Those attending our last meeting heard a fascinating address from Wayne Poutoa, Director of the Youth Village in Carterton, an organisation that provides accommodation, community and work for young men and women in need, aged 15 to 24.
Wayne is a former gang member who has done time behind bars. A kind guide helped him to see the need for change in his life and he started working within the Baptist church with disadvantaged youth in Porirua. It was during this period that President Kay Paget worked with him, setting up a number of accessible community and computer centres for underprivileged young people in the area.
In 2016 he came to Carterton as a pastor in the Baptist church and saw the potential of the land owned by the church there for a continuation of his youth work. He and his wife Jennifer set up a youth community drop-in centre in an existing building on the site. Then they found sponsorship and raised funds for six small cottages on the property to provide somewhere for some young folk at risk to call home, a very topical and pressing community need, working with kids who could easily get into criminal activities and join gangs.
The six small cabins are fully furnished. Three cabins, at $15,000 each, were donated and three were built with money raised in the community. Most supplies for the fit-out were donated by Carterton and Masterton businesses and supporters. The cabins were finished in February 2020, just before the first Covid lockdown. The village has communal kitchen, laundry, bathrooms. … Continue Reading
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