Kia ora koutou,
| Kia ora koutou,Welcome to the Community Living Autumn 2025 Newsletter! As the days get a little shorter and the weather gets a little cooler, we’re excited to share some updates and upcoming events with you. This edition includes important info about our strategic plan, a reminder about the upcoming Family Forums, and of course we’re very pleased to welcome Sally Rosenberg and Andrew Ellis to the team. We hope you enjoy reading it, and please feel free to reply with any questions or thoughts. Ngaa mihi nui, David Oldershaw Chief Executive   We’re pleased to share our first half-yearly progress update on our strategic plan. When we launched this ambitious programme, we committed to reporting back twice a year—this is our first check-in with you. The first year has been about laying solid foundations. Some of this work is already making an impact, while other initiatives will take time to fully develop. We are focused on the priorities you raised during our Future Focus sessions and ongoing forums, ensuring that our efforts align with what matters most to you. A key milestone has been the Nou Te Mana pilot, which is working with three pilot groups in residential settings. The goal is to create a real alternative to traditional residential services—one that gives people more choice and control over their lives in line with Enabling Good Lives principles. A year in, we’ve learned valuable lessons and are exploring how to extend these opportunities to others. We’ve also made great strides in practice model development to ensure consistency and alignment with EGL principles. Our quarterly forums with people we support, their whaanau, and staff have been reinstated and are growing in engagement—another round is coming up in March, so be sure to register. A major concern we’ve heard from families is about family succession—what happens when they can no longer support their loved one. We are actively considering options and look forward to further discussions on how we can help. Other key developments include:
We’re doing all this in a challenging environment, but we’re not waiting for government action—we are shaping our own future together. While we won’t always get it right, we are committed to continuous improvement and working with you to create better outcomes for everyone. Thank you for your support and engagement. We look forward to sharing more progress in the months ahead. Come and join us on the 18th for our quarterly family forumThis event is for family and whaanau of people supported by Community Living. This is your chance to ask questions or make any comments to our leadership. Our CE David Oldershaw and Board members will be there discussing the sector and our progress as an organisation, and answering your questions. Can’t make it? Please click “register” to leave a question and we will do our best to answer. Family forum details: 530pm Tuesday the 18th of March, The Kauri Room, Community Living Head Office, 180 Collingwood St, Hamilton Map You can also suggest topics to cover or ask questions. This forum is for family and whaanau of people supported by Community Living. We will announce separate dates for forums for people we support shortly. A quarterly staff forum is being held at 12pm on Wednesday 26 March at 180 Collingwood Street. Families register here  Did you know we have a productive garden? It’s called Maara Kai. Here on the left is Leon, one of our amazing staff, and Jessie. What an epic marrow harvest!  We’re delighted to welcome Sally Rosenberg as General Manager Property and Projects. This is a new position with responsibility for our property portfolio and a new project management function. We have ambitious plans for housing as reflected in our strategic plan, so it is important we have a position at GM level dedicated to this work. Sally has valuable experience in property and infrastructure and in leading project management functions in a range of sectors. Sally most recently worked as Senior Delivery Manager for Resolution 8 (IT/Data Project and Advisory) and prior to that has a range of independent experience in commercial and business development roles in health, education and waste to energy sectors. Sally will lead the property team and will be a member of the Leadership Team.  We’re also delighted to welcome Andrew Ellis as General Manager – Business Operations. Andrew brings over 20 years of experience in senior finance and business services roles across a range of organisations and sectors, including public practice, local and global commercial enterprises, and the health and disability sector.Andrew most recently worked as Interim Finance Lead, Waikato at Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand, where he provided financial and strategic leadership and oversight across the district’s services and activities. Prior to that, he held various leadership roles including Director of Finance Advisory at Waikato District Health Board and General Manager Corporate Services at Your Way | Kia Roha.Andrew will lead the business operations team and will be a member of the Leadership Team. Please join us today in welcoming Sally and Andrew to Community Living! NZ Disability Support Services: submissions open until 24 March Make a submission | Disability Support Services This consultation is focused on the 50,000 disabled people, and their whānau, who receive essential disability support after an assessment from: a Needs Assessment and Service Co-ordination (NASC) organisation, or an Enabling Good Lives (EGL) site. NZDSS want to stabilise disability support services so that they are fairer, more consistent, more transparent, and sustainable into the future. This consultation will support them to develop options for government to achieve this and respond to the recommendations of the Independent Review of DSS, before considering further work to strengthen disability support services into the future. Click here to view our 2024 Annual Report  Our much-loved Pou, Wairahi Taiapa, recently decided it was time to retire after 36 years with Community Living. Wai had a number of roles in her time with us, starting in 1989 as Office Manager and more recently as Iwi Liaison. She has been the strongest of advocates for Community Living, the people we support and our staff and has made many valuable connections in the community on our behalf. Through Wai Community Living has the privilege of a much-valued relationship with Te Papa-o-Rootu Marae in Whatawhata. We said farewell to Wai at a function at Te Papa-o-Rootu Marae in February. We will of course miss her greatly, but I know we will find ways to maintain a strong connection. Ngaa mihi nui Whaea! David |
 Creative Crew will be back with a new name and look during 2025, watch this space!  |
