Ōhinga Tū

A milestone in October 2024 was the arrival of Hadleigh Pouesi as Ōhinga Tū Service Lead. His leadership has been pivotal in creating positive team culture and introducing key changes.

Ōhinga Tū has three main programmes to support young people: He Poutama Rangatahi, Youth Services and our Youth Justice mentoring programme. All have had some big wins over the last year and have developed to meet the everchanging needs of our community. We also piloted a Community Coaching programme through the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) which assisted young job seekers into meaningful employment roles throughout Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland.

He Poutama Rangatahi

He Poutama Rangatahi continues to evolve and has become an in-demand programme within our community. Our team of mentors journey alongside young people supporting them toward employment and educational pathways. We have seen many lifechanging achievements through this platform including having young people move into management positions, seeing young offenders re-engage into full time education and cheerleading young people into their first job opportunities. Our team of mentors, under the leadership of Kelly Astle, have continuously put young people first and have created a safe space that cultivates youth to go over and above.

Youth Services (Youth Payment, Young Parent Payment and NEETs)

Under the guidance of Sa’o Mulivai, the Youth Services team have celebrated several client achievements this year, particularly young mothers in the Youth Payment (YP) and Young Parent Payment (YPP) programmes who, through our partnership with Henderson High School, gained NCEA Level 2 and 3 and secured entry into university. Many have also transitioned into safe and stable accommodation – an especially meaningful outcome for those who had previously been living in cars. Nationally, we’re a leading provider in this service, and our team of Youth Coaches continually provide amazing outcomes for
local rangatahi.

Youth Justice

Adam Latoa is a seasoned veteran in the field of youth development and has single handedly developed a mentoring programme that unlocks pathways for some of West Auckland’s most vulnerable youth and young offenders to thrive, succeed and carve out a bright future for themselves. Adam’s ability to create authentic bonds and meaningful relationships with rangatahi has seen many young people exit the youth justice system and work towards a meaningful future.

Highlights from this year

Highlights of the year included a partnership with Youth Week, enabling strong community connections. We have also successfully operated Ready to Rent, Young Parents and Budgeting workshops for young people and we were a national leader for the Community Coaching pilot which saw many young people get their first taste of the workforce. We have established the Step-Up youth network, a West Auckland wide network of youth practitioners which keeps us connected to kaupapa (plans/values) spanning across our region. We also hold a leadership position in the Pou Pasifika action group which is a nationwide platform that will inform Pacific Youth Development best practice at a global scale.

Moving forward

While the removal of the Glendale Road building means temporary relocation, the team looks forward to moving into new purpose-built facilities when they are completed. We have secured a premise in Henderson which will create a place of belonging for local youth and give us a chance to develop our Ōhinga Tū strategic vision and mission.

We’re working towards developing three pou (pillars) that will serve as the base of our Ōhinga Tū operations:

• Provision Pou: A pillar designed to create programmes that equip young people with the tools needed to obtain their goals and broaden their horizons.
• Aspiration Pou: The fence at the top of the cliff that unlocks potential in youth to dream big and inform policy for young people across the Aotearoa. We’re currently working with Local Boards to develop what this looks like and we’re excited to see this kaupapa come to fruition in the new year.
• Community Pou: This pou keeps our waka tethered to the heartbeat of our community. We want to be a leader in youth development and work collaboratively with likeminded organisations and changemakers to resource the grass roots and frontline youth work.

Hadleigh Pouesi, Ōhinga Tū Service Lead, says of the future, “I’m excited to see the next chapter of Ōhinga Tū. I ‘m honoured to lead a team of driven kaimahi who put young people at the centre of everything they do. I believe 2025 – 2026 will be a year of both, ploughing the soil and harvesting the crops. I can see that there are many mighty mountains in front of us to climb but I believe in my team, and the early fruit I’ve seen in the young people we have supported this year assures me that we’re on the right track.”