For the Greater Good – Overview of Findings from the Mapping the Social Sector Project

The project gathered information about social service organisations and their services and the impact they have in the Western Bay of Plenty via desktop research (225 organisations, 742 services) and subsequent interviews (144 organisations, 530 services). The findings support what is already known about social issues impacting Western Bay of Plenty communities, with housing and accomodation, poverty and health identified as major challenges for social sector organisations and the communities they serve. The findings also highlight the sector’s resourcefulness and ability to maximise service delivery beyond what they are  contractually funded to provide. The organisations identified many areas of unfunded work, including how lack of funding impacted on their capacity to collaborate with other organisations.