Porirua Whānau Centre Doubles Youth Jobs Program to 40 a Year Under 3-Year MSD Deal
Updated
Updated · poriruanews.co.nz · Jul 19
Porirua Whānau Centre Doubles Youth Jobs Program to 40 a Year Under 3-Year MSD Deal
1 articles · Updated · poriruanews.co.nz · Jul 19
Summary
A new three-year Ministry of Social Development contract will let Porirua Whānau Centre support 40 rangatahi aged 15 to 24 each year, or 120 over the life of the agreement.
The expansion follows six years of results from He Poutama Rangatahi, which started in 2020 with 40 participants over two years, then grew to 50 over two-and-a-half years and later 57.
Porirua Whānau Centre targets young people with major barriers to work, including early school leavers, those without qualifications, justice-system involvement and families with long-term benefit dependence.
The programme combines confidence-building with practical help such as CVs, driver’s licences and work-readiness training, including a food-truck hāngī project that gives hands-on customer service and teamwork experience.
Based in Cannons Creek since 1994, the centre says community trust helps keep participants engaged; one recent attendee who left school at 14 has since landed a job interview and begun tackling addiction.
Why did one successful youth program get more funding while another was forced to close its doors?
Are today's job programs preparing youth for a future market increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence?
A program's success is built on 30 years of trust. Can this unique model truly be scaled nationwide?
Porirua Whānau Centre Secures Three-Year MSD Contract to Double He Poutama Rangatahi Youth Employment Programme
Overview
The Porirua Whānau Centre has secured a new three-year contract with the Ministry of Social Development, leading to a major expansion of its He Poutama Rangatahi (HPR) youth employment programme. With this contract, the HPR programme will double in size, allowing the centre to extend vital support to more young people in the community. This expansion highlights a renewed commitment to tackling youth unemployment and providing meaningful work pathways for rangatahi, especially those who have disengaged from traditional education and see the centre as their last chance for positive change.