E Tipu e Rea Whānau services supports young hapū māmā, mātua taiohi (young parents) and their tamariki with a range of health and social services tailored to their needs. Our mission statement is: Supporting mātua taiohi, hapū māmā and pēpi to grow, thrive, and be rangatira within their whānau, hapū, iwi, hapori.

Our qualified and experienced kaimahi work frontline with whānau, providing support and advocacy to secure suitable housing and trying to conquer all the trials and tribulation that comes with this. Our kaimahi see day to day, the dire situation that is housing for whānau in Aotearoa, and the struggle it is to secure, especially for young parents and their babies.

It is welcomed news of the Ministry of Social Development prioritising whānau with dependent tamariki who have been in emergency housing for longer than 12 weeks to the top of the social housing waitlist. At E Tipu E Rea, we see the challenges that our whānau face who are in long term emergency housing, especially as young parents who are hapū, with pēpi and tamariki.

E Tipu e Rea has recently successfully secured a housing innovation funding to support ending homelessness for young parents, and to provide transitional housing for mātua taiohi, hapū māmā and their pēpi. This welcomed opportunity will allow us to operate a kaupapa Māori transitional housing hub, where a program of wraparound support will be delivered to increase cultural, physical, mental, social, parenting, educational, and employment/financial outcomes for mātua taiohi, tāngata hapū, and their pēpi/tamariki.

The housing complex will be based on a papakāinga model developed by E Tipu e Rea Whānau Services. E Tipu e Rea Whānau services has been single minded about achieving this goal due to the continuous housing stresses hapū māmā, mātua taiohi and their tamariki face.

“We hope with this recent change from the government, that our whānau and tamariki will be transitioned faster into suitable, long-term housing, and that we are given further opportunities to deliver great intergenerational outcomes for young parents and their pēpi”

Zoe Witika-Hawke E Tipu e Rea Whānau Services CEO.

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