(Picture caption: The Waitaki Tongan Community Trust received support from the Pacific Aotearoa Community Outreach fund to assist its community combat the effects of the pandemic.)
Equipping people to navigate the impacts of COVID-19 is top of mind for Waitaki Tongan Community Trust.
The Oamaru-based charitable trust provides assistance and support for Tongan people in the area, to meet their cultural growth, health, education, employment and housing needs, while also nurturing their wellbeing.
Earlier this year, the trust received $28,300 funding from round one of the Pacific Aotearoa Community Outreach fund.
This particular fund was established by the Ministry for Pacific Peoples to enable more frequent and responsive engagements between government and Pacific communities to keep Pacific peoples informed and supported in the transition to the COVID-19 Protection Framework (traffic lights).
Programme Facilitator for Waitaki Tongan Community Trust Katalina Veituna, whose role is to coordinate support for the Tongan community, says the trust has been very fortunate to receive funding.
This funding will provide the tools to assist the Tongan community to understand the impacts of COVID-19, the benefits of vaccination, how to use My Covid Record and access MPP Zoom fono, and where to go for extra welfare support, she adds.
“It is being put towards purchasing laptops for online workshops to support the community upgrading their skills and knowledge regarding changes in traffic lights rules and policies.
“It is also being used to run vaccinations clinics to protect our community and promote their health and wellbeing.”
Going forward the Waitaki Tongan Community Trust hopes to set up its own vaccination clinic site for its people, to ensure it can meet its peoples’ needs.
“We also hope to run more online workshops for our people to update them with the current changes in our healthcare system, and to distribute more devices to enable easy access to online training and workshops.”
Applications for a new Pacific Aotearoa Community Outreach Fund, the Omicron Response, are being accepted now.
The Omicron Response fund was established to support Pacific communities to prepare, respond and recover from the social and health impacts of the COVID-19 Omicron variant.
This new PACO fund is part of $18 million in Government funding announced in February 2022.
Applications close on June 30, 2022.
Visit the MPP website for more information on the fund, and to apply.