Budget cut may end charitable trust

A charitable trust that promotes a new welfare model based on "a hand up rather than a handout" has fallen foul of a Budget decision to scrap one of its main funding sources.

Social Development Minister Paula Bennett agreed to visit the Te Whangai Trust at Maramarua south of Auckland next week, before announcing a Budget decision to scrap her ministry's Enterprising Communities scheme.

The trust, started by dairy farmers Adrienne and Gary Dalton on their farm, employs 14 people, referred through Work and Income or the justice system, to grow native plants for sale to local councils and the Conservation Department.

Enterprising Communities pays two-thirds of the wages of a nursery manager and a supervisor. The trust's first two-year grant ends in November and Mrs Dalton said the contract provided for a possible extension for a third year.

"At this stage, who knows?" she said. "Without Government assistance until we get our guaranteed sales, there is no way the trust can continue. We have bolstered it and put our own finances into the trust for as long as we possibly can, and we have got to the stage where we can't continue."

Mrs Dalton, a former special education teacher, works 70 hours a week for the trust without pay. Mr Dalton helps manage the nursery work while also running the family dairy farm.

The couple started the trust using Taskforce Green, which subsidises unemployed people for up to six months, but Work and Income then asked them to set up a permanent trust to take longer-term workers.

"As taxpayers, we saw so much unemployment in our area and fourth-generation people on benefits and young kids having children and massive drug and alcohol issues and no public transport, so it was a black area for unemployment," Mrs Dalton said.

"We also looked at the environmental need in New Zealand and the cost of compliance for landowners to actually do environmental plantings like Clean Streams for Fonterra.

"We took people in that had been long-term unemployed and had massive social issues, whether that be mental health or addictions as well as other issues that seemed to accumulate, and we started advocating for them to break down the barriers that prevented them from working."

They have taken up to 18 people at a time, ranging in age from 15 to 63, referred from the youth and adult justice systems and Work and Income from a wide area from Thames to Pukekohe.

The trust collects them by van and employs them for 30 hours a week at the minimum wage plus free breakfasts and lunches.

As well as working in the nursery, the trainees learn life skills such as healthy nutrition, cooking, budgeting and remedial education if necessary.

"We can also work with the family issues. In many cases it's no use just working with the individual, there are situations in their living environment that you have to change to get them into work," Mrs Dalton said.

"We have tried to erase the gang mentality, but turn it into a positive so you give people a sense of belonging and nurture them so they know you will always be there so if they run into trouble they can come back and we'll help them with their issues."

The trust aims to employ people until they find outside work. So far they have helped 20 people into jobs ranging from farm work to caregiving, as well as four into trade training or other forms of education.

"We have proven the model works, and Government will either take it on board or we won't be able to continue with it," said Mrs Dalton.