Western News: June 25, 2020

WESTERN NEWS Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Thursday June 25 2020 3
News
Housing agency finds ways
to better support community
KĀINGA ORA supported more
than 42,000 people through
wellbeing calls during Covid-19,
prompting the Government
agency to change the way it
works with them.
With workers unable to be
in the community, they fielded
thousands of calls to check up on
those in public housing.
Because of this, they are
working to understand the root
causes impacting people’s ability
to live well in their homes, moving
away from a transactional
approach to one focused on being
kind and compassionate
For Shirley, hearing a familiar
voice during lockdown was
enough to help her get through.
“I do spend time alone when I’m
home because, sadly, I don’t see
much of my family,” she said.
“Hearing a friendly voice on
the phone, simply asking ‘How
are you?’, was lovely.”
She was contacted by her
tenancy manager, Renee, when
Covid-19 meant the Kāinga Ora
team could not spend the time
in their communities as they
ordinarily would.
Other benefits to keeping in
touch more often meant Shirley
let Renee know about a fall that
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POSITIVE: Kāinga Ora tenant Shirley, with her tenancy
manager, Renee, benefitting from one of the many changes
the agency is making to better support its community. ​
had affected her mobility.
The agency was able to put
things in motion as lockdown
restrictions ease, arranging for
an occupational therapist to visit
her home to advise on modifications
to make it easier for her to
get around.
Kāinga Ora supports more
than 200,000 people in more than
65,000 homes across the country.
Many have wide-ranging needs,
from financial assistance to mental
health support.
As of June, more than 42,000
people had been spoken with,
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3,800 people had received direct
financial support and hundreds
helped with food or medical
needs.
Financial capability training
packages for Kāinga Ora’s
customer-facing roles were also
being developed.
Kāinga Ora is making
changes to the way it serves its
tenants later this year, with a
differentiated service response
tailored to individual needs and
to ensure they have timely and
positive engagement with the
organisation.
Vision loss charity
aims to fill a gap
• From page 1
“Some people don’t understand
the impact of losing that vision is
on your life, and not being able to
do the things you love anymore,”
she said.
“I’m a strong person, but I
balled my eyes out. I had all these
plans - what did this mean now?”
Her vision for #Blindsided
NZ as a charity was to provide
that same level of support, but
having a charitable status meant
they could apply for funding and
grants.
Having the extra funding
meant that they could also
provide low vision assessments,
coaching and referrals to established
agencies in conjunction
with the emotional support.
Said Ms Whitfield: “Moving
forward, various clinics, DHBs
and agencies across the country
will work with #Blindsided NZ as
a trusted partner to ensure that
clients have end-to-end support
throughout their journey.
“We aim to fill a gap in the vision
loss client pathway from prediagnosis
to supported living and
beyond; we don’t want anyone
falling through the cracks.”
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Chrissie Whitfield
She encouraged people to donate
to the cause because “every
single one of us knows someone
with vision loss.”
“If people don’t have emotional
support, they can’t move forward
and are caught in a life of negativity
and fear.”
Donate to #Blindsided NZ at:
https://givealittle.co.nz/cause/
help-blindsided-nz-supportpeople-with-low-vision
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