All About Us
Tātou Tātou are one big family.
Donna and Fiona have combined local experience in support work and management within the disability support sector of over fifty years. Between them they have vast networks and connections that help them provide excellent support.
Their weekly hui/meetings help to break down barriers and bring people together. They know how to support people with disabilities to get the best out of their lives.
DONNA STRETCH
Donna is the founder and manager of Tātou Tātou.
She has lived and worked in the Manawatu Region for most of her life and has been working in the disability sector at all levels over her long career. With extensive experience and training including gaining a Level 4 Diploma in Human Services, Donna has a wealth of experience and established long term connections with the community.
Tātou Tātou began to evolve in 2018 when Enabling Good Lives became available in the Manawatu. As a group they had many huis to discuss how families with whom Donna had formed relationships with while supporting their whanau members, could make the most out of Enabling Good Lives while still receiving support from someone they trusted. From there Tātou Tātou was formed to continue offering great support and trust while gaining the best for each person.
Donna is the matriarch of a large whanau, has had many foster children, and has one whangai son who has an intellectual disability. With Donna’s support he lives in his own flat, on his own terms, living the way he chooses with a personal budget and autonomy over his support.
FIONA THOMAS
Fiona is the Co-Manager of Tātou Tātou working alongside Donna and the rest of the Tātou Tātou whanau/team. Fiona has spent most of her life living, working and raising her children in the Manawatu. She has worked in the disability sector over many decades, within agencies, as a Support Worker, Coach, Team Leader, Coordinator and Health and Safety Officer. She has advanced her knowledge through training, including gaining a Level 3 Health and Wellbeing Certificate, a Bachelor of Social Anthropology and a Diploma in Business Studies.
While living in Scotland, Fiona worked with vulnerable teenagers. Her role included assessing their needs, housing, supporting them to connect with their communities, and helping them become independent and strong.
Fiona believes in the importance of family, and the value of kindness, to ourselves, and to each other.
Angie Stretch
(Ngāti Raukawa, Ngāti Kuia, Ngāti Toarangatira, Ngāi Tahu)
Tātou Tātou Cultural Advisor & Training Coordinator/Facilitator
Angie has been an advocate and teacher trainer of te reo me ōna tikanga with over 30 years experience, including teaching, language and cultural strategic policy planning and implementation, cross generational with both tangata whenua and all peoples sharing in the wellbeing of all nations on these lands. Through the implementation of Te Whare Tauawhiawhi, a framework considering the holistic well-being of our people, Tātou Tātou use the development of the pillars (Ngā Taha e Whā) taha whānau, taha tinana, taha wairua and taha tinana to advise practise, policy and tikanga, or the correct and right ways to conduct ourselves and our services to both tangata whenua and all peoples living together within our area of scope.
Being of local iwi and hapū whakapapa, Angie has an intimate understanding of, and relationships with a wide sector of our communities, educational facilities, marae, and tangata whenua. She is kaikaranga, a singer of both traditional and contemporary song, a teacher trainer for kōhanga reo, kura kaupapa, wānanga, universities, iwi and government departments. She is currently delivering services for Ministry of Education SELO (Supporting Early Learning Opportunities) and Ngāti Kuia, teaching a kaumātua group of 30 te reo me ōna tikanga for Te Wānanga o Raukawa in Otaki where she lives, having just completed the development of an iwi reo me ōna tikanga strategy for Ngāti Kuia, developed a curriculum within Te Whare Tauawhiawhi (House of Positive Praise) and the maramataka māori lunar calender. Her children and now mokopuna have been schooled within the framework of Te Whare Tauawhiawhi and Ngā Taha e Whā. Part of the development team for the creation of the early childhood degree programme Poumanawa Whakaakoranga Kōhungahunga, and Te Pua Mokopuna Ora a marae based whānau ora development initiative.