Local Focus: Mount Maunganui’s Live for More programme gets troubled youths back on track

Treyvaun Kohunui used to be a mischievous kid but has turned his life around. He’s just one of the many young men Mount Maunganui-based charitable trust Live for More has helped over the last 12 years.

“We connect with young guys by using self-therapy as a tool to engage with them, to break down barriers and to build relationships to help them see a different path,” said operations manager Megan Warn.

Warn said they measure the programme’s success through six long-term outcomes: “Free from drugs, free from crime, free from gangs, free from prison, to have positive mental health and to be working or studying.”

Two years after graduating from the programme, Warn said 73 per cent of participants remain free from crime.

“One of the outcomes that we’re really proud of is our positive mental health one. So 91 per cent of our graduates have said that they have average stable or very stable mental health after doing our programme.”

Live for More targets young men aged 17 to 25 who want to make a change in their life and participants stay on the course for around six months.

“One of the biggest challenges we face is getting the guys to want to come along. A lot of the young men that we work with aren’t engaged in anything. They’re sitting at home,” said Warn.

Treyvaun Kohunui got involved through a friend who had attended the programme and enjoyed meeting new people the most.

“The programme actually helped me come from a bad beginning. There are always positive people out there who might help you change your path in the right direction,” he said.

Fellow participant Tommy Turbo said he was not doing the best he could have as a teenager: “My two older brothers introduced me to Live for More and they changed into really, really happy and wise people.

“I kind of picked up on that and wanted the same thing for myself.”

Being part of a positive brotherhood is important for these young men.

“I guess it’s learning how to regulate more emotions as a person and our group of boys at Live for More aren’t just a group of boys - we’re family, a brotherhood,” he said.

More information about the programmes can be found at liveformore.org.nz

Warning: The video with this story mentions suicide

Public Interest Journalism Fund