1. Pou Oranga / Support for those Doing It Tough:
Planned Destination -> Foodtruck & Day/Night Centres

Waimanako works alongside many other agencies and support services to support whānau and individuals where there is not enough to go around. In any given week, Waimanako provides hundreds of free, filling, nutritious meals to any in severe need. This provision includes a broad cross-section of the community – including those who are homeless, but equally regular New Zealanders from the young to the elderly who are doing it tough. Ceasing or curtailing this service would inevitably have some major negative impacts (“Where do I turn to?”).

We are currently exploring the possiliity of setting up a collaborative mobile foodtruck service (“Waimanako on Wheels”) that would offer the same quality of kai, with mana, at set times and locations each day.

Meanwhile, The Ngāmotu Street Initiative is a service that began in early 2024, and exists to support rough sleeping whānau in New Plymouth. We assist with navigating supports, and work with them to advocate for their needs. We connect with local businesses and organisations to build awareness and understand community impact. While the Ngāmotu Street Initiative is not an immediate response service, we can provide support and advocacy for the community regarding homelessness. You can read more about our plans to evolve and grow this service by heading here.

2. Pou Kotahitanga / Being There at the Grassroots:
Planned Destination -> New Cafe Premises

Waimanako offers a Support Cafe; a safe and sober space to drop in, a Listening Ear and range of support services to call on ‘right here and now’. Having a rough day? Come in, take a breath, sit down with a hot drink and a delicious meal, and be met with a kind and caring trained team who are there to help make a “next steps” plan. A particular concern is for anyone who may be dealing with suicidal thoughts. We want you to know that you are not alone and that we are here to help you through this, with a holistic solutions-based approach.

We are currently exploring the right future location for this vital service. Coincidentally, the Minister for Mental Health has announced plans to enable Support Cafe initiatives like the one that we operate. We have applied for consideration by the Ministry to continue to offer this service in Taranaki through this funded scheme. We very much hope that our application will be successful. We expect this to decided in early October. Meanwhile, we are looking for the best possible premises for our new Cafe. A strong emphasis will be on ease of access, along with affordabiliy and capacity for the building to include a couple of private support spaces. We expect this to be outside of the CBD.

In tandem with the Cafe, we offer a selection of open groups and workshops – such as Watercolour Art, the Creative Hub, Healing Breath. These groups will be offered from the new Cafe location – our thinking is that such groups will operate during the period immediately before or immediately after the cafe is open for regular use; chairs and tables will be cleared away, and the space will be fully used for these awesome groups.

The new Support Cafe will not be offering free food in the same way that the Koha Cafe has done. As above, we plan to offer this aspect of our mahi through a mobile service, instead.

3. Pou Ōritenga / Improving the landscape:
Planned Destination -> Support Space in Strandon

This is where our team engage in more depth, providing longer-term care, and working with individuals and whānau to address the root causes of our suffering.

This includes phone and video calls with those accessing our care; Workshops such as Stress Busters, Grief and Loss Support and The Coaching Hub; Wrap-around care such as Peer Support; Coaching and Therapy. The kind of work that typically happens, every single day, in our Support Rooms at Waimanako.

The tikanga of this aspect of our work tend to look like this: Safe, Peaceful, Therapeutic, Community-Feel (Non-Clinical), Guided.

For example, it might be meeting up weekly with Coach Liz, Sid (Support Kaiāwhina) or Susan (Therapist).

We have looked for a physical place which provides:

– Individual rooms for support sessions and small groups;  office/reception/waiting-room spaces
– Somewhere affordable, warm, welcoming and accessible, with free parking nearby
– A place with natural light, where there is access to the beautiful outdoors for walking/talking sessions to be a possibility
– Somewhere peaceful where our support work is undisturbed.

From Monday 30th June, we are thrilled that this aspect of our work will be be relocating to The Strandon Professional Centre, off Nobs Line in Strandon, New Plymouth.