Drugs such as methamphetamine can affect the whole family of a user. Photo / 123RF
Drugs such as methamphetamine can affect the whole family of a user. Photo / 123RF
A family-wide approach to tackling drug harm will be the outcome of an almost $1 million grant to boost addiction services in the wider region.
Te Oranganui received the $900,000 Provincial Growth Fund grant - announced by Regional Economic Development Minister Shane Jones on Friday - and will putthe money towards employing new staff to work with people and families as part of Te Toronga Whānau.
Its chief executive Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata told the Chronicle on Monday that while many PGF applications had a strong focus on the economy and employment "we're fundamentally of the belief that wellbeing of whānau absolutely impacts on our economy".
Te Oranganui service manager Sharon Crombie said the funding would go towards the employment of new staff to work with people and the families of those battling drug issues.
"Drugs like meth can affect partners, adult children, and mums and dads, so we see whānau as an extended group of people that we'll be working with," Crombie said.
"We already provide an alcohol and other drug service that has been running for many years, and we have seen a growth in what meth does to people and their whānau."
Te Oranganui was part of a collective in Whanganui called "Tackling Meth", Crombie said, which was made up of the police, the Whanganui DHB, the Ministry of Social Development, and Mental Health Services.
"That group was set up as a way to kind of follow the model in Northland, which has been really successful in dealing with meth.
Crombie said the best way to help someone struggling with impact of meth was to help the whole whānau.
"Having this (PGF funding) means that we can give more time to families, and it means that we can give them a focus and a say, and we're going to collect information from them as we go.
"We can imagine what the impact is, but we need to be collecting information from the people who are experiencing it."
Te Oranganui service manager Sharon Crombie and chief executive Wheturangi Walsh-Tapiata says the money will go towards the wellbeing of families. Photo / Supplied
Te Oranganui services will also be extended to Ohakune, Raetihi, Taihape, and Marton as well.
Further grant to help get people into trades
Meanwhile, Wai Ora Christian Community Trust also received $800,000 towards its E Tu Tangata programme.
Chief executive Marama Dey said it had taken "a lot of hard work" to secure the PGF funding.
"The Te Tangata programme is about helping people gain qualifications and skills in the building trades," Dey said.
"We could never have got it off the ground if wasn't for the government funding."
Dey said the target was to work with up to 40 people a year for the next two years, preparing them with the necessary skills to enter the workforce.
"The most important thing is being able to work at the pace of the people that come on the courses, and the funding opens up an opportunity for all kinds of people to be able to progress through this training without the stress and pressure of time frames.
"The courses are running over two years, and there are three phases of E Tu Tangata, which makes it much easier to cope with."
Project manager at Wai Ora Christian Community Trust , Eddie Churton, said students were aged between 15 and 55, and that the courses were designed for people of all ages.
"The PGF funding will go towards a two-year pilot programme, and our desire is to actually exceed what we've been given the opportunity to do," Churton said.
"There's no point just running it for two years, we want something that's ongoing and delivering good results to the students.
"The goal is to get our students into apprenticeships, and we want to make what we're building with the students useful.
"With cabins and things like that there will be opportunities for them to be sold, or develop that further into housing."
Dey said that she was "extremely grateful" to both the Government and the Te Ara Mahi initiative, who had "worked alongside them" to secure the PGF funding.
