Pathway's story behind the wire.

Recently, as part of our emphasis on building community, we’ve had several different individuals and community groups visit the Navigate Initiative (NI) unit and give talks, sharing their expertise with our Tū Ora. Several of these speakers have offered practical advice on skills related to life transformation, creativity, and even employment opportunities. 

As part of this ongoing initiative, our reintegration navigators thought Tū Ora might like to hear about the core mission of the NI and Pathway as a whole. To communicate this, our CEO and Founder, Murray Kennedy, visited the unit, sharing the story of how Pathway started and what its mission is.

Providing this context of the NI unit and Pathway was a great way of demonstrating to our Tū Ora the ongoing work that is being done to ensure they each get a fresh start.

“The story of Pathway and the Navigate Initiative has had many chapters,” says Murray, “so it was good to meet some of the guys we work with and let them know what they’re a part of. Some of them didn’t know the background of the Navigate Initiative, so when they learned about the rest of Pathway, Alloyfold and Oaktree, they were very grateful,”.

The story of Pathway, along with the support it signifies was a real encouragement for our Tū Ora. After Murray’s talk several of the men felt moved to perform a haka, later communicating their gratitude to Murray, and in turn, the many supporters that he spoke of for their work over many years. 

Navigate Unit lead, Uelese, has since said of Murray’s talk “What I heard from the guys afterwards was that it was quite a humbling experience. Talking to the guys about Pathway’s background gives them the idea that there’s a bigger team behind their journey than just us who are on the ground. But also to hear from someone from the ‘corporate world’, who was so different to what they expected -because it's normal for them to see social workers and that kind of thing- but to see someone like Murray, with more of a business background, and to hear his heart for the reason why he was part of the whole beginning of Pathway, had a huge impact on the guys,”

The experience as a whole was one of mutual respect and gratitude, and it was evident that our Tū Ora were extremely appreciative to have the backing of an organisation such as Pathway, along with its supporter networks. 

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