The ProCare Charitable Foundation has today announced $250,000 of funding has been made to nine organisations in Auckland who are striving to reduce health inequity, alleviate the symptoms of poverty and increase community health and well-being.

This comes at a crucial time with the cost of living putting a strain on many whānau and community organisations.

ProCare Foundation Chair June McCabe says: “We received some fantastic applications from many community and charitable organisations that are doing amazing mahi. We are so pleased to provide support so they can continue to help our vulnerable communities.”

The Foundation was established by the shareholders of ProCare Health Limited in 2013 with Trustee and Administration services being provided by Public Trust.

“On behalf of the Foundation Board we thank ProCare and Public Trust for their continued support,” concludes McCabe.

Glenys Talivai, CEO at Public Trust says: “2023 marks the 150th year that Public Trust has been supporting and taking care of individuals, their whanau, and the New Zealand community.

“We are privileged to work with an organisation such as the ProCare Foundation to help them provide care and protection for vulnerable Kiwis.”

Since the establishment of the ProCare Charitable Foundation in 2015 it has granted over $1.8 million in funding to benefit the Greater Auckland Region with the aim of reducing health inequity, alleviating the symptoms of poverty, and increasing community health and well-being.

Recipients of the 2022 ProCare Charitable Foundation funding were:

Organisation: Heart Kids NZ Inc
Project: Salary of South Auckland RHD & Family Support Worker
The family support team is dedicated to being there for everyone who navigates a heart journey. Often, families are faced with separation, loneliness, isolation, financial hardship, stress and uncertainty about the future. The team of trained, passionate family support taituarā are based around Aotearoa NZ, so families are supported when and where they need it most.

Organisation: The Friendship House Trust
Project: Support to women and girls with violence and abuse issues
Friendship House helps to enrich and change people’s lives by providing the knowledge and support to help them take control for themselves. Its services are delivered to nurture, encourage and challenge people towards personal growth, and family and community wellbeing.

Organisation: Dayspring Trust
Project: Counselling and Life skills Programmes for 300 at risk women
Dayspring began over 40 years ago with a group of women in West Auckland who saw a need in the community that wasn’t being met.
Since those early beginnings the organisation has been working with vulnerable families and has a long history of positive involvement with mothers and their babies who are living with post-natal depression or an ongoing mental illness. Dayspring provides programmes and services that are designed to positively influence the pathways for women and their families.

Organisation: Talk Link Trust
Project: Assistive Communication Equipment Support to 5102 people with communication disabilities.
The team is passionate about breaking down the barriers to communication and participation. It does this by providing Assistive Technology tools and strategies. The TalkLink team consists of speech-language therapists, occupational therapists, teachers, and technicians. They partner with disabled people, their families and whānau, as well as their support teams to provide services throughout New Zealand, and usually travel to meet their clients in a location chosen by them.

Organisation: Home and Family Counselling Inc
Project: Triage Counselling for 500 low-income families in Auckland
Home and Family Counselling is a well-established community-based counselling service. It provides counselling to children, youths, individuals, couples and families. It has a credible record of achieving positive outcomes for its clients. It is committed to providing a high standard of counselling that remains affordable (through voluntary contributions) and accessible to all.

Organisation: Family Success Matters
Project: Support to 230 ‘at high risk’ single mothers and children
Family Success Matters (FSM) helps parents give their tamariki the best future they can. This could mean support with healthcare, education, safety, parenting, or connecting families with other social service providers.
FSM understands that families can have difficulties, setbacks and - in some cases - traumatic experiences. These may include challenges such as mental illness, drug, alcohol or gambling addiction, and relationship issues where parents have had trouble with their children, partner or family.

Organisation: Youth in Transition Charitable Trust
Project: Counselling and therapy services for suicidal youth
The people of Youth in Transition believe in our mission. Everyone including its therapists, executive director, administration providers, human resources, voluntary accounts staff and phone support live the heart cry of "people first."

Organisation: Fair Food Trust
Project: Food secure whānau in West Auckland
As a food rescue organisation Fair Food Trust supplies frontline community groups with free food.
They recover, collect and redistribute surplus food seven days a week, and there is no cost to either the food donor or the recipient for their service. It’s their way to connect surplus food with those who need it most.

Organisation: NZ Continence Association Inc trading as Continence NZ
Project: Health Clinics and Education for Vulnerable Community Groups
Continence NZ was established to provide a service to people with continence problems, caregivers, health professionals and the general public by providing information and education on continence topics.
Continence NZ has developed a service in an area that has largely been ignored in the past by health professionals and health providers. The sufferers have been too embarrassed or unable to access appropriate help and in a majority of cases, suffered in silence.