Te Ranga Tupua Iwi Collective have setup four mobile covid response teams operating within the Whanganui, Rangitīkei, Ruapehu, and South Taranaki regions, following successfully securing funding from Te Arawhiti – the Office for Māori Crown Relations as part of the Government’s Māori Communities COVID-19 Fund.

The mobile units are led by the experienced teams from iwi health providers, Te Oranganui Trust in Whanganui, Ngā Waihua o Paerangi Trust in the Waimarino, Te Kōtuku Hauora Ltd and Mōkai Pātea Services who together deliver a team in Rangitīkei. Tupoho Iwi and Community Social Services will also deliver a welfare function in Whanganui and across the rohe.

“Our providers have been working tirelessly throughout the entirety of the COVID-19 response to provide support to our whānau no matter the need. Our teams are working 6 days a week at present in an effort to reach as many people as possible in the lead into the holiday period and before the country opens up” says Elijah Pue, Operations Lead for Te Ranga Tupua.

“Our teams have hit the road – heading directly to the people, to the areas where there are barriers to access, where people are uncertain and where there is a need for that extra bit of support. We will share a cuppa, have a kōrero with our whānau and provide them with the information they need to be prepared, particularly now that COVID-19 is present in our community.

“This is a 15-week rapid response rollout which has the main goal of increasing vaccination rates across our rohe. In doing so we are also understanding and responding to their needs –regardless of which side of the fence they sit on. The oranga of our whānau is top priority so doing anything we can to support them is paramount”.

The rapid response effort is led by an operations team who actively work with our providers to ensure deployment is informed by the needs within each community. Elijah Pue (Ngāti Rangi) has been appointed operations lead alongside Danny Broughton (Ngaa Rauru) logistics and procurement lead, Chris Kumeroa (Global Risk Consulting) data and intelligence lead, and the team from Tukua Storytelling Studio who are providing communications support.

Information on the times, dates and locations of the mobile teams will be available at through the normal provider channels and promoted across Te Ranga Tupua entity platforms.

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