Blessings in abundance for the Te Kāika center

The sense of occasion was palpable as hundreds of people gathered for the opening of a community center 20 years in the making.

Te Kāika chief executive Matt Matahaere said he was “very excited” to finally make the organisation’s Wellbeing Center a reality.

“I could not sleep last night.

“It was like I was young again and it was Christmas,” Matahaere said.

The two-storey center in Caversham had three separate office areas for social services and primary health care providers from the Ministry of Social Development (MSD) and Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora (HNZ), allowing them to work under the same ceiling, he stated. saying.

There were meeting rooms, exam rooms, private offices, break areas, a staff center, job search kiosks for visitors, and more.

“Sometimes you feel like you’re bragging forever and suddenly there’s a building, which makes me feel very privileged, very happy,” he said.

The dawn opening began with a whakawātea of ​​the building, a practice used to cleanse the energy of a new space.

The whakawātea was led by mana whenua, blessing each room by delivering karakia throughout the building.

“It has been a beautiful process… we have our absolute weapons guiding us.

“I feel very privileged to always be in that space, it just brings a wairua (soul), an āhua (character) to our building and it becomes a living organism.”

The whakawātea was followed by speeches from representatives of Te Kāika, HNZ and MSD, before ending with an official ribbon cutting.

“There have been a lot of people who have helped us along the way and at the end of the day, we finally have the waka on the moana and it will be sailing.”

Matahaere said he hoped to create a more welcoming place for whānau and the community to come and receive all types of services.

“(I’m) excited that they can come to a place that really feels like theirs.”

Hundreds of people from all sectors of the community gathered in front of the building for the inauguration.

“I always knew my whānau would be there, but I’m very privileged that a lot of people turned up and I felt very honoured.”

The center opened to the public at 8:30 a.m. after the blessing.

Matahaere said he was grateful for MSD chief executive Debbie Power, Ōtākou Health Ltd president Donna Matahaere-Atariki and director Matapura Ellison, who helped make the vision a reality.

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