Her title is navigator, and that's what Elisabeth Hince does - she improves the lives of intellectually disabled youth and their families by helping them find the many services available.
Mrs Hince has recently been employed by Idea Services to work with intellectually disabled young people aged between 12 to 24 and their families.
"There are a lot of services to help these families, but they're not always easy to access. So my job is to match people with the services they need," she said.
Based in Palmerston North, and covering the wider Manawatu-Wanganui area, Mrs Hince is the first navigator employed by Idea Services, although there will soon be others around the country. She said the role came out of a scoping project Idea Services carried out several years ago.
The navigator positions are for a one-year pilot, with Idea Services deciding in March next year whether to make them permanent.
Mrs Hince's role stretches wider than Idea Services, however.
"I don't just work with existing Idea Services' clients, or refer people within Idea Services. It's whatever people need," she said.
Currently Mrs Hince has around 10 clients on her books, and she has seen some "real positives" come from her role already. I had a group of young people who were all planning to leave school and leave home to go flatting around the same time. So I organised for a SuperGrans course to be held in Palmerston North to teach them how to cook and clean and look after themselves." SuperGrans teaches homemaking for free.
Mrs Hince is working with only one family in Wanganui currently, but would like more.
"I want to let Wanganui people know I'm here and that I can help if needed."
Mrs Hince is originally from Feilding and studied for her Bachelor of Social Work at Massey University.
She can be contacted on 027-5242477 or by email at elisabeth.hince@idea.org.nz.