“We will get through this. Access the support that’s there and support each other.”
Hon Carmel Sepuloni, the Minister for Social Development & Employment, is encouraging Pasifika people to access the support that is available through her ministry.
With current Alert Level restrictions in place, there is a suite of support available in the community for Pacific people to access.
The Ministry of Social Development along with other Government agencies are supporting a number of social service, community, iwi and Whānau Ora organisations to provide vital support to Pacific people’s aiga/kopu tangata/kāinga/magafaoa/matavuvale/kāiga (family).
Pacific providers are here to help:
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- South Seas Health Care are only taking phone consultations at the moment but can support you with food and support packages if you’re enrolled with the service. South Seas are also running a programme called ‘Bubblegum’, who have a team of 16 navigators who are available to work with young people. Send [email protected] an email and they will call you back within 48 hours.
- Vaka Tautua are operating a FREE Pacific helpline 0800 OLA LELEI (0800 652 535) service where people can talk to a trained Pacific mental health or social worker about any worries, issues or concerns they may have due to COVID-19 (coronavirus) in the Auckland region. The phone line is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 8.30pm. The languages offered are Cook Islands Māori, Samoan, Tongan and English. If callers need additional help and support, the Ola Lelei team will connect them to the appropriate services.
- The Fono Feleoko Food Hub
Phone: 0800FONO4U / 0800 366 648 Email: [email protected] - The Village Community Services Trust
Maliena Jones Phone: 09 826 5427 / 021 845 535
Support in other languages:
To speak to MSD in another language, you can ask for an interpreter when you call:
- 0800 559 009 for general enquiries or 0800 663 003 (Samoan), 0800 669 009 (Tongan)
- 0800 552 002 for enquiries about NZ Super or Veteran’s Pension.
- You can also ‘read’ or ‘listen’ to information in a number of languages on the Work and Income website; Arabic, Cantonese, Hindi, Mandarin, Samoan and Tongan, for example.
Jobs, employer support and training options:
MSD is also coordinating a new service to help you connect to the wide range of supports and advice available through government agencies, and to help workers and businesses deal with the impact of COVID-19.
Click here to see the vast range of government services for job seekers, employers and people interested in training or retraining; ranging from, apprenticeship support, job vacancies, careers advice, wage subsidies and other COVID-19 economic and business support measures, and government funded programmes. The Connected website is supported by a Connected phone line (0800 264 737)
If you need to self-isolate, or are awaiting COVID test results, support is available:
- The COVID-19 Short-Term Absence Payment is available for businesses, including self-employed people, to help pay their workers who cannot work from home while they wait for a COVID-19 test result.
- The COVID-19 Leave Support Scheme is available for employers, including self-employed people, to help pay their employees who need to self-isolate and can’t work from home.
- The Wage Subsidy March 2021 is a payment to support employers, so they can continue to pay employees and protect jobs for businesses affected by the rise in alert levels on 28 February 2021.
- The Resurgence Support Payment (RSP) is a payment to help support viable and ongoing business or organisations due to a COVID-19 alert level increase to level 2 or higher. If your business or organisation is facing a reduction in income due to an alert level increase, you may be eligible for the RSP.
Useful key contacts:
Youthline: 0800 376 633
Healthline: 0800 611 116
Women’s Refuge crisis: 0800 733 843 – 24 hours
Family violence information line: 0800 456 450
Shine National Helpline: 0508 744 633
Shakti – for migrant and refugee women: 0800 742 584
Elder Abuse Helpline: 0800 32 668 65
