Anne Ginty, an experienced Work and Income case manager, is based at the Aranui Community Housing and Information Centre, 34 Marlow Rd.

Her hours are Mon-Fri, from 8.30am-4.30pm.

The impetus to have someone in this role has come from the Aranui Community Renewal partnership between Christchurch City Council, Housing NZ and the community.

“This partnership works to empower Aranui people and to assist them to work with agencies and groups to find long-term solutions to issues,” says Gill Redfern, the Council’s Aranui community development adviser.

The need for a dedicated employment solutions broker in Aranui was identified as one of the main priorities for the area as part of Aranui Community Renewal’s efforts in training and employment, Ms Redfern says.

“It’s fantastic that Work and Income has come to the party with a person of Anne’s calibre.”

Anne Ginty’s core role is to help Aranui people overcome the barriers they may face when trying to access training and employment opportunities. “Networking with employers... will be an important part of my position,” Ms Ginty says. “I will also be working very closely with Work and Income case managers to help my clients achieve a smooth transition to training and good quality jobs.”

Three months into the job, Anne Ginty says working alongside Housing NZ is working well and she has already well and truly met her target of helping 30 people into employment by June.