Changing lives — one job at a time
Latest figures show 6210 more people in the Bay of Plenty are on benefits than a year ago and the
number of long-term unemployed has almost doubled. Carmen Hall reports on a grassroots employment programme in Fordlands, one of New Zealand’s most deprived communities, that’s
changing lives and tackling intergenerational welfare dependency.
“I was going through some s*** in my life. I was at breaking point and I needed someone to talk to.
Te Ra Hokianga
Avisit to Fordlands Community Centre changed Te Ra Hokianga’s life. A high school dropout who joined a gang after being expelled from school for fighting, he turned to the centre when his life hit a low point.
He had previously helped coach kids’ sport at the centre and looked upon the manager as a sister — so that was who he turned to for guidance.
“I was going through some s*** in my life,” Hokianga says.
“I was at breaking point and I needed someone to talk to.”
He had also heard on the grapevine about the centre helping people into jobs.
During his visit, he met a trailblazing employment coordinator on a mission to get members of the community into work.
He soon had an interview for a job as a dairy assistant on an award-winning farm in
Mangakino.
The 25-year-old father of two had held a variety of jobs in the past but wanted a job with career progression.
Seven months later, Hokianga is in his happy place looking after a herd of about 1100 cows he refers to as “my girls”.
The job is physical but he enjoys it despite working 10 days straight due to staff shortages.
“I love it. I am outside and doing something different every day.”
“It feels great, I am out of the hood but Fordlands will always be my home.”
e Ra Hokianga’s story is not unique to Fordlands, one of New Zealand’s most deprived
communities, but his success is at the heart of an employment programme hoping to change lives.
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) Bay of Plenty regional commissioner Mike Bryant says for this to happen more employers need to give people who have been affected by “drugs, gangs and all sorts of other things” a second chance.
The number of long-term unemployed is at record levels and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is widening: MSD is now dealing with the challenges of intergenerational welfare dependency — in some cases, three generations of the same family are collecting a benefit.
The social impact of this on communities was huge.
“It doesn’t take rocket science to work out gangs and people that thrive on poverty and dealing with difficult people survive really well in communities where we don’t actually care enough to help get
It’s good for a man as they are head of the family and they get to support them financially and it gives their children something to look up to.
It’s hard because some people have been on the couch and out of work for years.
“It doesn’t take rocket science to work out gangs and people that thrive on poverty and dealing with difficult people survive really well in communities where we don’t actually care enough to help get them a job.”
Ministry of Social Development Bay of Plenty regional commissioner Mike Bryant
Kristian Pomana
them a job,” Bryant says.
People on the benefit wanted to work but some had given up after constant rejection.
“Many have had 100 rejections so when do you give up, at 101?”
The latest figures Bryant had access to show there were 5316 more working age people on benefits in the Bay of Plenty (33,702) than two years ago.
“Many have had 100 rejections so when do you give up, at 101?” Mike Bryant
T
he number of people who were on benefits for two to five years had nearly doubled from 5772 in January 2020 to 9170 in June.
Now long-term beneficiaries of more than five years outnumber those who have been on a benefit for less than a year.
The ministry required an Official Information Act request to reveal how many people nationally were long-term beneficiaries.
About 40 per cent of children were not going to school on a regular basis and some were waiting until they turned 18 to sign up for the benefit, Bryant said.
When Fordlands Community Centre employment co-ordinator Kristian Pomana started his role, which is funded by MSD, about a year ago he wondered how he could make a difference.
He stared out the window and decided to hit the streets.
“I had a notebook and papers and I just started walking and knocking on doors.
“I introduced myself and asked if anyone was interested in getting help to find a job. In one street I got five people and I managed to secure work for them,” Pomana says.
Those jobs were in traffic management and hospitality and about 20 people have so far got jobs under Pomana’s watch.
His work doesn’t stop once people have secured a job. He drives some of them to work, makes their lunch and gets kits with work boots. He follows up with pastoral care, conversations and encouraging text messages.
Pomana said it was rewarding to see someone get a job, especially if it was a father, because it boosted their self-esteem and allowed them to set an example for their children.
“It’s good for a man as they are head of the family and they get to support them financially and it gives their children something to look up to. It’s hard because some people have been on the couch and out of work for years.”
“I just started walking and knocking on doors. I introduced myself and asked if anyone was interested in getting help to find a job.”
Fordlands Community Centre employment coordinator Kristian Pomana
P omana left school at age 14 and
had no dreams or aspirations. He got caught up in drugs and gangs.
His first job was throwing rubbish bags onto the truck in Fordlands before his boss gave him a pep talk.
He told him he was wasting his talents on the back of a waste truck and should make the most of his skills.
Those words of inspiration led to a long-term stint in civil works before Pomana decided he wanted
“to give back to my people”.
Fordlands Community Centre programmes manager Maraea Pomana said education and employment broke the poverty cycle.
She acknowledged Fordlands had gangs but said it was a closeknit community where neighbours looked after each other.
The next task on Bryant and Pomana’s agenda is gearing up for a big challenge next year.
The pair has committed to sending a busload of Fordlands unemployed to seasonal jobs in the kiwifruit industry.
Bryant hopes it could lead to fulltime employment and would show potential employers that beneficiaries wanted to work.