We’re here to back whānau and communities to live well, feel good, and shape healthier futures together.
A healthier Aotearoa starts in the places we live, work, learn and play. When our environments support wellbeing, it’s easier to eat well, stay active, be smokefree, and take care of our mental health and that’s when our whānau and communities truly thrive.
At Healthy Families Whanganui, Rangitīkei, Ruapehu, we work alongside local people to spark change where it matters most; in schools, marae, workplaces, sports clubs and community spaces. We focus on what’s already strong and bring people together to shift the systems that shape our everyday lives.
Our team is based in Whanganui and sits within Te Oranganui Trust, an iwi-led organisation working to improve health outcomes for Māori across our rohe. Together, we’re building a future where healthy living is not just a choice, it’s supported and made easy by the environments around us.
We are one of 11 Healthy Families NZ locations around the motu, taking a systems approach to prevent chronic disease and reduce inequity. It’s about long-term, community-led change that lasts.
Innovation & Research
The Innovation & Research Hub stands shoulder to shoulder with whānau and communities, not just to reimagine futures, but to co-create what’s never existed before.
We ground our mahi in one uncompromising belief: those who journey through adversity are the true architects of change. Here, we don’t just talk about prevention - we live it, flipping the script on what’s possible when solutions are dreamed and delivered by those who know the stakes best.
From igniting rangatahi pride and connection to whenua, to sparking kai sovereignty at the grassroots, to upending how systems respond to mental distress, we are relentless in our pursuit of justice and wellbeing. Our commitment isn’t to patch up what’s broken, but to help communities lead, disrupt, and transform the very systems that have failed them. This is innovation in its rawest, most authentic form, unapologetic, principled, and powered by those the world too often overlooks.
Our guiding framework shows the kaupapa that drives this work.
