ABOUT
Home Ground is a collaborative creativity and wellbeing initiative for women who have experienced incarceration or are engaged in the justice system.
The initiative is divided into four projects – Tahi, Rua, Toru and Whā, which are delivered in the Wellington community or Arohata Prison over a 12-month period. Each Home Ground project runs full time for three weeks, then one day a week for the following four weeks.
The Ministry for Culture & Heritage Manatū Taonga selected Home Ground as one of the Creative Arts Recovery and Employment Fund (CARE) recipients. With this new funding we can now provide three additional CARE workshops. Our three CARE workshops will be in the Kāpiti coast, Te Tairāwhiti Gisborne and Pōneke. We will connect up the dots between communities, supporting local arts, artists and creative spaces to grow our Home Ground whānau.
Home Ground projects use creative arts practice, such as theatre, photography, writing and music, as a non-threatening, strengths-based approach to self-empowerment, community connectedness and wellbeing.
Artists both inside and outside of prison are encouraged to create art projects that talk about the issues women and whānau face in the justice system.
Thanks to our funders, especially Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Creative New Zealand and the Department of Corrections. Previous projects have been supported by St John’s In the City: Edward Carter Fund, the Sonja Davies Peace Award, Heather and Brian Main and the Ministry of Women's Affairs.
Vision
Women in the justice system discover their value and purpose through the power of creativity.
Purpose
Women are empowered to activate social change and create better lives for themselves, their children and future generations.
Mission
Provide the space and opportunities women need to explore their artistic talent, engage in creative processes and access high-quality arts and artists, and support them to create healthy, happy homes.
Promise
To enable women to safely learn about themselves and their life stories through creativity.
Guiding principles
Creativity matters
Do no harm
Nothing about us without us
Honour the wisdom of lived experience
Strength through connectedness
Trust the process
Our team
The Home Ground practice model was created over four projects facilitated by creative director Jacqui Moyes and clinical director Anita Grafton.
Home Ground’s practice was designed and tested by women with lived experience of the justice system.
Jacqui Moyes
Creative Director | Project Manager | Lead Facilitator
Jacqui is a staunch advocate for the arts, and specialises in community development through creative collaboration. Jacqui has worked previously as the Arts in Corrections Advisor for Arts Access Aotearoa, and as an advisor to the Chief Censor of the Office of Film and Literature Classification. Jacqui has experience mentoring families engaged in social services, delivering and designing prison arts programmes, coordinating arts events and has a background in community performing arts.
Jacqui’s ability to collaborate with a range of incredible people allows her to do the work she does. She also has a firm belief in ‘do no harm’ and ‘nothing about us without us’. These guiding principles help to keep her projects safe when facing the challenges inherent in the justice system. Jacqui works hard to support creative opportunities and the benefits that come from them.
Salā Roseanne Leota
Foundation participant Home Ground | Poetry | Creative writing
Roseanne started her journey with Home Ground in the Pilot Programme - Kahukura. She has completed a Diploma in Creative Writing with Whitireia Community Polytechnic (2019) and through the inspiration and support of Home Ground, is now working towards a Bachelor of Arts - Creative Writing, with Massey University.
As a proud Samoan/Chinese woman, she is passionate about uplifting those in her community through her lived experiences.
On any given day, she is a Mum of 11 inspiring children, 6 thriving grand-children and lives on the Kapiti Coast with her wonderful partner, Ieremia. She also serves as the Secretary of Victoria University of Wellington Hunter's Rugby League Club.
Creative arts in the Home Ground space for Roseanne is about encouraging and supporting women to explore and express their authentic selves.
O le ala i le pule o le tautua - The path to leadership is through service.
Anna Wooles
Online Facilitator | Creative Producer
Anna has found her home within Home Ground since early 2020. She is a jack of all trades, master of none which means she's been able to shapeshift her way around different roles from project to project - from artist to creative producer to online facilitator.
Before Home Ground, Anna was the Senior Creative at Koko Creative - a diverse role which involved seeing productions from design and concept right through to delivery. It included leading the art department, designing spaces, programming music, poring over spreadsheets and the occasional fixing of Lucha Libre matches. Other work endeavors have included supporting a basket weaving project in Kenya, teaching music in Malawi and Kenya, volunteer fire fighting in Malawi, and wrangling musicians on tour in Ghana.
Outside of work Anna is with her son in the garden or performing in a band called Ida Lune or trying to finish the same book she's been reading for the past 7 months.
PM
Peer Mentor | Navigator
PM is a peer mentor and navigator in the Home Ground collective, since the very first Project Tahi. PM listens, and draws our visions into reality. She is a visual storyteller, a talented maker, a mother, grandmother and matriarch.
Her message is:
"Life has it's setbacks
You hold your goals and creative achievements
Your twists and turns through life
Your tamariki and
Tamariki matua
in both hands."
Anita Grafton
Clinical Director | Mental Health & Addictions Specialist | Clinical Facilitator | Counsellor
Anita, our much-loved friend, colleague and inspiration passed away in October 2020.
Anita had a real commitment to incorporating creative approaches to rehabilitation and recovery. She was the Director and Principal Counsellor of Time to Talk, a therapeutic counselling company that provides counselling along with mental health consultancy.
Anita was a graduate of the University of Salford (UK), where she received a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences, and had many years experience working within education, mental health and addiction services in England and New Zealand.
In 2013 Anita became clinical manager of the Drug Treatment Unit at Arohata Prison, and was responsible for streamlining and improving efficiency of services, as well as providing alcohol and other drug counselling support for over 100 prisoners. Anita led the team that received the Highly Commended award from Arts Access Aotearoa for creativity in prisons in 2016.
After leaving the Department in 2017, Anita went on to manage an addictions service within the Wellington community. In 2019 Anita graduated with a degree in social services with a major in counselling and received the distinguished alumni award for work in her field in 2020.
We miss you Anita.