Aue te Mamae : exploring Te Puea Memorial Marae’s ‘Te Manaaki Tangata Programme’, as an indigenous response to homelessness in Tāmaki Makaurau

Abstract

In 2016, Te Puea Memorial Marae responded to the urgent needs of homeless living in their cars, under bridges, and makeshift dwellings across the wider Auckland Region. The inspiration to respond to homelessness came from the Te Puea Memorial Marae’s namesake, Te Puea Herangi, giving way to the design and implementation of the Marae’s own indigenous homeless service delivery model called, Manaaki Tangata Programme (MTP). MTP used the Marae infrastructure and Marae Tikanga to place 417 Whānau Kāinga Kore (Homeless Families) into homes and helped them get their lives back on track. Alongside the MTP was a research project that started in 2017 to evidence and understand ‘To what extent the Marae and Marae Tikanga can service the needs of homeless whanau and why it was so successful in doing what government agencies at the time could not do. Kaupapa Māoriand Pūrakau (Storytelling) has provided the appropriate methodological qualitative framework for this thesis. This methodological approach respects and reflects the needs of Te Puea Memorial Marae, the tikanga of TPMM and the research participants, many of whom are fluent and fully versed within the own Whakapapa (Genealogy) and Māoritanga (Māori way of life). I drew upon Pūrakau as a methodological approach to narrative enquiry with whānau kāinga kore (families who were homeless), kaimahi (workers) of the Manaaki Tangata Programme and co-located staff from Ministry of Social Development and supporting agencies Te Puni Kōkiri and Housing NZ. The findings from this thesis suggests that the Manaaki Tangata Programme is a uniquely Māori response to homelessness in Aotearoa. Firstly supporting the homeless on a marae ensures the practices of care are governed by uniquely Māori cultural concepts of manaaki (caring), aroha (love), whakapapa (genealogical connectedness) and whānaungatanga (relational connectedness). Kaimahi (workers) of the MTP were also considered marae people, that is kaimahi were raised on marae and socialised into the Māori cultural concepts of marae life that ensured homeless were treated with respect and dignity. Finally, the MTP worked hard to develop strong relationships and partnerships with Government agencies (NZ Police, Ministry of Education, Te Puni Kōkiri, Housing and Urban Development, and Housing New Zealand) had co-located Ministry of Social Development staff at the Marae. This arrangement and effort ensured the needs of homeless whānau were responded to in an efficient manner with humility and care by employees of the State. The MTP has set a benchmark in terms of introducing and practicing a model that blends the Law and Lore to service the urgent and long-term needs of Whānau Kāinga Kore. The MTP Model was uniquely Māori and strongly challenges current western models of homeless service delivery