Waikato Times , 21 August 2010
To call Darren Te Huia a battler is a massive understatement. He and his wife June are one of five finalists in the Kiwi Battler competition, recognised for setting up the Influence Trust to benefit the community of Meremere. When the couple arrived in the town four and a half years ago, they found a community in need of help. Mr Te Huia said youth burning down houses, tagging, burglaries and home invasions were commonplace. All-night parties and street fights were part of everyday life back then when they started "restoring families and communities".
Mr Te Huia is no stranger to adversity. After growing up in South Auckland without a father and the youngest of 16 children, he quickly found his way into gangs and was taking drugs at the age of nine. The gang culture led him to biker clubs and a lifestyle which inevitably ended in jail. A spate of car crashes and being hospitalised because of his substance abuse, coupled with his incarceration, prompted him to eventually see the light. "I realised there had to be another way," he said.
Mr Te Huia got involved in running outreach centres in Otara, where he developed an approach focusing on empowering young people in their community. He also worked in prisons, qualified as an engineer and owned a construction renovation business before giving up an $85,000 a year job to move to the north Waikato town. Not everyone fully appreciated the move at first though. "They taunted us for nearly two years and said `you're just like the rest', so we got together with every family and I said `all we want to do is help'," Mr Te Huia said. "Early on the youth weren't too sure and wanted to see how we'd react to being taunted but we continued to embrace and love them." It was not only spiritual support they gave, but they also helped establish practical solutions to the town's problems. Programmes offered by the Influence Trust include debt consolidation, budgeting, dealing with the Corrections Department and counselling, rehabilitation programmes and young-parenting schemes.
Mr Te Huia's wife's help has been invaluable, particularly in supporting the female members of the community. He and June have been inseparable for the past 23 years and their marriage is a great model for other couples.
He says there is no chance of him leaving Meremere. "The work's never done – as long as everyone's still having babies it's never ending."