Over the span of a decade, Tāmaki Jobs and Skills Hub has helped 1600 Tāmaki residents into employment. Tāmaki Jobs and Skills Hub Manager Alice Taupau has been there from the beginning.
In 2014, Alice Taupau was the sole employee at Tāmaki Jobs and Skills. There was no office yet, and Alice would walk the streets of Tāmaki, handing out pamphlets and talking to the community.
“I was coming into a community that was very wary,” Alice says.
“So many people had come into the community and made promises and then disappeared. I was told, ‘that’s what the last person said.’”
Three years later, the Tāmaki Jobs and Skills Hub opened, and over the span of a decade, Alice and the team have helped 1600 people into employment and over 1000 people gained their driver’s licenses. Tāmaki Jobs and Skills Hub is now a significant landmark in Glen Innes with a team of six employees.
“We have incredibly intelligent, hard-working people in the community who just need that one connection to get through the door to help them succeed,” Alice says.
“If you were to ask me what the key to longevity is, I would say it’s the trust and relationships we build. It’s delivering on the promises we say we are going to do.”
Alice is of Samoan whakapapa and was born in Aotearoa. Her commitment to helping whānau reach their aspirations is inspired by her own upbringing.
“My own personal history of growing up watching the struggle of my parents," she says. "I grew up during the dawn raids, so I want to help minority groups who don’t have a voice.”
The first person Alice helped find a job was Geraldine Lee-Kum.
“Geraldine was a former Tāmaki College student and she had a degree in graphic design but couldn’t find a job.
When she joined the programme, we were able to connect her with a provider and she got her first job as a graphic designer in the marketing team.”
There have been many highlights throughout the years, including helping 15 members in one whānau find full-time employment.
She says the best part is seeing the changes in whānau, many who go from feeling hopeless to feeling hopeful.
“I’ve had staunch, ex-gang members who sit with a huge wall in front of them, and once we start talking, I say to them, ‘I know you are capable of living a better life and being successful and happy,’ and they go from staunch to bawling in front of me.”
“It’s like the first time someone has told them they can have a better life. They meet a group of people who actually tell them that they can achieve things,” Alice says.
Throughout the years, the most meaningful highlight for Alice is working with her sister Victoria, who passed away in August 2022. Victoria was a mentor who worked for the hub over a span of four years.
“Everybody loved Victoria,” Alice says.
“She had the biggest heart; she believed in people when others didn’t. She believed there was hope for everyone.
It was amazing because we both understood each other. It was effortless. She knew exactly what to do when someone needed help.”
Max Leuila grew up in Glen Innes and went to Tāmaki College. He was the 500th Tāmaki job seeker the Jobs and Skills Hub helped into work. He is now a qualified plumber who is following in the footsteps of his grandfather. Max was recently chosen to travel with Habitat for Humanity to Fiji to help build houses.
“It was an opportunity to give back to the islands,” Max says.
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without the Jobs and Skills Hub.”
The Hub supported Max to complete a defensive driving course, gain his full driver’s license, complete First Aid Course Levels 1 & 2, and get a Sitesafe passport.
“He always knew what he wanted; he just needed the help to get it,” Alice says.
“Simple things people take for granted—tools, boots, a license to help him progress as an apprentice. He needed an employer who believed in him, and we were able to connect with him. He quietly does what he is meant to do to get things done.”
And it’s not just plumbing where it ends – Max has big dreams and inspiration to start his own plumbing business one day.
