CEO & DCE’s Message

Kia ora koutou

This year, we begin with a message that represents a step-change in the leadership journey of Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga.

In previous years you will have been accustomed to reading a “CEO Message” in this space. For Visionwest’s 2024 – 25 year, we write our first Tauihu report from Lisa and Fred. A report that represents our shared leadership journey – more about that soon.

The last 12 months, as always, leaves us awestruck by the incredible mahi of the dedicated staff of Visionwest Waka Whakakitenga. As you read this latest Annual Report, our hope is that you will be encouraged and inspired by updates from our various support services and the stories of whānau whose lives have been transformed as they and Visionwest have journeyed together.

This Annual Report not only highlights Visionwest’s impact nationwide, it also reflects our commitment to staying responsive to emerging needs such as rising hardship, homelessness, and food insecurity. With our partners, we aim not only to respond but to anticipate change as we work towards a future where everyone has a home, food on the table, and hope for tomorrow. Read more about Emerging Needs for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Shared Leadership

Our journey to Shared Leadership and its official launch in August 2024 marks a significant shift in how leadership is understood and practiced within Visionwest. The name given to this shared leadership is Tauihu which reflects the partnership between the Tumu Whakarae and Tumu. According to Māori traditions, the Tauihu (the carved front of a waka) symbolises Māori leadership, guiding through calm and stormy waters, navigating unseen challenges, and embodying a spirit of protection and foresight. At Visionwest, the Tauihu symbolises Shared Leadership. Anchored in seeing transformed lives and healthy communities and guided by Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles, this model is sustained through values of aroha, whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and mana (read more about Our Journey to Shared Leadership)

As leaders, we’re already discovering the power of a model of leadership that emphasises shared responsibility, mutual support, and trust, with kotahitanga (unity) at its heart. The forming and recognition of our Tauihu journey, enables us to operate in our areas of strength while complementing one another and ensuring cohesive, effective, and wairua driven leadership.

As we both look to the future, we believe our collaborative model, grounded in kotahitanga will enrich service design, support whānau to flourish, and reflect Visionwest’s commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

Whānau Services

One important step forward this year has been the joining together of our community services and wraparound navigational supports under the banner of Whānau Services. This change highlights the services’ alignment with organisational growth strategies and Māori development initiatives. For whānau, it enables more seamless support through one, larger and cohesive support structure. For kaimahi (staff), it brings wraparound support programmes closer to one another for shared learning and the strengthening of the outworking of our Kaupapa Māori Framework, He Pou Whakakitenga.

Māori and Pasefika Leadership Development

Importantly, our Strategic Plan includes a strong focus on developing Māori and Pasefika leadership and, under our shared leadership approach, we are seeing more Māori and Pasefika leaders join the Waka. Woven into this Report is the celebration of some of our Māori and Pasefika kaimahi who are leading us forward in the spirit of Te Tiriti and committed to our Kaupapa Māori and Pasefika development journeys.

The Glendale Road Site Campus Development

You will have heard much about this development over the past year or in last year’s report. For the leadership of Visionwest, it’s wonderful to see Stage One underway with our apartments about to begin construction. We look forward to opening our beautiful 24 units to multiple households needing housing support in the next 12-18 months.

While the commissioning of the apartments at our Tūrangawaewae is a significant step, it is only the beginning of the reimagining of our Glendale Road campus. As many of you know, Visionwest has been serving the West Auckland community from a collection of old, patchwork buildings scattered across the Glendale Road site. Buildings that have long passed their ‘used by’ date. In recent years, this has become increasingly inefficient and frustrating for both our kaimahi and the whānau we support.
The time has come for change.

The campus development project is a 100-year plan – it’s about creating a Village of Hope (Kāinga o Te Tūmanako) that will serve our community for generations to come. At its heart will be a Community Hub that houses all of our services creating the environment and infrastructure to serve our communities with aroha and compassion, ensuring whānau get the support they need, from purpose built facilities.

Our Church (Glen Eden Baptist Church – GEBC) and the Trust have worked closely on this project with multiple focus groups and community consultations taking place over the past 12 months. Insights for the design of the Community Hub have been drawn from meetings and workshops with government and council stakeholders, Church members, community leaders, Visionwest kaimahi, and whānau, alongside our wider community. As the earthworks have now begun on our apartments, we’d like to thank all those who have been a part of the project up to now including those who have participated in the consultation process that has helped shape our Community Hub concept to date. (Read more about the Glendale Road Update)

Towards Tomorrow – Ahu ana ki āpōpō

Towards Tomorrow is Visionwest’s five-year strategic plan based on five strategic pou (pillars). It was adopted in 2021 and has underpinned key decisions for Visionwest, enabling significant achievements on our Te Tiriti journey, housing, health and whānau services growth, and organisational infrastructure to strengthen our support for community by holding our staff well. Many of these achievements fill the following pages.

As we come into the last year of the current Strategic Plan, we will, over the 2025/26 Financial Year, be spending time engaging with staff, church, our trustees and the whānau we serve to formulate a plan that will lead us into the next five-year stage and beyond. You can read more about our current Strategic Plan and our process of developing our 2026 – 2031 plan later in this report (see more about Strategy)

Resourcing for Tomorrow

One of the key pou making up our Five-Year Plan has been Resourcing for Tomorrow. Much emphasis has been put into the growth and development of our team members and the team culture within all parts of Visionwest. In the past year, three initiatives have led this focus:

• Te Korowai Taumatanui.
• Pūmanawa.
• Tūhono.

Te Korowai Taumatanui

Te Korowai Taumatanui is Visionwest’s wider leadership ropu (group) consisting of leaders from throughout the organisation. Approx 80 people are part of this group.

The ropu meets two or three times each year to connect face-to-face. The focus is on:

• Strategic updates from the Tumu Whakarae, Tumu, and other Executive Leaders.
• Celebrating our successes.
• Discussing our strategy and sharing upcoming initiatives.
• Learning together and connecting with other leaders.

The benefits this brings is an improvement of communication and engagement between kaimahi (staff) from the various regions as well as ensuring everyone has a common understanding on where the organisation is heading and our joint strategic priorities as a leadership ropu.

Pūmanawa

Pūmanawa, meaning Beating Heart, is the name given to the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) currently under development and planned to be implemented on 1 September 2025.

Pūmanawa will improve the recruitment experience for internal and external candidates, streamline hiring processes, reduce administration and enable staff to manage their own personal data.

Tūhono – staff orientation programme

Tūhono, meaning to connect and belong, is Visionwest’s staff orientation programme designed to create whanaungatanga (relationship) and help new team members feel part of Visionwest’s bigger picture. Read more about Tūhono later in this report.

We are hugely grateful to those who have designed and delivered these programmes which we know will shape our team culture and individual skills in the years ahead.

Emerging Community Needs and Challenges

One thing we have noted over the past year has been the deepening issues of poverty and homelessness within our communities. The escalation of homelessness and deprivation has been evidenced through the rapid increase in demand for both housing and food needs. Associated with the upturn in homelessness is the trauma it brings. The rising tide of presenting needs has placed additional challenges on all kaimahi within both our Community Housing Team and our wraparound Whānau Services. While we celebrate the milestones Visionwest has reached in the past year, we also acknowledge the struggle many whānau are facing and continue to gather insights and evidence to inform our community response initiatives.

We are grateful for the supportive partnerships we have with like-minded organisations as we seek to advocate for those who are experiencing poverty and seek to address the issue of homelessness both practically and through membership of various groups (e.g., Community Housing Aotearoa (CHA) and Housing First) who focus on homelessness and the relief of poverty.

As we look to the future, the government’s announcement of their intention to provide 550 more social housing places in Auckland by end of November 2026 is a positive development which Visionwest will be working hard to be a part of. We will report back on this in next year’s report.

Words of Thanks

As we close this Annual Report, we extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who partners with us in transforming lives and communities. This includes our generous funders and donors, and the many businesses and organisations who provide vital resources and support.

We’re deeply grateful to the Visionwest Trust Board and Executive Team – each person on these teams gives generously of their skills and dedication to serve our communities with purpose and compassion. We would want to mention here our thanks for the wonderful contributions made by retiring Board members, June Lamb, Jerome Edwards, Andrew Fraser and Izak Van Niekerk

Our gratitude also goes to our wider Baptist whānau. It’s inspiring to be part of a movement committed to addressing social needs across Aotearoa. In July 2025, we’ll join Pastor Gary Grut at the Baptist Congress in Brisbane where we’ve been asked to share in two sessions on how the church can positively impact its community.

Finally, a special thank you to Glen Eden Baptist Church for sharing in our mission to build hope together. Te Kapu, our community lunch, is now serving over 100 people every week, continuing to model manaaki (hospitality) and aroha to many of the whānau the Trust serves. It’s a powerful example of connection and care. We acknowledge the incredible team behind it, including our Chaplain Simon Radford, Whaea Nettie Burton and Whaea June Lamb and the whole Te Kapu team, who makes this wonderful time of sharing kai and connection a beautiful experience every week.

To all who so faithfully support the work of Visionwest, thank you. Please be inspired by the reports and stories that follow.

Ko te kura i te kāinga, he taonga mō te marae. A person nurtured in the community, contributes as a taonga in society.

Ngā mihi mahana,

Lisa – Tumu Whakarae.
Matua Fred – Tumu.