Services:

• Older People
• Youth, Children and Families
• Physical Disabilities and Neurological Support
• Palliative and Terminal Care

Supporter Article

Presbyterian Support – Where to now?

 

If I had a penny for every time someone has said “you must have nothing to do now that you have sold your rest homes” well… I’d have a lot of pennies and I would still have plenty to do!

 

The sale of residential elder care has been a huge change, but Presbyterian Support East Coast are far form shutting up shop.

Enliven – a Positive, Action Word!

For a start we have income from the sale that can be used to expand the services available to older people across the region. This is very exciting. There are many gaps in the options available to older people and new types of services are needed to make aging a positive experience. Since the numbers of older people is growing rapidly we have plenty to do.

 

Our new positive aging service Enliven is already achieving amazing results by applying a restorative approach so that older people regain the confidence fitness and skills to be in control of their own lives. There are so many good ideas for new aspects to Enliven that we have to take a deep breath and decide which ones to work on first!

 

By this time next year I fully expect that we will be serving as many older people as we ever were or more.

 

One Organisation, Four Ways to Support the Community

Presbyterian Support is one organization, but it has four key areas of activity.

 

Ø      Enliven, - our positive aging work

 

Ø      Family Works – our support for families/whanau

 

Ø      Cranford – the specialist palliative care service for Hawke’s Bay

 

Ø      Disability Support – our work with people under 65 yrs who have a disability

 

They are all equally important to the organisation because each one is vital to the well-being of its clients, their families and friends and the entire community.

 

Common Purpose - What binds the four strands together is Presbyterian Support’s mission, our common purpose. In a nutshell this is to make the communities of the east coast better places for everyone so that all can participate.

 

When we discover barriers of illness or disability or disadvantage or attitudes that prevent people participating or reaching their full potential as people, Presbyterian Support tries to show practical solutions to these problems.

 

Our services can never meet all of the needs in the community, so we try to be innovative and show others how they can also meet the needs. As examples Cranford is training others in palliative care, Family Works was the first provider of after-school care in Gisborne but has now pulled out of that work because (after ten years) four other agencies now provide it. In this way our ideas and our resources have a much greater impact - we can hopefully be the salt spreads around and makes the meat and veges of our community taste better for everyone.

 

A Solid Rock of Mission – Exciting Changes in Action

This mission is core to Presbyterian Support East Coast and has always been what we are about. The ways we do it are undergoing change as we adapt to the needs of today.

 

Today all our services do less inside our own buildings and do far more in peoples homes. We have opportunities to work across the four services on common issues such as support for family care-givers.

 

As we move into the future it is our ideas and our people who will be visible, not our buildings. This has always been the case, Presbyterians support has always been an innovator and tried new things, and it has always been our people that make the difference. It has been easy for this to be overshadowed by the obvious presence of large buildings.

 

The Next Few Years

In the next supporter I will tell you about the plans for each of our areas of work, Enliven, Family works, Cranford and Disability Support.

 

In the mean time be assured and do tell everyone, Presbyterian Support is as committed as ever to creating a better community.

Shaun Robinson

CEO