Methodist Mission Southern

Toi Tū te Whenua, Toi Tū te Kai Tahutaka, Toi Tū te Tākata – The land and its people are constant, Kai Tahu Culture will be integral to our work, and our people will flourish. Methodist Mission Southern’s vision is of a safe, caring, and sustainable society where every citizen is valued and respected, and enjoys an equal opportunity to lead a fulfilled life. We deliver a broad range of evidence-based services to people of all ages, throughout Otago and Southland. Our social and educational services aim to develop skills and build resilience in every person we work with – to create meaningful, long-lasting changes for themselves, their whānau and their communities. We are committed to strengthening our partnerships with Māori, improving our bicultural practices across our entire organisation, and using our skills and resources to honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and support positive outcomes for Māori. Our current work includes; early childhood services, self-regulation and oral language programmes, youth transition housing, client support services, speech-language communication support, prison-based education, literacy and numeracy programmes, parenting programmes, driver licence training, and capability building initiatives for other social service providers. We are constantly looking to improve the quality of our work, and our Innovation Lab is responsible for the design, development and testing of new initiatives – including play-based approaches for improving children’s life course outcomes, virtual reality education tools for prison-based learners, transitional housing models for young people, new practice models for supporting individuals and whānau to achieve their goals, and innovative uses of data to gain insights into issues and opportunities for clients, measure outcomes, and improve service delivery across the social sector.