Former All Black Mils Muliaina’s mortgage advice company The Mortgage Hub was in Oamaru yesterday running one of its My Fale workshops in collaboration with the Oamaru Pacific Island Community Group (OPICG).
It aims to improve the financial literacy of the Pasifika community as well as help them along their journey to owning a home.
Fifteen people came to the workshop last night and 20 people were seen by The Mortgage Hub team for one-on-one sessions through the day as well.
Mr Muliaina said he hoped the workshop could empower people to own their own home.
"That’s the ultimate goal for us really, for people to be able to go in and do that. But, along the way it’s just understanding what it is, what interest rates are, what banks are looking for and trying to teach them that."
The workshop was designed to help them along the "daunting process" and "strip away all the bank jargon", he said.
"Our team has been in environments where they have done financial health checks when they’ve worked at banks. It’s been a real positive to be able to to strip those back and design a fun, interactive night."
While the workshop explained the basics, the one-on-one sessions allowed his team to give much more personal advice.
"You don’t want to override them with too much information and that’s really where our one-on-ones are really crucial," he said.
The company has held its My Fale workshops all over the country.
OPICG operations manager Silou Temoana was the driving force behind the workshops being held in Oamaru.
The idea came from a survey she ran in 2020 that found only a-third of participants owned their own home, OPICG general manager Hana Halalele said.
It aligned with OPICG’s strategic plan to increase home ownership to "at least two-thirds" in the coming years, she said.
Ms Halalele and Mr Muliaina both hoped there would be more workshops like this in the future.
