Jean Mata'afa, who works under the Social Services team as the Team Lead – Social Worker, says that the organisation prides itself on being holistic based and orientated. As a team, they deliver the Whānau Ora service and focus on providing support to their local community whilst empowering them throughout the process. 

"We work with our people to empower them, not to shame them or provide immediate fixes. We want our families to live sustainably. To be in this role, you need to have passion and love for the community."  

Alongside Mata'afa is Cathy Johnny, who is the Social Service Coordinator. Johnny shared that being a largely Pacific team, it helps them better engage with the community of Ōtara and South Auckland, where majority of the population is of Pasifika descent.  

“It breaks barriers for them to see themselves reflected in us. The needs of our community were always there even before Covid-19 and the effects of the pandemic.  

Everyday in our work space we are working with our families who are mostly Pacific or Maori and the common needs we are seeing are sadly what we’d consider your everyday essentials such as food support, rent, clothing and beds and that is why we exist and are here, to help our families and communities.”  

Mata'afa says it is important to promote sustainable living with the families they come in contact with. This may include helping to connect families with external sources and courses that help with their more specific needs, such as job seeker support, courses in trade, aid with getting driver licences and financial capability programmes. These are all areas in which the team are equipped to support their families with.  

For Mata'afa, the most rewarding part of her role is seeing families progress from when they first sought support.  

“When you hear a family talk about how you have impacted and helped their lives for the better, you can’t put into words how that makes you feel. The families are what makes me love what I do here at South Seas." 

Johnny reinforces the same sentiments and says it motivates her to go to work everyday. 

“When I witness changes in a family where their new knowledge and education has helped them to progress forward so dramatically from where they started out, that does it for me. My cup is full and I am reminded of why I love what I do.”  

Both express that the current work that they do through the Whānau Ora service, would not be possible without Pasifika Futures (PFL). 

“Pasifika Futures provide training for us and our team of Navigators. The partnership is really important to us because it helps us to address the needs of our people with ease.  

We have a target of 492 families to support under Whānau Ora, but at South Seas we are always exceeding that number because the needs are so high. PFL are always quick to help us and we are grateful."  

Alongside the social services aid that the Whānau Ora team provide the Pasifika community in Otara, South Seas Healthcare continue to carry out extensive work in other areas such as facilitating language programmes, housing and well-child services and their youth hub.