Queen's Service Medal recipient, Kainga Aroha Community House manager Kane Rangitonga. Photo / Dean Taylor
A little over 20 years ago Kane Rangitonga was looking to rejoin the workforce after raising his daughter as a solo parent and was attracted to an advertisement for a course in social work being offered by the Hamilton branch of Te Wānanga o Aotearoa.
I didn’t know what social work was, but went to the presentation and asked one question,” says Kane.
“People get paid to do this because I’ve been doing it all my life,” he asked.
The presenter answered yes, and Kane signed up on the night as the first student for the new course.
Two decades after qualifying with his degree, Kane has been awarded the Queen’s Service Medal in the King’s Birthday honours - for services to social work, mainly through Te Awamutu’s Kainga Aroha Community House Trust, and the community.
When he was offered the award he says he decided to accept because it recognises everyone who has played a role.
“There is a big team that makes what I do work and the medal is for everyone. I am just the person who will walk up and accept it.”
Kane is Ngāti Maniapoto and Ngāti Tuwharetoa and grew up on Hia Kaitupeka Marae in Taumaranui, where he is now chairman.
He says that is where he first learnt how to look after other people - “It’s what we did on the marae.”
The family moved to Wellington when he was 12 and he remembers his rugby coach and teacher Moana Jackson being an important mentor.
Kane spent 20 years in Wellington and had been involved in working for Government and learning about processes and management.
A big change was raising his daughter in Hamilton as a solo dad for 15 years.
It was when he finished high school that he saw the social work advertisement.
When he graduated he turned down positions with Māori organisations, saying he knew how Māori worked - he wanted to find out about the whole community.
That’s how he started working for Child, Youth and Family (Oranga Tamariki).
“I stayed for 10 years and learnt how to have those courageous conversations that were hard but necessary,” says Kane.
“Then I knew I needed another change. They didn’t want me to leave but I needed a new challenge.”
That was 10 years ago when Kane was appointed manager of Kainga Aroha Community House.
“There was a big list of jobs that needed doing to bring the organisation into line with the modern ways of running programmes and attracting funding,” he says.
“I brought the staff together and asked if it could be saved, or should we give up and use our energy elsewhere.
“They said it was important that Kainga Aroha be saved and grown, so we got busy and made it happen.”
Kane stresses it wasn’t just him.
He says he looked at what needed to be done and made sure it happened, but the Kainga Aroha team - or family as he calls it - were on board and everyone worked toward the common goal.
Since 2012 Kane and his team have grown the trust and have been successful in gaining funding for programmes and initiatives to address poverty, family violence, parenting concerns and mental health.
They hold a number of contracts and have employed additional counsellors and social workers to offer a wide range of services.
Kane implemented short-term life skills programmes that people can tailor to fit their individual needs and he works directly with tamariki of whānau being supported by the trust, many of whom have social or anger management issues, and ensures they receive effective long-term follow-up care.
He has also expanded the network - involving sports clubs, churches, schools and marae alongside the traditional agencies to bring about the positive outcomes Kainga Aroha seeks for client families.
He is also the one who will tackle the tough job - intervening and asking a wider range of questions about people’s situations when one of his staff thinks it is necessary.
Kane describes one of his best skills as that of listening.
“People need to tell me the full story, and then I can come up with a full solution,” he says.
“That’s my job, listening and caring for people.”
He says his is a 24/7 role - and he can only do it because of the support of his wife and family.
“We are doing okay and that enables me to do what I do best for other families,” he says.
Kane is well regarded for engaging personally outside of the office with whānau to achieve solution-focused results for their individual circumstances.
During Covid-19, he helped reorganise a food redistribution network to provide deliveries of food packages and health kits to families who were unwell or unable to shop.
“I used my contacts and relationships in the community to find the support and food we needed in hard times,” he says.
Again Kane stresses it wasn’t just him - it was everyone who cares for this community and values the work Kainga Aroha does.
As well as his social work role, Kane has supported Fire Hawks rugby league in Te Awamutu as a coach, team manager and administrator since 1990.
Kane hopes the QSM will act as encouragement and reward for others who do good work in the community.
Currently, he is trying to learn a new skill - delegation.
“I need to teach others what I do and let them carry on the good work,” he says, " and learn to take a bit more care of myself.”