Good morning friends,
You would not believe in your wildest dreams the amazing things that have been happening at Takitimu House. In my ramblings I will try to convey as best I can the kaupapa. This month alone, 10 men have moved into their forever homes. 10 people in less than 4 weeks is momentous!
We do give full credit to our clients who are amazing people however in this post it is our staff that I wish to celebrate. Staff is a very small word, by staff we mean the people who come here paid or unpaid to give of their heart and soul to our people. It is this absolute commitment, much much more than merely turning up to work each day that inspires our whanau to be the best they can be!
This is an email I sent to our team this morning which also incorporates the comments and thoughts from one of our clients moving today:
The email reads:
I wanted to say how amazed and appreciative I am that you all feel so much awhi towards our guys that you put every effort in to celebrate alongside our people in all that they achieve, particularly in terms of yesterday, but not only this. Thank you so much for caring unreservedly for our men. Your awhi and respect towards them is truly reflective in how they walk alongside us and their willingness to forge forward to ensure that their lives are transformed. What we see on a day to day basis is not only attributed to our men but the kaupapa you radiate as a team!
Without a team like you are, who give your all (heart and soul), we would not have a whare full of love, happiness and the achievements that we see! Our whanau can smell lip service at 500 paces, and they clearly do not get this here.
Thank you so much for all that you do, you are a very special team, we (the Trust) and our whanau are privileged that you come to this whare every day.
As I sit here Tane (not his true name for privacy reasons) sits with me and expresses the same heartfelt feelings and emotions in terms of what he feels towards you as a team. Tane says that without you he would not have pulled out of this cycle of despair. He was in a dark space and you as a team brought him to the light. He knew the light was there but could not find it. With your help and guidance, Tane says he can see the light and the bright future ahead. I might add, not only for Tane, but for his children who as we speak are planning to stay with him at his new whare tonight!
Thank you to our community who continuously provide when we ask for help, furniture, or financial donations so we can purchase necessary items. You are an amazing community.
Thank you and awhi to you Kahu, your spirit washes over our guys through the wananga, Kei hea koe. The glaringly obvious changes in our Tane's wairua is like nothing we have seen before. At our whare people dont only have their earthly or physical needs met, their spirits and wairua are rejuvenated once again. We all have our wairua. The wairua of our tane has been damaged in some form during their journeys. This is an aspect that has been too often dismissed in their healing. Kahu supports us and our tane to become whole again.
The photo below is the closing of our last wananga. Their thoughts, feelings, and significant events are out in the open on this piece of paper. At the start of wananga there were very few words to identify this hurt. The wananga through the facilitator, the staff that came in on the weekend to be part of this journey and the clients themselves built a circle of trust. We were all the same and we all had to learn to trust each other, no one was exempt from this beautiful kaupapa.
Our hearts are warm and hopeful for the future!
