When Whakamaru opens to the public on November 18th 2024, the people of Wellington will gain a community hub that is available to them at all times.

As part of that 24/7 offering, the Wellington City Mission will operate a 24-hour Crisis Recovery Café from within Whakamaru.

The café will act as a community-based mental health crisis prevention and response service in a non-clinical environment. The service will provide immediate support to individuals and whānau in mental distress who are not at immediate risk of harm to self or others.

Integrated with the Wellington City Mission’s housing, community and food support services, the café will aim to address the immediate and long-term needs of those experiencing mental distress.

Operating in a safe and reassuring environment, on-site staff will provide trauma-informed care through one-to-one peer support, safety planning, and by providing access to digital mental health services. Staff will also be trained in de-escalation. Where appropriate, service users will be supported to engage with other services.

The Crisis Recovery Café offers an alternative to emergency departments, police and specialist secondary mental health teams, helping to alleviate their demand. It will be open to anyone aged 18 and over, focusing primarily on target population groups that have evidence of poorer mental health outcomes.

Elsewhere at Whakamaru, the Wellington City Mission’s team of Community Practitioners – including social workers, counsellors, addiction support workers and financial mentors – will continue to provide support to people across areas such as health, housing, income, education and whānau support. Where appropriate, we can also refer individuals or whānau to onsite primary care at Whakamaru, which will be provided by Ora Toa.

For more information about Whakamaru’s full offering for the people of Wellington, https://wellingtoncitymission.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Whakamaru-Media-Pack_compressed.pdf.

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