Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust director Tommy Wilson on opening Whare Waiora Hub.
A wellness hub for Tauranga's most vulnerable has officially opened.
About 170 people came together for the blessing of Whare Waiora on Wednesday - a space that would offer a "triage of social services" to community members in need.
Community leaders, corrections and police staff, Te Tuinga staff, former prisoners and students were just some of those who spoke at the event.
Te Tuinga Whānau Support Services Trust chief imagination officer Tommy Wilson said Whare Waiora would help reconnect people, share knowledge and offer a range of social services.
The newly renovated Anson St building. Photo / Mead Norton
Mentoring, counselling, music therapy, tutoring, youth justice, medical and budgeting support and free kai are just some of the services that would be available.
"This town needs a place where you can triage. Once they come to us you can assess what their needs are - is it mental health, is it addiction, is it violence, is it food? We are like a triage of social services," he said.
Asked who the space was for, Wilson said "for those that need reconnecting, for those that need the most help".
"There is no age for unwell people. It's for everyone that needs it."
Another big focus would be to support at-risk young people who were struggling at school.
The space was designed with this in mind - using light, colour and art - to help youth feel settled, connected and free to express themselves, he said.
He said it cost about $200,000 to fit out the new space with renovations, brand new lighting and landscaping.
There is a music room, healing room, garden and other offices for people to meet in the building.
Wilson said today's opening gave him "great hope there is a chance".
"You wake up, look at the news, and think life is just a crap sandwich. But it's not. You can see the potential, you can see the hope.
"When you can have prisoners, police and community kingpins in the same room - that's how we make a change. That's how we make Tauranga the safe anchorage."
The CBD building was a former hairdressing academy on Anson St and the hub will have a staff of five starting out.
Patron Sir Paul Adams addresses the crowd. Photo / Mead Norton
Patron Sir Paul Adams, who addressed the crowd at the opening, said the hub was "needed to provide expanding services so desperately required in our area".
But ongoing financial support was necessary to ensure the "sustainability of the organisation".
"As a community member, I have always tried to support those that help others. Te Tuinga fits into that mould very well - in fact, better than most of what we have got in the city," he said.
He said the trust was at a "crossroads" where it developed from a "really small operation" to having a range of skill sets.
"Over time it's going to keep on growing so it needs financial support from the community - starting from central Government to local councils, community trusts and individuals. I am just one of those individuals in town."
I Am Hope general manager Kahlia McDougall was stoked the organisation would now be able to offer Gumboot Friday services - including free counselling to under 25-year-olds - at Whare Waiora.
She acknowledged Adams who had been "tremendously supportive" funding the role of I Am Hope lead clinician Kirsty Britton who would be based at the hub full time.
