He Matapuna Ora Charitable Trust (Family Start)

The Family Start programme is a child-centred, intensive home visiting programme that focuses on improving children's health, learning and relationships, whānau circumstances, environment, and safety. It is focused on the first 1,000 days of a child's life, which is the most critical development period as captured in a plethora of scientific research. The programme supports our most at risk whānau/families who are navigating challenges that can compromise the health, education, and social outcomes for our future generations. We work with all ethnicities including a number of former refugee/migrant families. The Family Start programme has proven outcomes including a significant reduction in the child mortality rate for children enrolled in the programme.

To counteract a recent significant reduction in funding received from our government, we need your help. We no longer have fully funded access to all the resources we require to ensure support our tamariki to flourish. We want to be able to provide support to all whānau/families that meet our criteria and are referred to our service.

We are passionate about the service we provide and continue to remain committed to our vision of tamariki having the best possible start to life.

We ask that you support us to continue to provide the Family Start programme and support whānau/families in the Nelson/Tasman regions.