Sitting in sunshine, sharing kai, the whānau who regularly visit Te Whare Ma The White House say it’s a place to feel comfortable.
“I have always felt at home, even from the early days,” one person says, explaining that you can just sit in the lounge and have a chat with people.
“Or not,” her table companion chimes in. You can just sit in the corner and snore if you want to, he says through a beaming grin and infectious chuckle.
The house on Nelson’s Wainui Street has a simple purpose – it’s about giving and receiving support for people mental health and addiction, from those that have lived through it.
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Last week the house flung open the doors and fired up the barbecue, with a handmade welcome sign inviting people in to check out the house.
Inside, people strummed guitars, shared food, and chatted, or mended clothes.
Back at the table, the whānau member explais that the house is full of humour, and that it offers a safe space.
BRADEN FASTIER/Stuff
Marina McPherson and Sharron Martin work on customising a dress at the White House.
“There’s times when I have been really stressed and I have come here and felt better for it.”
But, while there’s always someone to chat to, there’s also plenty of activities for those who want to take part.
The peer-led house offers a safe space for people to come together, while also boasting a packed calendar of activities giving chances for people to get out and about together. The schedule for June has mending sessions, brunches, croquet, lawn bowls and flow movement classes to name just a few.
While the house is peer run, there is also a team of staff behind the scenes keeping it running, ensuring funding from Te Whatu Ora and other chartiable trusts.
Peer support worker Warwick Jones said involvement was a key part of the house, getting people engaged in activities.
“The White House can be anything the client wants it to be … people walk through the door and relax.”
Service manager Cameron Forbes said the house was established about 25 years ago when other facilities like Ngāwhatu were closed.
“Suddenly all the people ‘inside’ were ‘outside’ in the community.”
The house was named The White House because it was a “seat of power” for people with lived experience of mental health, giving them a safe space to come together.
“It’s where they can form as a community and they can be amongst other people that have similar experiences.”
Often, people living with mental health felt judged and disempowered, he said.
“They wanted to have somewhere where they had the power.”
Once people joined the whānau they were there for the long-term – when things were going well, but especially when they weren’t.
“It’s a place where people can journey to wellness.”
Many of the guests had tough living circumstances, so having a place to shower, have a cuppa and just soak up the sunshine in the garden was often a welcome respite.
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Peer Support worker Aaliyah Gill says The White House is a “home away from home” for its whānau.
Forbes invited anyone with lived experience of mental health and addiction to come and meet the whānau.
For many newcomers there was a sense of hope in meeting people who had the same, or similar, lived experience they had had, he said.
“They can feel hope, because they can see other people who are coping.”
Peer support worker Aaliyah Gill said it was special to see all walks of life coming together to form a “funny little whānau”.
“It’s a home away from home for the day … you’ll have people having the biggest laughs you’ve ever heard, and then they’ll also be someone having a nap in the corner.”
Everyone can “just be themselves,” she said.
“It just comes together, magically.”
David White stuff.co.nz
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