South Sound Missionary Trust

20/7/2006

See also: Skilled Interns to Benefit Communities

The South Sound Missionary Trust in Dunedin was awarded a CIP internship last year. The Trust provides social services primarily to Pacific children and families. It wants to strengthen its long-term financial sustainability, and was able to secure Melanie McNatty from Praxis as an intern.

Through her internship, Melanie is developing networks with other community agencies and funders. She says agencies may have a limited understanding of the specific needs of Pacific people, so she has set up a training programme to fill this gap.

Facilitated by the South Sound Missionary Trust, the training will help other organisations understand the diversity of Pacific culture, and improve their responsiveness to Pacific peoples’ needs. The training programme is proving to be a great success, with the first two sessions completely booked out.

The training programme, along with partnerships and business ideas, will help to boost the Trust’s financial situation. Strengthening of operational systems and management processes are another part of this CIP-funded internship.

The closing date for the upcoming CIP funding round is 12 October 2006. For information on applying to the CIP, visit the Department of Internal Affairs website at: Community Internship Programme, or call 0800 824 824.

Contact: Anna Mahoney ph 04 495 9423 email anna.mahoney@dia.govt.nz