Horizons closure is hard to accept

A week ago the doors of Porirua mental health provider Horizons shut for the last time.

For many, the organisation was a lifeline.

Camborne resident Rose Ewing has visited Horizons four days a week for more than 10 years.

Ewing said her depression made it hard to get up, but Horizons had given her the structure she needed.

‘‘It’s given me the motivation to get up in the morning. It was virtually a lifesaver for me,’’ she said.

As of last week, the only structure in her week is volunteer duty at a rest home one day a week.

Horizons is one of eight mental health providers that had funding withdrawn as part of Capital & Coast District Health Board’s overhaul of mental health services.

The District Health Board argued that its new model will be less fragmented and will lead to better results for clients.

But documents released under the Official Information Act and reported in The Dominion Post show even its own mental health staff raised alarm bells, warning that some clients would be left "wandering the streets".

‘‘By cutting funding to these grassroots community- led organisations ... we are damaging the community and longterm relationships that are currently supporting many of our most vulnerable clients,’’ one letter said in The Dominion Post.

Ewing said a lot of the people she knew had said they would be wandering the North City Shopping Centre and under the Canopies.

‘‘Lack of family and friends — and now the loss of continuity that daily, scheduled activities provided at Horizons — will leave many people isolated and being even further removed from a life that they are truly meant to be living.

‘‘We can only wait to find out what the long-term effect and outcome will be, not only to all the people from Horizons, but the wider community as well.’’

The Titahi Bay provider has operated for more than 20 years. It was established after the Porirua Psychiatric Hospital closed.