Watch Matilda's story below: When Matilda was diagnosed with dementia a few years ago, her whānau knew straight away what mattered most helping her stay in her own home in Ōpōtiki for as long as possible. She’s always been strong-willed (and still is!), and with her health otherwise in good shape, the family wanted to make sure she could keep her independence, while still having the right support around her. That’s where her son Chris stepped in. With the help of SupportNet,

Managing your own disability support funding can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. At Manawanui, New Zealand’s first and most trusted Individualised Funding (IF) host, we make self-managing your disability supports simple, flexible, and empowering. What is Individualised Funding (IF)? IF allows you to decide how, when, and who delivers your support services, giving you choice and control. Whether you’re new to self-management or looking to switch IF hosts, Manawan

In New Zealand, funded support for our elderly and disabled comes in a few different forms. Individualised Funding (IF) and Home Based Agency Care offer different approaches to disability support, each with its own benefits. Here’s a breakdown of how they compare: Benefits of Individualised Funding (IF) Individualised Funding (IF) is built on a simple principle: the people closest to the care needs are best placed to decide how those needs should be met. IF provides funding d

Introducing the lovely Melissa from Manawanui’s Customer Experience Centre (CEC) team. She is a recent addition to the team – having spent a wonderful 3 months at Manawanui! As a part of the CEC team, Melissa talks to customers on the phone and via email, helping to make things easy and answering any questions. We thought since many customers talk with Melissa on a daily basis, it would be nice to put a face to the name. So, we’ve asked her a few questions to get to know her

Respite supports full-time carers of a person with a disability to take a temporary break from caregiving and provide the person with a positive experience. Who can get IF Respite? People who are eligible for Ministry of Health funded disability supports and who have been allocated Respite supports by the NASC. People who are eligible for DHB funded disability support and have a Respite allocation. Who can provide Respite services? Host family including family members from wi

Harper loves surfing, fishing, swimming, outdoor adventures, cooking, playing with friends and whanau and most importantly ... DJing. Meet DJ Harpz. Harper is 11 years old and lives with older sister Mia, Mum Trish, Dad Dion and Dog Tui on the Kapiti Coast. Harper was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) at 4 years old, and in 2021 Harper lost the ability to walk. DJ Harpz has a five-year plan to become a world-class professional DJ. In late 2021, Harper began DJ

At Manawanui, we always try to make things easy – ko te whainga matua, me ngawari. Making things easy for our customers is really close to our hearts, but we know it’s not always plain sailing being an employer. We recognised an Employer Protection Package would make things easy if things don’t go to plan with employees. We also believe the freedom to choose the people you want to work with is a really important part of self-direction, but it brings the responsibilities that

Introducing Jeanie, a musician and music teacher who, after losing her sight, has lost the ability to read print music. Jeanie, when she was partially sighted, studied and gained a Bachelor of Music majoring in theory and arranging and following this, completed a Diploma of Teaching. Since then, music arranging played a large part in Jeanie’s life, she arranged many popular tunes for groups of string students and also led a youth band and a junior music mentoring program at h

Introducing our Community Relations Advisor Patch Waters, who makes the transition to IF easy!  Every day Manawanui staff strive to live our values, “We deliver delight” “People are really important to us”, “We challenge ourselves to go beyond” and “We make it easy”.  The introduction of the new role of Community Relations Advisor further enhances those values for our newest customers.   Patcharee (Patch) Waters has been with Manawanui for just over 2 years, starting as a Cus

Simon presents at a Manawanui Meets community meeting Simon Anderson started life at Manawanui as an IT Project Manager, and then a move to Marketing Team Manager. But this role has rapidly expanded, and he recently assumed additional responsibility for Business Development, with both the Relationships team and the Projects team reporting to him. However, Simon is probably most famous for his weekly appearances on the Manawanui Facebook Livestreams, where literally hundreds o

Introducing Noah Penny, the roller-skater and skier extraordinaire. Noah has severe autism, dyspraxia, epilepsy and is non-verbal – however he does not let this stop him!With amazing balance and a determined attitude, Noah has previously taken part in the Special Olympics. His passion is skiing, and he loves the sense of freedom it gives him. The season is very short, with only 6 Special Olympic training days at SnowPlanet each year as well as ‘Snow Camp’ - a preparation week

Rebecca McPhail on left, Sharla King Centre and Simon Anderson on right Introducing the Manawanui Projects Team I recently sat down with Simon Anderson who heads the Project Team at Manawanui – a team tasked with looking at ways Manawanui can improve their service offering to both current and new customers. Their mandate covers everything from products and services, through to Pilot projects with new customer bases who could benefit from Manawanui services. It also includes p

Manawanui is passionate about making a difference in the lives of disabled people, through providing the resources to control their own funding and hiring of who supports them. But what about older people – who also require home support and the ability to manage their funding? Manawanui has been running a long-term trial with The Bay of Plenty District Health Board and a Papamoa retirement village to assess how older people either living at home or in a retirement village set

Image: Maude Maxwell second from left Opotiki born and bred, Maude Maxwell is a Relationship Manager at Manawanui. Her role is to support the disability referral community of NASCs, DHBs and conditions organisations, and help them understand that various options available to those organisations customers.Maude spends her time running community workshops, training sessions, and fielding calls from assessors and counsellors unsure of the best approach for a customer. Maude is a

Get choice, flexibility and control over how you use your funding and who provides your support to live the life you want. Long time Manawanui customer, Jaden Movold has done exactly this, and blown us away with his achievements. Find out more about Individualised Funding» Jaden is an ambassador, athlete, paralympian, leader, advocate and fundraiser. He encompasses a positive can-do spirit despite facing disability challenges every day. Living with Spina Bifida and a rare con

A New Zealand Certificate in Health and Wellbeing is a great way for support workers to get a qualification focused on self-directed support while continuing to support you in your home. It is a great time to consider a NZQA Certificate in Health and Wellbeing as from now until December 2022 all employees are able to get the Careerforce enrolment fee waived. Here's the lowdown on what level might be right for you, or your support worker: Level 2 is an introductory course for