Takiwatanga Sanctuary Trust

I'm autistic, and I stayed at this place three times over 2021. I had some good experiences, and some bad experiences. Steve seemed to genuinely care about me, though he made a lot of unkept promises to both me while I was staying there (about things we would do, plans etc) and our family afterwards (my family still hasn't received promised receipts and money back for the spending of $700 of petty cash that was given to them over and above normal pay for extra expenses for me while I was there). One time, I tried to communicate how I was feeling down and how I felt like I wasn't doing well with Steve and he dismissed my struggles. However, sometimes, he was incredibly understanding and helpful. So a mixed bag. I had one animal welfare concern, too, and that was their axolotls being kept in a very small tank, far too small for them, where they could barely swim. It was like this for the entirety of my last 3 month stay. I know they knew it was too small because they once mentioned they needed to get a bigger tank before they could post them online. They have also now completely ghosted our family after promising to keep in contact for the year, and also gave some notes about me to my psychiatrist and my family that I would consider to be inaccurate perceptions of my struggles that ignored some key components of what I go through as an autistic person. Overall, my stay at the Takiwatanga Sanctuary was a mixed bag. My short stays were definitely better than my long stay - I'd only recommend this place for short-term respite because it became apparent in my long-term stay that they were not completely equipped to handle everything they were taking on. UPDATE - over a month later (August 2022): I'm editing this message and reducing my rating to one star. After continued attempts to get in contact, Steve & Phil have showed no interest in resolving things with our family and doing what they promised - they've completely ignored us. I'd also like to add a tidbit about my stay to show how unhelpful Steve & Phil could be. Here it is - Phil knew about my anxiety about death and lack of safety. He knowingly introduced me to the concept of "solar flares" and how the world's electricity could be cut due to it. Him & Steve mentioned it multiple times afterwards, knowing that it caused me huge anxiety. It's such a ridiculous thing to needlessly introduce to a person with anxiety, and I still worry about it to this day. They try to pass it as "exposure therapy" which is - in all honesty - BS and an excuse used to traumatise autistic people. Despite this, I will still always thank them and give them credit for taking me in when no one else could, and I will give credit to Steve for helping me through some big anxieties and making me feel seen & understood in some cases. I will also be honest and say they did not handle things such as meltdowns very well, and they twisted my words and lied about my experiences to my family and psychiatrist. And they've completely ghosted us since after my third stay - there has been no contact and follow up as promised. Highly unprofessional. Despite the good things I did take from the experience, due to their unprofessionalism afterwards and lack of consistency (sometimes fantastically helpful, sometimes awfully ignorant) I would never recommend.
Jul 31st, 2022

These people took our autistic son in when we had nowhere for him to go. For that and the love they showed him very grateful. However they recieved very reasonable money for the job they did however did not follow through on anything they promised and were not transparent. Did not return receipts or money balance from petty cash sent to them. They have ghosted us and it is sad there is no accountability at all. So my advice to you if you deal with this charity make sure everything is signed in writing and very clear and check their credentials
May 5th, 2022

Great place, caring owners, happy animals.
Nov 2nd, 2021

Love your work.
Jul 14th, 2021

Dec 27th, 2020