Paerata is a holistic, integrated support service within NorthAble Matapuna Hauora that walks alongside tāngata whaikaha and their whānau in Te Tai Tokerau. It was created to bridge the gaps between people and the systems meant to support them – in other words, to close the space between isolation and connection.

Why Paerata? Filling the gaps in a fractured system

When needs are complex, don’t fit traditional disability support criteria, or when navigating services becomes overwhelming, Paerata steps in with a flexible, rights-based approach focused on advocacy, relationships, and whole-person support.

We step in when:

  • Services don’t fit or access is blocked: Needs don’t match DSS criteria, or whānau are disconnected from support. We don’t require a diagnosis or threshold — we meet people where they are.
  • Urgency or multi-agency coordination is needed: Housing, WINZ/MSD, health, iwi and community providers, courts or deadlines — we line everyone up and move straight away, not after waitlists or signoffs.
  • Labels and barriers get in the way: We treat behaviour as communication. If someone is overwhelmed or labelled “non-compliant,” we lean in, remove practical barriers like transport and communication barriers and keep the door open.

In short: We remove barriers, open “side-door” pathways, and ask services to use the flexibility in their policies. When needed, we escalate — always centring the person and their whānau.

How Paerata works

Person-centred, solutions-focused, relational

We put the person and their whānau at the centre. We listen, build trust, and move at their pace. We flex the support, not the relationship—so when fear, overwhelm, or past trauma shows up, we can steady things and adapt.

What this looks like

  • Act now: If it needs doing, we start straight away.
  • Make systems usable: Translate paperwork, remove barriers, secure entitlements, and hold agencies to account.
  • Whole-of-life focus: Housing and kai, income, health and mental wellbeing, cultural connection, learning, and community participation.

Contact Us

Email: northable@northable.org.nz

Phone: 0508 637 200

Phone: 09 430 0988

Paerata vs. Supported Independent Living (SIL)

Supported Independent Living (SIL) is a traditional Disability Support Service (DSS) model funded for set hours of support, usually focusing on day-to-day living skills and routines. SIL works well when life is relatively stable and only predictable assistance is needed – it provides consistency and structure for things like cooking, cleaning, or personal care on a schedule. However, from a systems perspective, SIL often has inherent limitations: it operates within strict hours and task boundaries, has formal referral and eligibility processes, and typically cannot respond to urgent or highly individualised needs. In a crisis or rapidly changing situation, a SIL worker might have to wait for authorisation, stick to a rostered visit time, or might not be allowed to address issues outside their role. In short, SIL is not designed to navigate complex system barriers or provide intensive advocacy beyond the basics of daily living support.

Paerata offers what SIL can’t when it matters most. We are purpose-built to pivot quickly and coordinate broadly. If someone we support gets an eviction notice, faces a mental health breakdown, or encounters a bureaucratic roadblock, Paerata doesn’t need to ask, “Is this within our scope?” – we take action. We’ll rally MSD/Work and Income, housing providers, health services, community groups, or whoever is needed, immediately. We don’t wait for distant appointments or spend weeks figuring out who should help – we start now, because time is often critical. Where SIL might pause support if a client “disengages” or exits a person due to communication or behaviours, Paerata leans in and finds out what’s going on, working to re-engage the person on their terms. Where SIL staff might be constrained by policies, we actively challenge and navigate policies – for example, by requesting exceptions to rules, or by highlighting a client’s rights under the law or service guidelines so that agencies use all the flexibility available to them.

Importantly, Paerata and SIL can complement each other. Paerata is the crisis navigator and system advocate that gets someone to stability; SIL can then maintain ongoing routine support once that stability is achieved. We often aim to hand back to SIL or other long-term supports once the urgent gaps are filled. Paerata’s perspective is that effective supported living can’t be a one-size-fits-all, time-slot service – it must be flexible and relational. We bridge the gap between systems and real life so that people aren’t left “funded but unsupported.”