Project Hoake: Whānau-led Businesses
Project Hoake is an initiative to support whānau-led businesses on East Cape, led by Te Aroha Kanarahi Trust’s Ani Pahuru-Huriwai and Arlou Brooking. Project Hoake has a vision of “grassroots to global”using a “locals supporting locals” approach.
The initiative started in 2019, has received three year’s collaborative funding from Todd Foundation, J R McKenzie Trust, Te Muka Rau, Tindall Foundation and Trust Tairāwihti.
Highlights
Ten new businesses have started up and their services include providing healthy meals delivered to homes and schools, dumpling making, a coffee cart, whakairo (carving), video editing, apparel production and silver-smithing.
Progress pre-COVID-19 was stellar, as below, but COVID-19 has had a significant impact
With businesses mostly unable to operate during lock-down, energy was harnessed instead for community support, including delivering food to whānau and supporting the check points.
The challenge ahead is to rebuild post COVID-19
Progress pre-COVID-19
Joanne’s Grassroots Maori Arts & Crafts
In March 2020, just before the COVID-19 lockdown, funder representatives visited Kauaetangohia Marae on Te-Whānau-a Apanui side of East Cape. Project Hoake members joined in the evening and presented some of their businesses - here are some of the highlights:
Nelson of Toa-Orama, is doing silver-smithing and selling paua shell buttons to a Canadian First Nation tribe - to replace the abalone traditionally used in British Colombia but no longer available due to over-fishing
Joanne of Joanne’s Grassroots Maori Arts & Crafts wanted to sell her weaving, but was unsure how to write a business plan. “One session with Arlou and it was done and dusted. Now I’m getting commission and planning weaving wānanga”
Varnya, of Mauri to Mauri is making soap using local rongoa. She has learned book-keeping and web-site building and is selling both online and through a shop on Auckland’s K-Road.
Cristall, of Coffee That has a coffee caravan selling coffee in Te Araroa, in Ruatoria and at events. She has a partnership with a friend who roasts premium beans and is planning to train rangatahi to be baristas.
Cristall’s “Coffee That” caravan
Varnya’s “Mauri to Mauri “ soaps
One of the main keys to success is Arlou Brooking, who has returned home from Australia after managing businesses there. She explained that her role is to “help whānau to dream the big dream and then to get off their butt and do it - because if we don’t control our own destiny, others will always tell us what to do.”
Another key to success has been hooking into the MSD Business Generator Fund, which has enabled whanau financial support to purchase capital items like caravans, carving tools, generators. The flexibility and low-compliance burden of this funding has also been helpful.
Impacts of COVID-19
COVID-19 has changed things for Project Hoake, as it has changed things globally. None of the whānau-led businesses were able to function normally during lock-down, however instead many helped to:
Provide kai and care packages to 200 households in the region
Supported the road checkpoints
By Week 4 of Lockdown, Civil Defence programmes were beginning to kick in, however Te Aroha Kanarahi Trust had been delivering kai/care packs since Week 1 of Lockdown, thanks to many generous donations from our Tiriti partners.
“Our Matakaoa communities have benefitted greatly from the kindness of our funders.” says Ani. “Having a weekly kai delivery meant that our small businesses could use the money saved to continue to make payments on their essential business expenses. And for some whanau it was the difference between paying for the medication or not. Ka nui te mihi ki a kotou e hoa mā!”
Where to next?
Ani says that the events of COVID-19 are making whānau think more about food sovereignty and what this might involve. She says “COVID-19 highlighted just how reliant we are on external suppliers to feed ourselves. We have to change that.” The businesses are also exploring their post-COVID response, which is challenging due to things like food stocks which needed to be thrown out during lockdown and now needing to be replaced. However, they are a resilient bunch on the East Cape. Watch this space!
For more info please contact Kate Frykberg (kate@thinktank.co.nz) or Ani Pahuru-Huriwai (aniph407@gmail.com).