Tēnā koutou
As the year draws to a close, all the team at Haumaru continue to be very busy, putting in place interesting community connection and wellbeing programmes for tenants’ benefit and working on new initiatives for the year to come. There have also been the regular village meetings as well as Community Manager ‘portfolio hand-overs’ following some recent changes, and everyone will of course be getting into the festive spirit with the various Christmas parties now being held around the villages.
There’s always something to look forward to, and we’d love your feedback on other activities or minibus trips, for example, that you might be interested in. Please do also let us know if you’d like to take part in the bowel cancer screening and living smoke-free programmes featured in this edition.
Please remember all your COVID-19 precautions over this festive season and summer holiday period. Unfortunately, there’s still community transmission of the virus, a mix of variants and a rise in reinfection rates, so best to keep up good health and safety practices to minimise the risk.
Also on the theme of staying safe, if your electricity has tripped and your fuse box is high up on the wall, contact 0800 430 101 to advise our Service Desk (or our after-hours service provider). Please don't climb on anything to reach it, as there’s a high risk of your falling and getting injured.
Over the holidays, our staff will be on duty and you can call us 24/7 on our usual number. You can contact us at any time – we’re always here to help. Calls made out of office hours (and during the public holidays) will be answered by our after-hours service as normal.
On behalf of everyone at Haumaru Housing, I’d like to wish you a Meri Kirihimete me te Tau Hou.
Ngā mihi maioha
Gillian Schweizer,
Chief Executive Officer
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Supporting tenants’ health and wellbeing
Two important health and wellbeing programmes of benefit to older people are currently being rolled out across the villages by Haumaru in collaboration with health promotion agencies.
The free National Bowel Screening Programme saves lives by detecting bowel cancer early. We’re working with the Bowel Screening team to bring information sessions to villages to explain how the home testing kits work and to encourage all our tenants to sign up to have a test mailed to them to complete at home. The test is easy to do and, when completed, you can just send it back in the post. The nurse-led drop-in sessions started at Manurewa’s Leabank Court and will be held at other villages according to need. If you haven’t been to your GP in a while, look out for the info leaflets about sessions in your village and register your interest.
Would you like to stop smoking but need some support? In January, we’ll be partnering with the ‘Smoke-free Hang Tuff’ team to help people to give up this life-threatening habit. We’ll be recruiting tenants to participate in this public health initiative, which will involve attending a weekly support group facilitated by smokefree practitioners. If you live smoke-free for a month (confirmed by a carbon monoxide breathalyser monitor), you’ll receive a $100 shopping voucher! You’ll also feel so much better, stop coughing and have more money left at the end of the week. We’ll be distributing flyers about the programme, starting in Otara, and will look to do a phased roll-out across villages.
If you’d like further information on either of these initiatives, please speak to your Community Manager or phone our Customer Service Desk on 0800 430 101.
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Intergenerational activities of benefit to one and all
Community engagement, serving others and sharing fun and laughter no matter the age gap were the focus of a recent visit to Acacia Court by students of Papatoetoe North School. Tenants and students enjoyed a morning of social activities, with the students performing Samoan songs and the Siva Tau (Samoan war dance), and tenants helping their young visitors complete jigsaw puzzles, listening to them read and teaching some sewing skills. Held in the Acacia community house, the event was one of three visits to the village by different class groups aimed at promoting service to others and to elders in the community. Tenants very much enjoyed the time spent with the children, with the visit a great talking point with everyone for the rest of the day.
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Haumaru promotes age-friendly living in Auckland
Haumaru has been working in collaboration with Auckland University on their research project on how older people maintain their core body temperature within their own home. This study was presented at the Age-Friendly Auckland Symposium in November. Hosted by Auckland Council, the event brought together many organisations working with or for older people in Tamaki Makaurau, with a wide range of presentations on the many diverse initiatives that are underway to improve seniors’ wellbeing and ensure that Auckland is age-friendly and inclusive.
Haumaru’s presentation highlighted the ongoing research at Henderson’s Wilsher Village that involves the collection of temperature and moisture data from fixed monitors that were installed in the units when the building first opened in December 2019. This is the first study of its kind and has now entered a second phase, enabling further data to be gathered and comparisons made between the two time periods. Our Tenancy Quality Manager, Maxine Stiling, also spoke about the range of other health and wellbeing initiatives supported by Haumaru and about the digital literacy programme that’s been running in the villages.
Through Maxine’s recent appointment as Chair of Age-Friendly Auckland, we’ll continue to be a key contributor to the project, working with others to progress concepts that will ensure age-friendly living flourishes across our largest city.
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Wanted – your favourite recipes!
As mentioned previously, we’re compiling a Haumaru Housing cookbook, with recipes supplied by tenants. If you’ve a favourite recipe you’d like to share, please write it down for us (or print it out) and post in the Haumaru letterbox. Do make sure you include your name and village, so we can acknowledge your contribution.
Similarly, if you’re an artist and would like to be involved in helping to illustrate our cookbook, please do let your Community Manager know. The deadline for submitting recipes and visual imagery is 31 December 2022.
Peach Surprise recipe: clarification
In our leaflets distributed recently, we used the terms ‘1 stick of butter’ and ‘375°’. To clarify, one stick of butter equates to 113 grams, or 1/2 cup or 4 ounces. The oven temperature is 190 Celsius. Apologies for any confusion. Happy baking!
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Walking his way to fitness
Meet Mr Zhan Zhong of Te Atatu’s Kaumatua Village who has set himself a goal of completing 100 laps around the village before Christmas. Mr Zhong’s a wonderful inspiration to his fellow tenants who encourage him with ‘high fives’ as he walks past. He can be seen walking for two or more hours in the mornings and always with a cheery smile. Keep on keeping on, Mr Zhong!
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Spotlight on…. Sharon Bessem
Sharon’s recently joined our Placements team and has a wide range of experience in the facilities management and travel insurance sectors. In her previous role, she worked closely with Kāinga Ora, assisting in the maintenance of their various properties as well as working with the tenants themselves. As part of this, she also assisted in buying gifts for the families at Christmas time, wrapping up presents and boxing up food items for them to share with whānau. When not in the office, Sharon’s busy learning Japanese for when she travels to Japan again next year for her son’s 21st. Konnichiwa Sharon!
