The Kindness Institute (TKI), a community-mandated youth mental health charity is seeking urgent funding support. As the youth mental health crisis continues, their Government funding has been cut and redirected to other priorities.

TKI and specifically their core program Atawhai is creating life changing, long term positive effects to the hauora and wellbeing of the rangatahi they work with.

“In a climate of ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’ solutions, TKI leads rangatahi away from that cliff. How? By delivering impactful, evidence-based and scientifically-proven programs that are rangatahi-led and equip young people with tools to manage all of life’s inevitable challenges.” says TKI Director Brady Polkinghorne.

“The problem isn’t the lack of solutions, it’s directing funding into the solutions that are proven time and time again to work. We’re endorsed by academic studies, community leaders and iwi, not to mention the thousands of rangatahi we’ve supported since 2016.”

TKI says that while they’ll always continue to seek and utilise Government funding, these streams of funding are not reliable enough to consistently support and most importantly grow this kaupapa to a place where they can provide it to as many rangatahi as possible.

TKI Youth Development Manager Zane Wedding adds, “there will never be enough money for mental health, but people power is permanent: receiving funding from people who believe in the kaupapa allows us to grow without relying on funding that can dry up at the change of a government. We know people care about the well-being of our youth in Aotearoa. We need them to join us, and together we can create the change our governments haven't been able to achieve. Mā tō rourou mā taku rourou kia ora ai e te iwi ”

TKI is looking for 1,000 regular donors and any major funding opportunities for the kaupapa, for the long term. This will allow them to continue to support their existing programs, benefitting predominantly Māori and Pasifika rangatahi whilst also expanding to support more rangatahi across the motu.

Kristina Cavit, MNZM, TKI Founder says “As a community, as a nation we need to invest in resilience programs for our young people that are working. We know what we’re doing works and the data backs it up. We’ve seen kids turn around their anxiety, depression, antisocial and criminal behaviours.

In 2018 over 14,000 New Zealanders agreed that our program needs to be funded, through the petition we gave to the Government's Inquiry into mental health. We’ve been let down by the government again and their last minute diversion of funds means that very soon we can’t pay our staff and cover our basic program needs.”

“Our rangatahi don’t deserve more instability or for this program to be cut. TKI changed my life. This kaupapa is changing the lives of our young people and our whānau, forever” says 19 year old Te Aorangi Kowhai-Morini; a graduate from Atawhai and now kaimahi and Board Member at TKI.

The Kindness Institute is a kaupapa Māori-aligned, rangatahi-led youth mental health charity that exists to empower marginalised communities in Aotearoa, to support wellbeing, through movement and mindfulness, community and leadership. TKI strives to create equity in wellbeing through their mahi that is financially accessible, is grounded in te ao Māori and focuses on extensive, long-lasting change within the communities they serve.

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