As the Pasifika Medical Association through Pasifika Futures – the Whānau Ora commissioning agency – continues its workstream transition to support Pacific families, the work around the Covid19 Packages of Support has continued to receive support and recently this was through a grant from the J R McKenzie Trust. The grant will be utilised immediately for further Covid-19 Packages of Support for families outside the Auckland region.

Deputy CEO of Pasifika Futures, Taulapapa Wilmason Jensen says, J R McKenzie Trust initially engaged with Pasifika Futures to see how it could aid in supporting vulnerable Pasifika communities in other parts of the country.

“We have had a relationship with J R McKenzie Trust over a number of years. I commend the Trust and trustees for reaching out. They share our concern for vulnerable communities and wanted to do something to help. We are really grateful,” says Jensen.

Director of J R McKenzie Trust’s Peter McKenzie Project, Iain Hines says “it was a no brainer” with Pasifika Futures being in the right position to be able to directly provide support to Pacific communities.

“It’s a very unusual time, and even though we know we can only put a little splash in the bucket of what is needed, it felt like the right thing to do. Beyond that, Pasifika Futures have a great system to be able to distribute resources through all their partner groups. They have such a good understanding of what’s going on, on the ground. We absolutely trust them to get it right”.

“We also really admire and cherish the work that their partners on the ground do. That’s tough mahi but really important. For organisations like the Trust, we can’t do this work alone, we need to connect with these agencies on the ground.”

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Date: Friday 08 May 2020