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Fellow supporters Alyssa McDonagh and Jessica Sunnex cook dinner for everyone who shows up at Te Puna Wai.
Weekends and evenings can be the worst times to feel down when people struggle with mental health and addictions.
For Palmerston North man James Orchard, a client or tangata whaiora at Mana o te Tangata Trust, there is now a solution to the loneliness that can lead to suffering.
An after-hours venue, Te Puna Wai, has opened its doors to provide a safe and warm haven where people can enjoy food, activities and supportive companionship to help manage anxiety.
The first service of its kind outside of Auckland, Te Puna Wai is run by the trust at its 601 Featherston St base in conjunction with NZ Health’s MidCentral district, which paid for its establishment and staff.
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Orchard said he was so happy there was now a place to go in the evenings, Friday to Sunday.
He loved to have dinner there, play some games, maybe watch a movie and go home when he was tired.
For the trust’s pou arahi, operations leader Niki Garbé, Te Puna Wai is meeting a need that has long been recognized but unfunded.
She said people couldn’t plan to have problems coping with their mental illness from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on weekdays, when the trust and other services were open, and it was difficult for those in day jobs to get support.
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Niki Garbé is the operational manager of Mana o te Tangata Trust, home of Te Puna Wai Evening Walk-in Center for people in psychological distress.
Evenings and weekends, without alternatives, problems at home can spiral out of control, leading to a call to the police or a visit to the emergency department at Palmerston North Hospital.
For many, the better option was to spend time with people who had experience with mental health and addiction problems, who could listen and calm down, and who had had the training to recognize if further help was needed.
“They can just walk in here. There are no referrals, no paperwork and no obligations,” says Garbé.
“It’s for intervention, rather than emergency intervention.”
Visitors were welcome to sit in the kitchen, where fellow supporters prepared an evening meal for everyone, and there was a constant supply of hot drinks, soup, snacks and fruit.
Garbe said the food was already the medicine some people needed, if worries about how to feed themselves and their families caused their anxiety.
While much of the activity took place in a large whānau room, there was also a smaller lounge for movies and card games and quiet company, and a room where those feeling overwhelmed could be alone or with a fellow supporter.
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James Orchard contemplates an evening of board games with Niki Garbé and Pearl Henry at Te Puna Wai.
Garbe said most people in need could be soothed and reassured by the welcoming and soothing environment.
If not, staff had access to the mental health crisis team.
People who spent time in Te Puna Wai could get taxi tickets to take them home. They were also available to people who were referred from the hospital.
MidCentral mental health and substance abuse operations executive Scott Ambridge said the facility would be a great asset.
“Te Puna Wai will provide an additional level of support for those experiencing a mental health crisis, from those who can understand what they are going through.”
It would also help relieve the pressure on the emergency department by providing a home environment where many people would receive the support they needed.
Garbé said the service was set up as a six-month trial, which would be reviewed and hopefully continued and expanded to open every night.
In the first six weeks, about 150 visitors had already visited the house, which is open on Friday from 5 pm to 10 pm and on Saturday and Sunday from 3 pm to 10 pm.