Te Ara Hou celebrates 10 years as a social work innovation

On 11 November Te Ara Hou, the innovative social services village situated on Morrinsville Road, celebrates 10 years of working together to address social issues in Hamilton.

What began as a unique, and sometimes controversial, venture designed to meet and address the complex range of current social and community needs; has now, a decade later, become a blueprint for similar social service projects here and abroad.

Te Ara Hou is the result of a joint vision between Council, which initially purchased the village's land, and Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic social work agencies. Originally the base for four organisations, services at the village have doubled in the past ten years. Nine social service agencies now run programmes from Te Ara Hou, providing services to a wide range of local people needing care and support. The agencies include:

Anglican Action – provides supported accommodation for men in the city,connects and reconnects whanau and families, gets long-term unemployed people into sustainanble employment or training, offers specialist drug and alcohol counselling and provides legal advice particularly in regard to children, young persons and their families.

• Cross Rose – Anglican Action's residential centre for at-risk women and children to assist them in re-establishing a quality home life.
• Te Hurihanga – a residential care programme which provides at-risk young people with a mix of education and life skill training that will allow them to successfully re-integrate with their communities.
• Alternatives to Violence Project – an independent, voluntary, multicultural organisation that runs workshops to help people create healthy relationships and peaceful communities.
• Abbeyfield House – a not-for-profit organisation providing companionship and an affordable home for older people.
• Youth Horizons Waikato – providing respite and emergency foster care for young people with serious mental health problems.
• Family Works Waikato – runs the social workers in schools programme and works alongside children and their families, supporting them to make positive and lasting differences in their lives.
• The Friary – a faith based centre for prayer and retreat operated by the Society of St Francis.
• Catholic Family Support – offering an intensive home-based support service to empower families who are experiencing difficulty taking back control of their lives.

Community and Environment Committee chairperson and Hamilton City Councillor Daphne Bell says, "The city applauds the foresight of those who set up Te Ara Hou ten years ago and have built on that vision."

Te Ara Hou Village trust board member John Denny says “We came here in 1999 as three church social work agencies committed to working together in a ‘village’ community; to supporting each other and to providing a welcoming place where people could start to turn their lives around.

“In acknowledgement of our desire to honour our treaty partnership, Tainui gifted us the name of Te Ara Hou, the New Way. Since then thousands of people have had cause to recognise our name – from the reception of a simple food parcel at a time of desperate need to the caring relationship with a therapist over months that has given new hope.

"At CrossRose young mothers and children find safety and learn new skills while breaking away from the damage of the past. The workers from Te Ara Hou go into homes around the city to help families cope with a new child or a new culture. Older people live in comfort and security in Abbeyfield and the young men of Te Hurihanga are given a fresh start to a meaningful life. This is indeed the 'New Way'."

A tenth anniversary celebration - including speeches, entertainment and refreshments – will take place from 3-7pm on Wednesday 11 November at Te Ara Hou, 100 Morrinsville Road, Hamilton.