The trust is comprised of 7 members including:
Lisa Marie Martin (Chairperson)
John McKeown
Belinda Rowe
Gillian Wright
Cathy Earsman
Jenny Taylor
Peter Taylor
Some of our members are parents of intellectually disabled, autistic and behaviorally challenging young people. It is a common concern of parents where their loved one will spend their time when schooling eventually finishes (sometime betw
een ages 16-21yrs). Some Te Marama trustees are educational professionals who are also concerned for the continuing education and well-being of severely disabled students. Over the last four years we have developed our mission statement (click here) and our policies and procedures documents. Our primary goal has always been to become a vocational programme provider contracted to the Ministry of Social Development. This will put us on an equal footing with other similar programmes thus providing a real choice to parents of severely disabled youth. Te Marama is progressing well and we are aiming to start our programme in February 2015. Te Marama Vocational Programme will be community based – accessing the local community as much as is practical for our group of youth. We will start with a small group of 4 students for the first year, building to 6 students the following year and increasing thereafter as space/resources allow. Our programme will be designed to provide a stimulating environment for severely intellectually disabled youth – commonly our students will have Autism Spectrum Disorder although this is not a pre-requisite. We wish to provide a safe and rewarding programme to behaviorally challenged young people - often parents find it difficult to secure a such a placement. Kurt Martin is the 19yr old son of Lisa Martin and has autism, intellectual disability and can be behaviorally challenging. Kurt and many young men like him have enjoyed their years at school and followed individualised programmes aimed at increasing life skills and learning based on the NZ school curriculum. Kurt and many young men like him would not cope with sitting at home when schooling finishes. Kurt needs a stimulating environment in which to reach his fullest potential. Te Marama will provide an ongoing opportunity to continue to develop life skills. Our programme will include such activities as:
Life skills – such as cooking a hot lunch, baking, cleaning and tidying, laundry, etc. Gardening – learning to tend vegetable garden and growing produce. Activity programme – an active schedule of sports and exercise such as walking, bowling, swimming (based on the interests of each student). Arts programme – a schedule of rewarding arts activities including crafts, music, drama and dance (based on the interests of each student). A programme of this sort requires funding to help ensure students are gainfully occupied in a safe and caring environment. Students will generally have Very High Needs Ongoing Resourcing Scheme funding (ORS) and this helps fund their attendance. We hope to attract other funding to “top up” the shortfall – mainly in order to provide adequate staffing. We are busy fundraising at present and if any parents invited to this page know of any interested philanthropic people/organisations please let us know. Message Lisa Martin on this page (or call 027 205 8478) to obtain a bank account into which to donate any funding you may wish to contribute. In time, we hope to fundraise for a purpose built facility on a large ¼ acre property within Auckland metropolitan area. For now, we are seeking to lease a commercial/industrial style property from which to operate (and funding to pay the lease!). We require a property (could be a house, ex-factory or commercial premise) with adequate toilets/shower facilities and sufficient space for 4-6 grown young men. Ideally the property should be fenced, with sufficient outdoor area for some activities (a cross leased property with house would be ideal or a commercial premise with small yard). We would prefer a property fairly central – around Mt. Albert, Sandringham, Three Kings, Royal Oak, Onehunga, Penrose, Mt. Wellington, Pakuranga, etc – we will gratefully consider any suitable properties.
