Waata Heathcote: How lived experience mentoring cut gang reoffending to 2%

Waata Heathcote spots a man in crisis at 8am in a coffee shop and has him connected to support within 15 minutes. It's just another morning for the Rangatira of Waiariki Whānau Mentoring, who leads a team that works 24/7 because "people have nowhere to go after 5 o'clock". 

After working for MSD and as a police officer, Waata saw how the system was failing Māori communities facing intergenerational trauma. Now 70% of his team has lived experience, with a strong-held belief that you can't help people you don't understand. 

Their extraordinary results speak for themselves: of 57 gang-affiliated men with serious offending histories who've completed their programme, only one has reoffended.

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