Jess Harnett is vying for public votes to help get her Mindfit NZ website launched.
Struggling with mental wellbeing and not knowing where to go for help is a problem a Tauranga woman is aiming to solve.
Mindfit NZ is the brainchild of Matua's Jess Harnett, 22, who is one of the nine finalists for the TSB Good Stuff People's Choice Award.
The $250,000 GoodStuff grants programme helps turn innovative Kiwis' big ideas into reality as the country works to recover from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The grants will be distributed next month to projects which help solve problems and improve the future of communities.
TSB is also offering nine finalists the chance to win the $30,000 People's Choice Award voted for online.
Jess Harnett is the sole finalist from the Bay of Plenty region, with five others from Auckland, plus one each from Canterbury, Manawatū and the Waikato region.
Jess Harnett is vying for votes to help get her Mindfit NZ website launched. Photo / George Novak
She is creating an online national mental health directory to help people better connect with affordable and cost-effective wellbeing treatment services nationwide.
Harnett, who works at Tank juice bar and is also a dance teacher with KJ Studios, has been working on the project since October.
The idea was sparked after her own struggles with mental wellbeing, as well as family and friends' struggles.
Harnett said she had done a lot of research during her journey and found trying to get the right help was not easy.
"I know it can often feel quite overwhelming and disheartening when you first start to search online for what services are available.
"Mindfit is about ensuring people can find and access the most affordable services and cost-effective treatments quickly, and ultimately get the interventions they need earlier."
Harnett was working with a local website developer Nettl and had already put a lot of her own money into the project.
"I already have 650 service providers ready to list on the Mindfit NZ national directory ... If I win the People's Choice $30,000 grant it should be enough to launch the website in the next two to three months. That's my goal."
Harnett said she was also keen to target small towns, which were often left out in terms of the range of mental health treatment services available and those being promoted.
"I think Mindfit will help all New Zealanders, whether they are struggling right now or not, to become better equipped to deal with mental illness or distress and quickly change the locks every time it threatens to break in and take over our lives."
TSB chief executive Donna Cooper said TSB received thousands of applications from Kiwis vying for a slice of a Kickstarter fund.
"We've been overwhelmed with applications from right across the country with incredible ideas aimed at doing good in our communities.
"TSB is thrilled to be able to give one of these ideas a kick-start, particularly as we go through the challenges of life during and after Covid-19."
Cooper said judging was under way and asked all New Zealanders to vote for the People's Choice Award winner on tsbgoodstuff.co.nz.
Online voting closes at noon on Friday and the full list of grant winners will be announced early next month. Click here to vote.
Other finalists in the TSB Good Stuff People's Choice Award
Ana Djokovic: The Bread Collective - support service to help refugees (Auckland) Benji Pritchard: Techne, a digital curriculum for schools ( Manawatū) Daniel Tolmie: Recycling plastic - using injection moulding machines (Auckland) Dean Brown: Triage Plus (Canterbury) - an app focused on first responders Denym Bird: The right tools - online app marketplace (Auckland) Nic Antoniadis: Handi - hands-free hand sanitiser station (Auckland) Rachel Adams: Live Happy - medical marketplace system (Waikato) Stephen Moon: Chooza- charity auction website (Auckland)
