One-stop shop to help families struggling to raise themselves up

Crystal Woollen, here with Jizelle Paul Losia and Ty Johnson, found her life changed forever after she became involved at the whanau centre in Papakura. Photo / Dean Purcell

Although she grew up in Papakura, Crystal Woollen had never heard of the Kelvin Rd Whanau Centre until she saw other children walking up the cul-de-sac where she lives with her now 7-year-old son.

She followed them and enrolled her son on the spot in the centre's preschool behind the Kelvin Rd primary school.

Her son was accepted the next day - and Ms Woollen's life was changed forever.

Now 25, she fell pregnant as a teenager to a young man she has had nothing more to do with.

Her own father had left home when she was young and lost contact with the family when Ms Woollen was 8.

Her son has asthma and eczema and had so much trouble paying attention when he started school that Ms Woollen initially had to stay with him in class every day. "Now he's in a school closer to home and he's settling in."

Ms Woollen has been inspired by the whanau centre and has embarked on an early childhood teaching course through the Open Polytechnic, with some casual work at Kelvin Rd.

"I'm hoping to maybe get a job at this preschool," she said. "I always teach my son that he has to respect females. I'm hoping the cycle doesn't continue."

Tina Herewini, 38, who is also now on the DPB after her 12-year marriage ended two years ago, is also studying to be a preschool teacher. She rang the centre eight years ago after reading in the local paper about its "Hippy" programme - the "Home Interaction Programme for Parents and Youngsters" - which helps parents to prepare their preschoolers for school.

Later, she became a Hippy tutor, and when her marriage broke up, she consulted a careers adviser at the whanau centre.

The centre, now known formally as the Papakura Family Service Centre, is one of just six family service centres in low-income areas run as "one-stop shops" by the Great Potentials Foundation.

It includes the preschool centre, Hippy, Plunket, parenting programmes, family therapy, social workers and a state-funded Strengthening Families contract which co-ordinates other agencies to support families that need help.

Great Potentials founder Dame Lesley Max said the programme had stalled since 1993, when the Bolger government funded six centres.

"We are grateful that the funding has continued for the six existing family service centres, but the need is just demonstrable elsewhere," she said.

There are now 27 Hippy programmes serving about 1500 families a year, funded by the Social Development Ministry, Waitemata District Health Board and philanthropic trusts. But lack of funding has forced cuts in some places in the past few years.

Dame Lesley said NZ's high rate of sole parenthood was not inevitable.

Young people needed education, guidance and public health messages about the better outcomes for children, on average, when fathers stuck around.

"There is probably only one thing more sad than wondering how on Earth we can help people stuck in a welfare trap," she said. "That is knowing how we can help them but being unable to provide it."