New home for Hawke's Bay rehab company following dispute

Bush Marsh (left), Rawiri George and co-owner Esther Peters moving into RRR Organisations' new Flaxmere accommodation. Photo / Paul Taylor

Support service RRR Organisations and its clients have found a new home after a dispute at their old premises.

RRR Organisations helps people who have been in prison, or through rehabilitation, or otherwise have trouble fitting in with society. It strives to find its clients jobs or transport, and eventually reunite them with whānau.

Owners Levi Hetherington and Esther Peters were trespassed from the Rotten Apple Backpackers on Heretaunga St by business owner Jason Heard of Bailey and Heard Limited after a disagreement over the nature of a verbal agreement soured their relationship

They and their clients - among them prisoners on probation - were offered a new home for their programme in Flaxmere in early June.

The lawyer representing Bailey and Heard, Phillip Ross of Cathedral Lane Law, said the matter between them and RRR Organisations had been resolved now that they had left the property as far as he was aware.

Esther Peters said it was good to have a lot more structure and spend more time on their people.

"Each of the men who have come through, recognition should be on them, because they are taking control of their reintegration, their rehabilitation, themselves. Huge amounts of recognition should be given to them"

She said they were very happy and grateful to the owners of the new property they were staying at, who had heard about their situation through word of mouth.

Levi Hetherington said their 14-week programme was "blessed" to be based in the Hawke's Bay region, which had a lot to offer with jobs and services for the men they helped.

"Triple R is about starting somewhere else in another region so people (men or women) can get on their feet. Be independent and reliant on themselves."

He said it had been a rocky start with their dispute with Bailey and Heard, but they had "wonderful" new accommodation.

"We are thankful to a beautiful lady in this region, who gave not just our men a home ... but RRR (Triple R), us, a home.

"This accommodation is wonderful, it is manageable for us and staff to be able to focus on a smaller number of men - while at the same time each of the men have their own rooms."

He said his and Esther's own experience with reintegrating outside of prison in Auckland and around Thames had taught them the urgent need for a support programme like theirs.

"Corrections have an awesome inside reintegration set-up, which we can both say works well. But upon release, there is nothing. And this is where we come in."

"RRR (Triple R's) Programme is about 'Employment, Honesty, Aroha, Support and Mana' and making a stand that the same area of association does not work, when starting again. It's too hard on the individual."

He said he wanted the people who had successfully gone through their programme without returning to social welfare support or prison to be recognised.

"RRR is for society to not see us for what we were ... but what we are doing today."

He said they had hopes that the Department of Corrections would eventually recognise RRR Organisations as an official contractor based on what they had achieved with their reintegration work so far.