Taimahi Trust Youth Coordinator

Taimahi Team

Taimahi Trust received a grant of $31,065 for a one-year pilot of a new Youth Coordinator role. The Youth Coordinator is focusing on helping people with intellectual disabilities develop the many skills they need to succeed in the workplace through a new social skills programme. The IHC Foundation’s seed-funding will enable Taimahi Trust to show good outcomes from this pilot year, supporting them to secure long term funding for this programme from alternative sources.

Taimahi Trust, based in Whangarei, runs multiple social enterprises providing immersive training opportunities to people with intellectual disabilities. The focus is on the skills needed to transition from school into meaningful employment and genuine participation in the community.

They learn to grow herbs in the greenhouse; get retail and sales experience in the shop, selling the produce they have grown and other retail products; learn barista skills and get experience making and selling coffee at the coffee station; and develop cooking skills in the kitchen that provides food for the shop.

By introducing a Youth Coordinator, trainees are also developing the ‘soft skills’ that are required to help them succeed both in the workplace and socially. Skills like teamwork, problem solving, communication and participation in the community outside of work. The holistic, person-centred approach means success for the trainees can look like many things, beyond securing paid work.

Bree is one of the trainees who is now working part-time at the Whangārei Hospital café, having gained further experience stepping in for the chef who supervises the Taimahi kitchen.

“At Taimahi, I liked working in the kitchen and shop.  I learned how to make pies, bread, biscuits, and how to operate the till in the shop. I gained a lot more confidence in doing it.  I learned to run the kitchen on my own and also helped my coworkers out.

At first, I was nervous about running the kitchen on my own and being a role model, but as I was doing it, I gained more and more confidence, and the kitchen ran so smoothly, and the chef was so proud of me for doing it too.

And that is how I got my job at the hospital.  I enjoy working on the till, with my supervisor and talking to the doctors and nurses.”

When Rhianna left school she faced communication barriers and struggled to interact with others. By coming to Taimahi each week she has learnt new skills and has built a community at the Trust. Rhianna is now one of Taimahi’s leading trainees in the kitchen training environment, equipped with a range of skills including pie and hot cross bun making. These skills have spilt over into her home life too where she now helps prepare food for the family.

Her father Peter says, “she’s much more open, talks more to people. Her speech has come up quite a bit. Now before she goes to work she actually makes her bed. That used to be a struggle, so we are quite happy with that.”

Personal development and soft skills training are staples of the Taimahi programme, and the IHC Foundation is proud to be playing an important part in helping to develop this part of the programme. With a huge emphasis on having high expectations and belief in people, the transformational impact this programme has is there for all to see.

Rhianna proudly states “I have fun at work, with all my friends”. When asked what she likes about Taimahi, her response says it all – “I’m happy!”.

 Photo caption from left to right: Trainee Rhianna, Trainee Bree, Taimahi team, Trainee Te Wairere