One of the government's new Whānau Ora commissioning bodies is about to give out $3.1 million in funding.
Te Pūtahitanga o Te Waipounamu has identified an initial 10 applicants in the South Island who will share some of the pūtea.
The money will be allocated to a range of enterprises, from helping people with mental health difficulties to finding employment solutions, to programmes that help whanau in the earliest and later stages of life.
The body says, up until now, the issues for Māori have largely been around lack of opportunities because Māori have generally been locked into an environment that focusses on issues and needs.
Te Pūtahitanga says it aims to transform that thinking by working with whānau, hapū, Iwi, government and other sectors to generate opportunities for Māori to reach their full potential.
Some of the applicants are a low cost GP practice in Otago, Whenua Kura in Canterbury and Kakano Café and Cookery School, also in Canterbury.
