Merge Cafe Archives

Community homelessness Housing Mental Health And Addiction Merge Cafe Merge Community News youth homelessness

16 September 2025

Lifewise Amplifies Lived Experience at Mayoral Forum

On the 16 September 2025, Jolie Leach—senior leader at Lifewise and qualified clinician—was honoured to represent the Lifewise whānau at Auckland’s Mayoral Forum, sharing her lived experience and vision for…

Cha

Love0

Big Sleepout Events homelessness Merge Cafe Merge Community News

15 July 2025

Big Sleepout 2025: Aucklanders Unite to Tackle Homelessness

On a chilly, rain-soaked evening in July, over 60 leaders from Auckland’s business and community sectors came together at AUT’s Hikuwai Plaza for a night of sleeping rough to raise awareness…

Cha

Love0

Big Sleepout homelessness Merge Cafe Merge Community

27 May 2025

The Big Sleepout is Back!

After a hiatus of five years initially due to COVID-19, we are thrilled to announce that The Big Sleepout is back. Launched in New Zealand by Lifewise in 2010, the event…

Cha

Love0

homelessness Mental Health And Addiction Merge Cafe News

15 May 2025

Lifewise CE Haehaetu Barrett Shares Powerful Insights on Truth, Conviction, and Community Leadership at AddictionZ 2025

At the AddictionZ 2025 Conference on the Gold Coast, Lifewise Chief Executive Haehaetu Barrett delivered a presentation titled ‘Takahia tōu ara o te whakapono – Traverse your pathway with truth and…

Cha

Love0

homelessness Merge Cafe Merge Community youth homelessness

7 March 2025

Buy 1, Give 5

Merge Café's "Pay it Forward" Card: How a $25 Donation Can Feed People in Need As a Social Enterprise, Merge Café, is always looking for ways to sustain its operations…

Cha

Love0

Merge Cafe Merge Community News

17 February 2025

Gang operations still prevalent despite crackdowns: The Reality on Auckland’s Streets

It has been three months since the government introduced a nationwide ban on gang symbols in public places. However, despite these legal restrictions and recent crackdowns, gang activity remains a…

Cha

Love0

Christmas Merge Cafe Merge Community

10 January 2025

Holiday Miracle at Merge

We all know that Merge Café has long served as a refuge for those seeking connection and a hot meal. Late last year as we neared the Christmas break, the…

Cha

Love0

Christmas early childhood education Family Services health and disability services Housing First Merge Cafe Rotorua Youth Housing

4 December 2024

Lifewise Services Holiday Hours 2024

Some of Lifewise’s services will be unavailable or will have limited capacity over the holiday season. Here’s the list of our holiday hours schedule for your easy reference: Holiday Hours…

Cha

Love0

Merge Cafe Merge Community

17 June 2024

Celebrating Volunteer Week 2024: 16-22 June

Join Us in Celebrating Our Collective Impact Our Commitment: Manaakitanga and Whakawhanaungatanga In these challenging times, our volunteering community at Merge Café is more committed than ever to manaakitanga (hospitality,…

Cha

Love0

Two smiling individuals, a chef in white attire and a customer in a pink coat, standing proudly in front of a café named "Lifewise Merge - Food for Good."

Merge Cafe Merge Community

9 February 2024

One Life, Two Lives. Jo Leach – Lived Experience Leader.

Jo is an impressive woman, with an impressive story. Jo is a proud mother, a loving partner, an empathetic leader, and a go-getter who some would say travels faster than…

Di Macdonald

Love0

Merge Cafe Merge Community

4 October 2023

Cooking up connections at Ringa Wera

What is Ringa Wera? Ringa Wera literally translates as 'hot hands', describing both the speed people work at and the heat from the fire and ovens. The name was gifted…

Di Macdonald

Love0

Merge Cafe

19 June 2023

Celebrating Volunteer Week 2023

Pip Pip Hooray Volunteers are the backbone of New Zealand. Volunteers roughly contribute 159 million hours of formal volunteer labour each year. The current estimated value of volunteer work is…

Di Macdonald

Love0

Merge Cafe

Categories