24Yes. to unlocking women’s potentialHe Kete Oranga o Te Mana WāhineDespite the dramatic growth of women’sincarceration in recent years, few resourceshave been directed to meeting the reentryneeds of women leaving prison. With thepercentage of drug or alcohol-addictedwomen in prison far outweighing that of men,Pathway Trust launched the South Island’s onlyresidential drug and alcohol centre for women- He Kete Oranga o te Mana Wāhine -a Women’s Basket of Wellness, in 2019.It’s been two years since the doors of He KeteOranga o te Mana Wāhine (He Kete) opened atthe Pathway Retreat in Motukarara, marking thebeginning of a poignant journey for Pathway,our partners at Odyssey House and the wāhinewho have found solace and support within theprogramme.He Kete has welcomed 55 wāhine through itsdoors since the programme commenced in 2019,with 24 of them now reintegrated back into thecommunity, where they continue to receive ongoingsupport for up to 12 months post residential care.The Department of Corrections has continuedto support us in delivering our programme andthe fact that we have been oversubscribed, withmore wāhine eligible to enter our service than wehave capacity for, demonstrates the value andimportance of what we are delivering. This year wehave attempted to allay some of that bottleneck byincreasing capacity by two beds (total of 12) andalready we are operating at the maximum.Over the past two years working in this space, wehave noticed that some wāhine need an additionalstep on their journey back to the community thatis based closer to the city. So we supported thedevelopment of Te Whare Waimairiiri - RecoveryHouse - a women’s wing in Odyssey House, whichopened last month. The eight-bed reintegration unit isa safe place for women who have completed the HeKete programme to stay until they are better equippedto reenter the community.Our He Kete Navigators, Sandra and Abii work with thewāhine in the community and can provide assistancewith housing, WINZ, and helping to facilitate study andemployment aspirations. It’s a busy role, due to thelong tail of support - wāhine are at the retreat for 16weeks and re-enter the community with our supportfor a further 36 weeks. This also means we’ve gotthree cohorts of graduates in the community and thatnumber continues to grow, which is a wonderful thing.It’s important to acknowledge Odyssey House ClinicalDirector, Nigel Loughton, Operations Manager -Specialist Services, Marion Tizzard, and ContractManager - High Impact Innovation ProgrammeDepartment of Corrections, Bronwen Wilkins whowork tirelessly to champion the cause and provideeducation around the benefits of choosing thetherapeutic community over incarceration.Outlook 2021-2022: We continue to be hopeful thatby this time next year, He Kete will form part of thebaseline Vote Corrections - Justice Sector budgetappropriation. Until then, we remain, as always,completely focused on supporting our wāhine.Together with our partners, we are working hard tomake He Kete Oranga o te Mana Wāhine the mosteffective residential facility and after care supportservice in New Zealand. Thank you for your ongoingsupport in getting us there.Steve JukesHe Kete Executive Director
HE KETE ORANGAO TE MANA WAHINEA WOMAN'S JOURNEYOF RECOVERYFIRSTRESIDENTIAL DRUG &ALCOHOL CENTREFOR WOMEN IN THESOUTH ISLAND24WOMEN HAVECOMPLETED THEPROGRAMME62%OF WOMEN IN PRISONHAVE BOTH MENTALHEALTH & SUBSTANCEDISORDERS
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