City cash to help fulfil dream of social service village

By Theresa Garner

HAMILTON - New Zealand's first "social service village" will open in Hamilton this year in a city council response to needy community groups.

A residential centre for battered women and children to rebuild their lives will be created at Chanel Park, a former IHC facility in Morrinsville Rd.

The facility, to open about mid-year, will also be a central point for access to Catholic and Anglican social services, which have long dreamed of such a centre.

The Hamilton City Council decided to buy the 60-bed Chanel Park from the Catholic Church after being confronted by the level of homelessness in the city.

Nearly 300 adults and children were found to be homeless because of family crisis, financial difficulties and the need to escape from abuse.

The Mayor of Hamilton, Russ Rimmington, said the council could not ignore the "area of great need."

The combined group of social services will buy the buildings from the council for $1.1 million - money the charities have already raised.

The council will carry the project's remaining $700,000 cost.

The director of Waikato Anglican Social Services, Karen Morrison-Hume, said the partnership with local government was the first in the country. "The commitment by a socially minded council goes against the current political tide."

But she said the project was in line with the Government's social policy, because it collaborated without duplication and used resources efficiently and effectively.

Women's Refuge spokeswoman Wendy Watts said that once Chanel Park was up and running the refuge would no longer be forced to send women to other towns and cities for safe-keeping.

Last week alone, abuse had forced four Hamilton women to leave their homes.
Wendy Watts said Chanel Park was brilliant and long overdue.

"We can't find anything else that remotely resembles this concept."

Catholic Family Support Services will run its home-based care service from the centre, which will offer adult education programmes, on-site skill development, and counselling.

The social agencies will appeal to the Government, Hamilton businesses and trusts to cover the ongoing costs of the project.