Temporary Solutions

Gold Award Winner   At the THEMHS Conference held in Melbourne on 5-7 September Temporary Solutions won the Gold Award for Consumer Provided Services.  Temporary Solutions is a project initiated by Kites Trust, operating in the greater Wellington area. Most of our work opportunities are within the mental health and community sector, with service user participation in mental health service employment interviews, and provision of secretarial and support services to planning and community consultation processes being the main sources. We also have skilled people available to work as researchers, writers, editors, clerical staff, and service review contractors. Our survival depends on the willingness of mental health and community sector providers to provide us with work opportunities. This is your chance to show that you support social inclusion and recovery for people who experience mental illness, by employing someone through Temporary Solutions today!

In the 2006-2007 year we received funding from Ministry of Social Development and J R McKenzie Trust. Currently TS has two permanent employees, a manager (1.0 FTE) and an office assistant (0.8 FTE). We have a total of 124 workers in our database with 82 (66%) currently available for work. In 2006 TS employed 39 people (31% of the total workforce) in 100 placements, an increase of 417% over the 2005 year. Overall since 2003 at least 24 TS workers have gone on to gain further employment externally. Our goal is to achieve financial independence by 2009.

The essential elements of voluntariness, freedom to withdraw at short notice, and the ability to gain and retain equitable financial reward for one's work, which were developed in partnership with consumers, are what make the TS model so beneficial in overcoming the barriers to employment people with mental illness face. Feedback from workers and customers has been overwhelmingly positive, and almost 20% of TS workers have gone on to find part-time, full time or contract work externally.

Our survival depends on the willingness of mental health and community sector organisations to provide us with work opportunities. This is your chance to show that you support social inclusion and recovery for people who experience mental illness, by employing someone though Temporary Solutions today!

For more information contact tempsolutions   "at" kites.org.nz or phone Leo McIntyre or Matt Hall on (04) 384 3303