MEDIA RELEASE
30 April 2019

There’s a house on Kamo Road where the doors are always open.

This month, 155 Community House is celebrating 25 years of providing social and community support in Northland.

The non-governmental organisation (NGO) is home to services including Taitokerau Community Law, Whanau Support, Food Rescue and, most recently, the Open Arms day shelter.

155’s newly-appointed Chief Executive Officer, Liz Cassidy-Nelson, says the organisation’s vision is, quite simply, “a just society”.

“We are here to support families and whanau in any way it’s required.”

This is how Open Arms came to be. It was established in November, out of need and ahead of securing funding.

“That was the community saying ‘we need to look after the people that don’t have homes’ and we responded to that immediately, because we had to. We can’t ignore the visible.”

Over the years, 155 has initiated a number of community programmes and projects that now stand alone. These include Taitokerau Emergency Housing, Channel North, the Kissing Point waka ama compound, and Otangarei’s Te Puawaitanga Medical Centre.

However, Cassidy-Nelson says creating new services isn’t always the answer, and the organisation also has a role in communicating to government when there are barriers to support or gaps in funding for other community services.

“There is often disconnect between what is needed in our community and how to support that need.”

“We’re the messenger in a way. We draw on advice from our communities and talk to our ministers and government officials if there’s a problem to keep them informed of the issues we are seeing.”

The organisation also supports local marae, providing funding and resources for smaller community projects such as Otangarei Marae’s youth programme.

Cassidy-Nelson says leading the organisation is a fulfilling position to be in.

“We are really privileged at 155, that whanau trust us enough to tell us their stories of hardship and success. Our role at 155 is to support whanau with their sovereignty.”

ends

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