Ko wai tātou
Who We Are
For over 65 years, Hōhepa Hawke’s Bay has supported people with intellectual disabilities to live expansive lives.
We seek to be transformational in our approach. We see our task on the one hand in supporting individuals on their life journey, and on the other hand in creating social spaces, communities of support in which the individual path can unfold.
Our focus is on caring, sharing, and living good lives together, with a commitment to engaging with the people we support, and their whanāu, to uphold our vision of ‘every life fully lived’.
Hōhepa is a charitable trust, established in 1956 to support people with intellectual disabilities. Maaka Tibble (Ngāti Porou) speaks of Tāngata Whaikaha as “people with disabilities who are determined in some way to do well and create opportunities for themselves as opposed to being labelled, as in the past.”
In 1956 Hōhepa challenged the prevailing thinking that disabled people should live in an institution. Inspired by the work of Dr Rudolf Steiner the service model was farm-based community living where people could participate, contribute and be who they were. Despite huge change in how disability services are delivered, Hōhepa remains true to its founding purpose.
Hōhepa complies with legislation and standards that apply to the disability sector, whilst emphasising the abilities and uniqueness of each person supported.