Three innovative Māori-led health initiatives have secured funding through the first round of the Āti Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board’s Whānau Voice Grants, placing whānau aspirations, lived experience and mātauranga Māori at the centre of improving health outcomes across the rohe.
Announced as part of the Puanga–Matariki Insights Series 2026, the grants recognise that lasting improvements in hauora are best achieved through community-led solutions that empower whānau to shape their own futures.
The successful projects, which began on 1 July, focus on three major health priorities affecting Māori communities: cancer support, diabetes prevention and obesity prevention.
Āti Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board says the initiative reflects its commitment to ensuring local voices guide future health planning while supporting kaupapa that are grounded in tikanga Māori and whānau leadership.
One of the successful initiatives, Matimati Makaurangi: Toi Rongoā – Art Healing Fingerprints, is being delivered through the Kōkiri Marae Keriana Olsen Trust in partnership with the Mana Wāhine Te Mauri cancer support group.
The kaupapa creates culturally safe spaces where whānau affected by cancer can participate in raranga, toi kupu, contemporary movement and rongoā Māori. Through interactive wānanga held across Te Awakairangi and Porirua, participants are supported to share their experiences while strengthening their physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.
Insights gathered throughout the programme will also contribute to the development of more culturally responsive cancer support services.
The second initiative, He Kai kei aku ringa, takes participants back to the whenua and moana, using traditional knowledge and practical learning to strengthen healthy lifestyles.
Delivered over approximately 12 weeks, the programme combines māra kai, sustainable kai moana harvesting and nutrition education within a kaupapa Māori framework.
Participants learn practical gardening, food preparation and harvesting skills while exploring the relationship between kai, tikanga and wellbeing. The programme aims to reduce the risks associated with obesity and diabetes while strengthening whānau connections to healthy, locally sourced food.
Grounded in mātauranga Māori and kaitiakitanga, the initiative promotes long-term wellbeing through prevention rather than treatment.
The third successful project, Ko Au Ko Tōku Whānau, Ko Tōku Whānau Ko Au, places the lived experiences of whānau affected by cancer at the heart of future health planning.
Over nine weeks, up to 12 whānau will participate in filmed interviews, portrait photography and whenua-based storytelling that documents experiences across diagnosis, treatment, survivorship, caregiving and bereavement.
The project concludes with a collective gathering where the stories and portraits are returned to participants as taonga, recognising the importance of whakapapa, tikanga and rangatiratanga throughout each healing journey.
The initiative also seeks to reduce whakamā surrounding conversations about cancer while ensuring future cancer services better reflect the experiences and aspirations of Māori communities.
The Āti Awa Toa Hauora Partnership Board says the three projects demonstrate the strength of locally designed solutions that draw on community knowledge rather than externally imposed approaches.
By investing directly in whānau-led innovation, the board hopes to strengthen prevention, improve access to culturally appropriate services and ensure Māori voices continue to shape the future of healthcare across the region.
The grants also reinforce the importance of Māori-led decision-making in hauora, recognising that sustainable improvements come from empowering communities to identify their own priorities and develop solutions grounded in their own tikanga, mātauranga and lived experience.
As Aotearoa continues to address persistent health inequities, initiatives such as the Whānau Voice Grants highlight the growing role of community leadership in building healthier futures for generations to come.
#RadioWaatea #WaateaNews #ĀtiAwaToa #Hauora #WhānauVoice #Puanga #Matariki #MātaurangaMāori #CancerSupport #DiabetesPrevention #ObesityPrevention #WhānauOra #Kaitiakitanga #MāoriHealth #Aotearoa #SEO
