About Us

Te Moemoeā, Vision and Te Matawhānui, Mission

Our vision,  moemoeā: Is a future where every woman/wahine understands, cares for, and is able to heal her body, mind, spirit, whānau, community and te taiao the natural environment. 

Our mission, te matawhānui: to empower wāhine/women and their whānau to have more control over their health and fertility.

We recognise Rangitāne as mana whenua of the land and area from which we operate. We acknowledge the harm and displacement caused by wrong thinking and wrong actions towards Māori people. 

We take seriously our role as treaty partners and commit to celebrate, empower and learn from and alongside our Māori whanau to better serve and strengthen our communities.

We recognize that Palmerston North has a diverse population of ethnicities and cultures and the health needs of these communities will vary on an individual and collective level. We commit to being sensitive to all ethnic and cultural requirements to provide you with the best possible outcomes for your health needs.

We are a by women for women service. We recognise the role that gender plays in the delivery and access of health services. We also recognise that non binary peoples and our trans whānau face daily discrimination so hold the space for them as well.

We acknowledge that poverty can be detrimental to people’s ability to access health services in a timely manner, and that the NZ health system can be challenging, stressful and can lead to people feeling unsafe. You are the ONLY expert on YOU and we are here to support, advocate and empower you to feel safe, take control of and manage your own health according to your needs.

We recognise that poverty can be a barrier to sexual health and reproduction management that can have life changing consequences. Therefore, we commit to providing free products and guidance to support our communities to remain empowered to make these decisions based on what suits them best. 

We acknowledge that for our many communities to feel comfortable in the space we offer, we must be authentic and genuine in our community engagements. We will never impose ourselves without invitation. Nor will we remain apart if our services are requested. We commit to being present to support, advocate and empower our communities when you find our services appropriate. 

We acknowledge that we won’t always get this right. Please let us know when we fall short. We strive to provide services you and if our actions are wrong we need to learn from our mistakes and do better. 

Our current strategic goals: https://www.pnwomenshealth.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/strategic-goals-2023-1.pdf

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How we are Funded

Te Hā o Hine-ahu-one Palmerston North Women’s Health Collective Inc. is a registered charity (no: CC24790). As a non-profit organisation we rely solely on funding and donations to allow us to provide services to women in need.

Funders and Supporters

We would like to thank the following organisations for their continued support:

  • Think Hauora
  • MidCentral District Health Board
  • Palmerston North City Council
  • Palmerston North Community Services Council
  • NZ Lotteries (Lottery Community)
  • COGS
  • Eastern and Central Community Trust
  • Central Energy Trust
  • The Lion Foundation
  • Pub Charity
  • Page Trust
  • John Ilott Charitable Trust
  • Thomas George McCarthy Trust
  • Mainland Foundation
  • Gordon Lindsey Isaacs Trust
  • …… and the many generous individual donors and health practices that support us

Our Collective

Te Hā o Hine-ahu-one Palmerston North Women’s Health Collective is governed by a group of women who want to make a difference in their community.

The Collective is made up of women who are active volunteers who work alongside our manager and other paid staff. We also draw on the knowledge and experience of our advisory members who are past members of the Collective who are no longer able to take an active role but still support our aims and objectives.