always there to support when wāhine decide to invite them in. “What is Mamia? Anything you want it to be. Whānau call the shots.” Mamia | Facebook |
Hawkes Bay, Harataunga |
| 11 |
Hapū Ora |
Ngā Kaitiaki o Ngāti Kauwhata Inc |
Hapū Ora is a wānanga for wāhine hapū and their whānau in Manawatū. The marae based, three stage wānanga covers conception to birth and includes child birth education alongside taonga pūoro, mahi rāranga, mahi toi, rongoā Māori, kai education, mirimiri and wānanga wahakura. Hapū Ora wānanga aims to restore the balance of wāhine and tāne in the hapūtanga journey alongside their whānau, as they take on the most important job – raising their pēpi. Hapū Ora wānanga is iwi, hapū and whānau driven and responds to the needs of the community and their hapū whānau. |
Fielding and Dannevirke, Manawatū. |
|
Under $80k |
||||
| 12 |
Wahakura te Ao |
Huiterangiora foundation |
|
East Coast, Te Tai Rāwhiti |
| 13 |
Matua ole Moana (M.O.M) |
Kalia |
Matua ole Moana translates to Parents of the Pacific Ocean. The programme firmly places parents as the first teachers and the pillars of the aiga. The vision is "thriving fanau, prosperous futures". The programme will support mothers to develop healthy relationships with their babies, provide a Pasifika approach for family wellbeing, offer bilingual resources, back parents to see themselves as their child’s first teacher, connect parents with key community members and ensure children and homes continue to have their Pasifika languages as they grow and expand. |
Blenheim, Te Tau Ihu |
| 14 |
Te Piripoho, Wahakura Wānanga |
Ngāti Ranginui Iwi Society Inc |
Parents will be encouraged to appreciate the love, protection, guidance, whakapapa and parenting intentions that are imbued into their own wahakura. Te Piripoho will help them to respect the value the wahakura has in protecting their pēpi. One goal of the project is to prevent SUDI deaths and the generational trauma they bring. Guest speakers will be at the wānanga to explain and connect whānau with support services; breastfeeding, healthy homes, Well Child, smoking cessation, dental, car seat safety, family planning, maternal mental health and early literacy. |
Tauranga |
| 15 |
Poipoiā Ngā Mokopuna |
Ohomairangi Trust |
This project will develop and deliver weekly māmā and pēpi groups which explore topics that whānau want to learn about. Over a year parents will be able to learn about kaupapa to help them connect with their unborn child and continue that connection from birth and beyond as they learn to be parents. Ohomairangi Trust will use the experience it already has with parenting programmes to expand into regular, weekly sessions that cover communicating with pēpi, sleeping, feeding, setting up support systems and where to go for help. The content and topics will be shaped by hapū parents, their supporters and people finishing antenatal education. Getting the groups up and running will be especially important for many who are isolated or who enjoy the company of others after having baby. The idea is for parents to discover and exercise tino rangatiratanga by accessing knowledge and skills, to be mentored and then support others. The programme will reflect Māori and Pacific worldviews and respond to the cultural, economic and social of the groups as they pursue wellbeing for their whānau. |
Māngere East, Auckland. |
| 16 |
Raro Timu Raro Take – The Rejuvenation of Ngāī Tahu customary birthing knowledge and practices for maternity practitioners and whānau in Te Waipounamu |
Hakeke Productions |
The knowledge featured in Hākui presents as waiata oriori, interviews, research and networks. It embodies the work of Dr Kelly Tikao whose PhD explored traditional Māori birthing knowledge and the story of its gradual disuse and near death in Ngāi Tahu. Work will now continue on the site to ensure it is dynamic, has regular, rich content and responds to the needs of the maternity hāpori. For example more opportunities will arise, such as maternity wānaka, to support māmā, kaiwhakawhānau/tapuhi and the hāpori. |
Ōtautahi, Christchurch, Te Waipounamu. |
| 17 |
Ngākau Atawhai Whenua Ūkaipō ae i |
Māori Women’s Welfare League Incorporated Te Ropu Wahine Māori Toko | Te Ora |
Each registered whānau will be gifted a konae/ipu whenua to place to baby’s whenua in before returning it to the child’s tūrangawaewae. They will also receive a rākau from a local nursery. The project will provide harakeke for weaving the konae in which the rākau and whenua will be placed. |
Auckland, Tāmaki Makaurau |
| 18 |
Hapū Wānanga Te Raukura o te Aroha |
Te Ao Marama Midwifery Tapui Limited |
The course is free for all hapū māmā and whānau in Te Whanganui-a-Tara and runs once a month over two days. Topics covered include traditional Māori birthing practices, changes during hapūtanga, breastfeeding, safe sleeping and much more. Kai is provided as well as taonga to take home for māmā and pēpi. Antenatal, labour, birth and postnatal care is provided for wāhine. The main kaupapa is to improve birth outcomes for Māori and Pasifika whānau. The wānanga frames and delivers antenatal education, in a way that is culturally relevant for many whānau Māori. It teaches safe ways for wāhine to take care of themselves and pēpi, including safe sleeping, being smoke-free and abstaining from alcohol. |
Porirua, Wellington |
Māmā Moving Mountains
A wānanga to create intergenerational change by helping māmā reconnect to whakapapa and understand the importance of tūrangawaewae for māmā and pēpi.
This project aims to support Samoan parents in Aoga Amata to be informed and aware of the importance of the first 1000 days of their child's life. Research will be shared and contextualised from a Samoan worldview and delivered in the Samoan language. The programme will be delivered through 19 Auckland Aoga Amata registered with the association with hopes to roll it out to other Aoga Amata in other regions across New Zealand. It is hoped the project will lead to the development of more culturally relevant projects to further promote evidence-based understanding of the importance of the first 1000 days in Aoga Amata. 
Kanapu guides and supports wāhine on their healing journey for the benefit of generations to come. We connect the rural areas of the King Country/Ngāti Maniapoto by creating a marae-based, wānanga space for wāhine and their whānau to join. We also have some online sessions. 
The Masterclass Wānanga that 
A number of today’s kaumātua and kuia from across the motu will discuss their experiences and memories on video, of gentle and nurturing Māori parenting - for the benefit of tomorrow’s parents and mokopuna. They are part of the 
Mamia is a place for māmā and pēpi to rest, create and learn. Based out of a whare on Waipatu Marae, Hastings and centred on a Kahungunu worldview - young women, māma and pēpi can come to rest, connect, have a cuppa or create.
East Coast marae based wānanga on weaving wahakura/pēpi moenga (sleeping baskets). Whānau along the Coast have called for and will now get the opportunity to weave a wahakura for their new pēpi and learn about safe sleeping principles. Muka ties will also be discussed, demonstrated and made. The wānanga builds on the success of a programme earlier provided to Te Aitanga a Hauiti whānau.
Western Bay of Plenty based wānanga for whānau/family to make their own wahakura/safe sleeping pod.
Tāmaki Makaurau branch of the Māori Women’s Welfare League, 
Run by a team of experienced Māori and Pasifika midwives in the Porirua area, this wānanga supports wāhine hapū and whānau to revitalise traditional Māori hapūtanga practices and be immersed in antenatal and childbirth education.