The 80-year-old has cared for more than 100 children in her Kāinga Ora home in Brockville over the past 53 years and she has no plans to stop yet.
Her husband died in 1970 and left her with five children to raise.
She started taking on other people’s children when the local priest asked if she would take in two young girls who needed care.
Ms Parata said her mother also fostered children, so it was in her blood.
She said the challenges that came with caregiving were not a problem for her.
"I don’t think it was challenging or else I couldn’t have kept doing it.
"You can’t be a caregiver if you don’t want challenges because that’s why you get them in the first place."
At one point, all four of Ms Parata’s bedrooms were full and she had six boys living with her, sharing bunk beds.
"The boys would do the dishes with undies on their heads and they would be singing.
She said providing food was never a problem because she had a garden with chickens that the boys would always help out with.
Ms Parata’s walls were covered with photographs of children she had cared for over the years, and even at 80, she still had a 13- and an 18-year-old in her care.
She said she felt really lucky because all her children came back to visit her.
Ms Parata has always had a strong community spirit, having also been a kaumātua at her marae, worked as a Māori warden and supported the local kapa haka group for more than three decades.
Despite her age, she has no plans to stop caregiving.
"If I had my life over again, I’d do the same thing.
"Everybody goes through things but I wouldn’t be doing it now if I was struggling.
"I’m all right, I’m good."
