As of Monday, 93 Māori whānau were fully vaccinated with eight more booked in for their first dose.

“Providing a pick-up and drop-off service to vaccination clinics has been the key. Educating our whānau that being protected against COVID-19 is essential, especially when most of our whānau choose to remain living on the streets in inner city Christchurch,” according to Brenda.

The collective is contracted by Te Puni Kōkiri through the Whānau Recovery Fund to assist with education on the Covid vaccine to homeless whānau and provide a pick-up and drop off service for whānau needing to be vaccinated, as part of efforts to increase Māori being vaccinated in Ōtautahi.

To celebrate that whānau commitment, Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Whānau Tahi acknowledged the homeless community by assisting at the weekly whānau breakfast on Tuesday and performing a few brackets at Margaret Mahy Park. Te Kura tauira had prepared home baked goods during the week.

"The homeless whānau were blown away. As one said, ‘this is what makes me proud to be Māori.’”

“The rangatahi were amazing and our homeless whānau really appreciated the morning. For many this was a great opportunity to reconnect with their culture and uplift the wairua from the beautiful singing and haka that were performed.

Te Puni Kōkiri has been involved with Christchurch Collective for five years, providing funding for two years initially and then helping source funding from other Agencies over the past three years.

Regional analyst Keri Limmer has been cooking breakfasts each Tuesday morning for the past four years.

Kura tauira at the celebration breakfast.