Haere Mai Michelle

By Anglican Family Care | Posted: Tuesday April 30, 2024

We are pleased to introduce Michelle Tukana, our recently appointed Team Leader for Central Otago/Queenstown Lakes. Michelle is a registered Social Worker with a wealth of experience working with tamariki and rangatahi. We sat down with Michelle and this is what she shared with us.

How long have you been with Anglican Family Care and what’s your background in?

I started with AFC in December 2023. I am a registered Social Worker with a background mainly in Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

What inspired you to pursue a career in social work/family care?

I have a passion for working with people and helping them to harness their strengths to make changes in their lives that they want to make, Social Work was a great fit for this.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

Seeing the pride on people’s faces when they achieve things they didn’t think they could, and hearing the stories of how walking beside people has been pivotal in them moving in a direction they didn’t think was possible.

What do you get up to outside of work? What hobbies or activities do you enjoy doing?

I love spending time with my two children and husband, out and about exploring the beautiful region we live in.

Michelle is based in the Wanaka Community Hub and leads a team of three social workers, who are based in Alexandra and Wanaka.