{"id":495635,"date":"2026-06-25T23:15:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:15:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495635\/"},"modified":"2026-06-25T23:15:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:15:14","slug":"on-the-up-whangarei-wellbeing-hub-to-offer-support-for-inner-city-homeless","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/495635\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Up: Whang\u0101rei wellbeing hub to offer support for inner-city homeless"},"content":{"rendered":"

The wellness hub will start from the end of July, based in Whare \u0100whina\u2019s support cafe on Cameron St<\/a>, initially for two or three days a week, Webber said.<\/p>\n

People will be able to walk in and see a health improvement practitioner (HIP), who provides short-term support for mental distress and behavioural challenges, a health coach or a mental health expert.<\/p>\n

Webber said it was not always easy to access services such as primary healthcare<\/a>, especially for those without residency.<\/p>\n

He saw the wellness hub as the first port of call for people on their journey, with the aim of linking them to more support.<\/p>\n

A new integrated IT platform, called the Homeless Outreach Team (Hot) response, will help list a person\u2019s needs in real time, so agencies such as MSD, K\u0101inga Ora or primary healthcare can see what is required.<\/p>\n

Memorandums of understanding (MOU) were still to be worked out, such as committing agencies to respond in a certain timeframe, Webber said.<\/p>\n

\"JensenJensen Webber, from primary health organisation Mahitahi Hauora, says agencies coming together will be key to the new services’ success.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still developing what these MOUs look like but it\u2019s very encouraging because everyone has made a commitment through the Mayoral Taskforce,<\/a> publicly supporting this work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a community response to the need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Webber was adamant the services were not about moving homeless people out of the CBD<\/a> but giving them the help they need.<\/p>\n

No one would be forced into the services, he said.<\/p>\n

Webber gave the example of a person living under a bridge, who couldn\u2019t access services because they didn\u2019t have an address or they might have been trespassed<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"WhareWhare \u0100whina’s support cafe for rough sleepers, which opened on Cameron St in May 2025, will be the site of the wellness hub. Photo \/ Denise Piper<\/p>\n

The Hot response would help agencies find the person to deliver services.<\/p>\n

Webber believed the wellness hub and Hot response platform were unique in New Zealand.<\/p>\n

If successful, they could be rolled out across Northland, he said.<\/p>\n

Whang\u0101rei Mayor Ken Couper said the co-ordinated, multi-agency response to rough sleeping in the CBD was one of the most significant pieces of work<\/a> in progress by the taskforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough services exist, until now they have not been connected in a way that helps people access them all in one place,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Couper said the wellbeing space will give immediate support for people in distress and the Hot response will help with co-ordinating any action, so no one falls through the gaps.<\/p>\n

Other taskforce projects underway include establishing an alcohol accord to ensure a vibrant and safe nightlife and the council\u2019s new parking technology<\/a>, he said.<\/p>\n

Denise Piper is a news reporter<\/a> for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The wellness hub will start from the end of July, based in Whare \u0100whina\u2019s support cafe on Cameron…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495636,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[16891,542,9442,1853,8555,2082,5838,681,6215,15902,14735,111,43,139,69,13692,90,3545,57639,46869,1886,223,61,810,1297,5510,1869,1533,102],"class_list":["post-495635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-able","tag-access","tag-better","tag-central","tag-communications","tag-for","tag-help","tag-homeless","tag-hub","tag-innercity","tag-integrated","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-offer","tag-on","tag-platform","tag-rough","tag-sleepers","tag-support","tag-the","tag-to","tag-up","tag-wellbeing","tag-wellness","tag-whangrei","tag-will","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495635\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}