Tracey Wakefield
Tracey started working in Tāmaki in March 2016. She is the Practice Leader at Tāmaki Community Development Trust (TCDT). The wrap-around whānau support work that TCDT provides is really varied. It includes family mentoring, helping children in school, getting children into positive activities, advocating for parents with housing and at Family Group Conferences. TCDT has a boys and dads mentor and offers counselling too.
Tracey says that the HEART Movement Coordinator Nandita introduced her to HEART. The focus on building healthy relationships made it a really easy decision for her to become involved. Tracey is really grateful that we have a movement like HEART this in the community.
Tracey sees that HEART supports the work of TCDT by helping the families to have better relationships with each other. She has also noticed that the TCDT team has really developed over the years through their involvement with HEART trainings, Koru Group and the Leadership Programme. HEART spaces support staff reflection and help professionals working in Tāmaki to think about their own relationships. Tracey says, “I think for me it’s made a big difference in that I constantly have to think about how do I stay in relationship with people, how do I work through things, rather than avoiding them.”
Tracey believes that HEART supports mental health and wellbeing through creating spaces where people can share, be open and be supported by others instead of feeling alone or disconnected. She is involved in the peer support group for people who have been affected by the loss of someone by suicide. She says that the group provides people with safe spaces to talk about the really awful stuff that we hold onto and think we have to deal with alone.
The Women’s Koru Group is another space created by HEART that is providing opportunities for people to really share. Tracey attends regularly and supports with facilitating the space. She says, “for me Koru Group is a space where I’m just me and it’s a space where I get support from other people. It’s easy to forget how important that is and it’s a reminder for me to be real and be honest and be authentic. Other people to help me keep going and I don’t have to do everything on my own.” She adds, “when we think that we have to do everything on our own, it’s sort of an unhealthy relationship with ourselves. That’s what I think HEART is about – being connected with others, but also being connected with who you are and having a healthy relationship with yourself. Loving yourself, caring about yourself and not being self-destructive.”
Blogs about Tracey getting involved in the community: