Enabling Good Lives Christchurch Update Posted by Posted by Hannah Perry on 11 December 2020 Posted on: 11 December 2020

Kia ora, Kia orana, Talofa Lava, Bula Vinaka, Malo e lelei, Greetings!

The EGL Christchurch team is thrilled to announce that we have expanded significantly over the last three months. We now have a team of nine connectors/kaitūhono who build a trusting relationship with young people and their whānau, assist people in being aspirational about what the future might hold, and work to make connections enabling plans to turn into action. We also have several supporting roles which ensures that kaitūhono time is where it is most valuable; kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) with young people and families.

The expansion of the team has meant that we can start younger (beginning early!) with ORS funded high school students, to help them think about and move towards building their own good life, now and into the future. We’re working collaboratively with schools to ensure there is one good life plan that begins when the student starts to think about life beyond school, ideally from about age 14.

We’re also working alongside Oranga Tamariki to assist young people with disabilities who are transitioning out of state care and into adulthood. The kaupapa of this work is very aligned to the way we work with all young people; with whakawhanaungatanga (identifying relationships, and growing trusted adults in the life of a rangatahi), and building a mana enhancing plan to assist the rangatahi in developing into the adult they wish to be. We’re beginning to see some beautiful outcomes for young people, including finding homes of their own, gaining success in education and building skills in independence, including taking responsibility for the choices they make.

The EGL Christchurch team has some new office space which is at the Loft in the East of Christchurch. The Loft is a collaborative co-working space, with fellow “Lofties” in organisations that work to support people in terms of family violence, budgeting, new migrants, social housing, community law, mental health, citizens advice and primary health care. We have been warmly welcomed to our new home and acknowledge just how much we have to learn from our office mates! The best outcome is that young people and families are already benefitting from the connections we are building.