Farewell to mental health champion
The team at Vaka Tautua was sad to farewell Lottie Tiava’asue today, after thirteen years of loyal service. Lottie achieved a great deal in her time working for our Ola Fiafia services in West Auckland, and is now looking forward to dedicating more time to her beloved children, grandchildren, and horses.
Lottie Tiava’asue
Our longest-serving staff member, Lottie has supported many Pacific people with mental illness to live independently in her role as Peer Support Worker, walking alongside them on their journey towards mental wellbeing. In 2020, she also did a stint as Pacific Mental Health Coordinator, providing support to Vaka Tautua’s mental health teams in West Auckland.
Kristina Sofele, Vaka Tautua’s National Manager People and Capability, said, “The role of Peer Support Worker is a powerful one. Lottie brought her lived experience to the role, giving back and supporting those on their recovery journey. Her leadership in this area has been so valuable, and her recent work as Pacific Mental Health Coordinator has been greatly appreciated by our teams and service users.”
Amongst Lottie’s many positive contributions to Vaka Tautua are her organisational skills. She played a key part in delivering innovative community events to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week 2020. Lottie implemented our ‘Caring for our environment’ community clean-up event, arranged self-defence classes to empower women to keep safe, and organised ukulele lessons for a group of our matua who enjoyed learning something new.
Lottie has a heart of gold with strong family and Christian values. She cares for the people she supports, and makes meaningful connections. By sharing her rich experiences and culture, she inspires people to find their own solutions to their problems.
Dr Amanda-Lanuola Dunlop paid tribute to Lottie:
“We have been blessed having Lottie as part our of aiga, not only professionally through the wonderful work she has done, but personally. Every day she inspires us to do more for our people who are experiencing mental distress and illness, and shows us what is possible. Lottie will be missed.”
These beautiful parting words from Lottie to our team embody her positive outlook: “Go forth with joy into this new day. Thank you for your company walking and working together side by side. God bless, protect you and your families. Alofa atu, manuia le soifua.”
Vaka Tautua’s Board, Chief Executive Officer and staff wish Lottie all the best for the future. We will miss her compassion, encouragement, and kind heart.
