Hard to reach communities experience high rates of violence, suicide, homicide and methamphetamine addiction.
Many people in these communities have experienced intergenerational trauma and violence due to being placed into state care and imprisonment. Their overall health literacy is often very low and their distrust of authority means they do not utilise the available health services—which can also be designed and delivered in ways that make them inaccessible. Some health services may even have negative perceptions and struggle to engage with the communities they are supposed to support.
Read about our framework to learn how we do things differently.
Many people in these communities have experienced intergenerational trauma and violence due to being placed into state care and imprisonment. Their overall health literacy is often very low and their distrust of authority means they do not utilise the available health services—which can also be designed and delivered in ways that make them inaccessible. Some health services may even have negative perceptions and struggle to engage with the communities they are supposed to support.
Read about our framework to learn how we do things differently.
Mobilising hard to reach communities
Our framework is premised on the need to penetrate, engage and mobilise marginalised communities. We believe that no one is hard to reach if we really want to reach them. It depends on whether we intend to reach them and how prepared we are to do things differently.
We draw on the principles of community mobilisation, initially used in the delivery of public health initiatives, which are designed to help communities build services and initiatives for themselves.
We recognise that every community is unique and we work with local leaders to develop solutions that address the issues that are important to them while drawing on their strengths, and developing the capacity and capability to lead change for themselves.
Our approach and key definitions
We are now entering the fourth generation of gang whānau. Youth gangs are mostly comprised of the children of gang members, and they're on the same pathway to poor outcomes in health, education, employment, criminal offending and wellbeing.
The current approach of suppression to reduce gang membership and gang violence is not working, and there is a lack of targeted policies to provide social or economic support for gangs.
A lack of support often stems from a lack of understanding.
Click on any of the links below to learn more about our framework. Find out who it's for and why it's important.
The current approach of suppression to reduce gang membership and gang violence is not working, and there is a lack of targeted policies to provide social or economic support for gangs.
A lack of support often stems from a lack of understanding.
Click on any of the links below to learn more about our framework. Find out who it's for and why it's important.
Who is hard to reach and why is the definition important?What are gangs and how can we reduce gang violence? |
What rangatahi need to thriveGang mediation: everything you need to know |
Community-led solutions
Utilising our approach of penetration, engagement and mobilisation, we have held dozens of local hui as well as five national hui with hard to reach community leaders and whānau. The aim of this work is to support hard to reach community leaders to design, develop and deliver community-led solutions that work for them.
We also work towards strengthening:
We also work towards strengthening:
- Health and wellbeing, including building health literacy, health checks, Primary Health Organisation registrations, Maori healing, Alcohol and other Drug services
- Education, training and employment options, including building a culture of education in the home and driver license training
- Parenting education and support, including wānanga and training as Mellow Parenting facilitators
- Cultural identity, including te reo Māori, tikanga Māori, kapa haka
- Community resources and connections, including mara kai, reconnection between kaumatua and hard to reach communities
Contact us
Get in touch if you are interested in learning more about our work or how we can best support you. Simply head over to our contact form or call Harry Tam on +64 (0)27 433 6217.
Photo credit for all images - Aaron Smale