A “safe space” to help people recover from meth addiction is being planned for the Gisborne region.
Still in its conceptual stage, Te Whare Whakawatea will be a residential space supporting recovering meth addicts before and after they enter rehab.
According to wastewater data from police for the final quarter of 2025, Hawke’s Bay/Gisborne has the second-highest methamphetamine consumption in the country - Northland is the highest.
Leading the residential space plan is Manaaki Tairāwhiti, a regional collective that encompasses iwi, the district council, Trust Tairāwhiti, government agencies and networks of non-governmental organisations that provide social services.
Project lead Moera Brown and implementation manager Meka Whaitiri said the living quarters would be a first for Tairāwhiti and would fill a gap in addiction services.
Taking a “non-clinical approach”, the 24/7 staffed facility will offer domestic support, which includes a bed, food and a “whānau plan”.
Residents will spend up to 12 weeks at the facility before transitioning into rehab.
They then re-enter the facility after rehab to help with reintegration.
“It is quite a unique pilot that Tairāwhiti is testing,” Whaitiri said.
The facility was not a rehab nor a detox centre, but would help to bridge the gap between “acute to rehab”, she said.
Whaitiri said there was no “accredited” rehabilitation centre in Gisborne. Those who wanted rehab had to go out of town to places like Auckland or Rotorua.
If people were acutely addicted, the only option was the hospital.
“Then once they get released from the hospital, there’s no one picking them up ... to go into rehab.
“If they’re lucky to get into formal recovery rehab places, then it’s when they come out - there’s nothing to capture them, to keep them drug-free,” she said.
“We call it a safe space - for them to then contemplate developing their plans to commit to going to rehab, and then coming back after rehab, reintegrating them back into their community and into their whānau.”
It would be “whānau and community-led ... all the clinical support that this individual will need does happen, but it doesn’t happen in the whare,” Whaitiri said.
People would be referred to the facility from existing addiction service providers.
Clinical assessments would be completed by providers and clinicians off-site, and the facility would also assess with the individual and the family to ensure they were ready to commit to rehabilitation.
Once in the facility, they would continue to complete their day-to-day programmes with their providers, which could include going to counselling, and they might also continue to go to work.
“There’ll obviously be waiting for beds to free up in the rehabs, so every day will be different depending on the whānau plan ... and what the providers can do.”
A “unique” aspect of the project was that they would not just work with the addict, but their whānau as well.
At this stage, they were looking for a semi-rural property a short distance from Gisborne.
Two staff would be working at any one time, both trained in de-escalation and safety issues, and with experience in the social sector.
The region had received $2 million in Government funding for addiction services, spread between addiction service providers and Te Whare Whakawatea.
Whaitiri said the pilot had 12 months of funding and they wanted to ensure the programme’s success.
In the short time they had to kick the pilot off, they had to get people on their recovery journey through the door to test whether the facility and approach worked.
“Got to make sure that they’re fit - they’re not a threat to themselves or others in the house, they’re not going to be a threat to the staff, and they’re serious about the rehab journey,” Whaitiri said.
Te Whare Whakawatea would also enable existing providers to come together and understand the various roles across the recovery journey.
If successful, it could lead to ongoing funding and a regional rehabilitation centre, Whaitiri said.
Brown said the concept had to be tested to see whether the thinking and feedback they had received from those with lived experience would impact recovery journeys.
One of the “biggest factors” discovered in data and evidence was when people returned from rehab, most relapsed as their environment remained unchanged.
“So how do you reintegrate them into that space and work with all their peers and family?”
They had connected with Turanga Health as a potential provider for the facility, as Maanaki Tairawhiti was not a service provider.
Data would be captured throughout the pilot to measure success.
