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

Brodie is an innovative and creative 20-year-old from rural Christchurch who has autism and anxiety. He attends special needs school three days a week and the YMCA 4C Centre once a week. The 4C Centre has a range of physical and digital tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, CNC machines, computers as well as a recording studio set up for video, music, podcasting and streaming. When at home and in the school holidays, Brodie spends time doing projects as his days at school

13-year-old Kobe’s happy place is the ocean. He lives close to the beach in Gisborne and loves to swim, boogie board and surf with his family – Mum, Dad, and younger sister and brother. Kobe is a healthy young man with Down Syndrome. Being in and by the ocean is a place where Kobe’s anxiety levels are reduced, and he feels a sense of calm. No matter the season, Kobe will be in the ocean! He is very interested in surfing – and the rest of his family can all surf. Kobe can catc

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