
Ember Korowai Takitini blends professional expertise and lived experience to offer a range of services and supports for anyone with mental health, addiction or intellectual disability needs
At Ember we support people to live the lives they choose and we challenge the systems that hold them back.
We desire a society that better understands and responds to mental distress, addiction and intellectual disability
Piri Pono is a 6-bed residential, acute alternative to hospitalisation. Peer led, it is staffed with both nurses and support workers, making it a rare and special combination. Piri Pono in English means to be loyal, faithful and devoted — an allegiance. The name reflect our practice — a respite home that encourages people to pull together with a focus on independent living and building relationships.
Piri Pono is available to those experiencing extreme mental distress who have been assessed by the Rodney Adult Mental Health Services. Guests are able to stay for up to 10 days in a homelike, personalised environment with a holistic approach to wellness.
Peer support is a challenging role requiring resilience and the ability to relate to the people you work with. It is also a rewarding role where you can use your own lived experience of mental distress to make a positive difference in the lives of others.
As a Peer Support Worker, you will be creating relationships with the people you work with and together learn to use those relationships to see things from new angle. You will also develop greater awareness of personal and relational patterns, and support and challenge each other in trying new things.
“He aha te mea nui o te ao? Maku e ki atu, he tangata, he tangata, he tangata”
What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people.
Ember is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome and embrace diversity and inclusion in the workplace and are committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for all. We particularly welcome applications from our Māori, Pacific and Rainbow communities.
We will interview candidates as applications come through rather than waiting until the advertisement closes. The vacancy may be filled earlier if a suitable candidate is identified.

Ember Korowai Takitini (Ember) is a group of companies comprising five entities:The Ember Wellbeing Trust,Ember Services,Ember Innovations,Ember Systems,Kāinga Haumaru (Ember Housing).Ember Services is the largest, together with the other four it blends professional expertise and lived experience to offer a range of services and supports for anyone with mental health, addiction, or intellectual disability needs.We have a common purpose to support people to live the lives they choose, and we challenge the systems that hold them back.Our vision is for a society that better understands and responds to mental distress, addiction, and intellectual disability. We also own and produce the mental health and addictions podcast called Take It from Us , and its on line trade sector magazine called HORIZON