‘Vital’ mental health service struggling
"Peterborough village has become much more glossy and corporate. We're not glossy and corporate. We're homey and full of heart."
Fiona Clapham Howard
High rents and stigma are making it hard for a ‘‘vital’’ walk-in mental health service to stay in central Christchurch.
The Mental Health, Advocacy and Peer Support Trust (MHAPS) at the corner of Colombo and Peterborough streets has been looking for new premises since July.
Manager Fiona Clapham Howard said it was essential the centre remained in a visible and accessible location so ‘‘people from all walks of life’’ could keep walking in off the street for help.
MHAPS helped about 1500 people each year – up to 50 people a month dropped in for support. Its services included the walk-in centre, courses, peer support and advocacy. Demand grew this year, she said.
Its lease was coming up next year and it ‘‘did not fit so well with the vision for Peterborough anymore’’.
‘‘Peterborough village has become much more glossy and corporate. We’re not glossy and corporate. We’re homey and full of heart,’’ Clapham Howard said.
‘‘Some of the people who come in are rough sleepers ... maybe couch surfing or in a car, and one of the things they say is they find it a really good place where they can be themselves, a place where they are accepted and where they can be treated as equals, as peers ... but that doesn’t necessarily fit with [other people]’s vision of how the area would develop.’’
The service was ‘‘bursting at the seams’’ in the small office, which had become ‘‘prime retail space’’ as the area was rebuilt.
MHAPS was struggling to find another affordable space in the CBD and some landlords were unwilling to take on a mental health service.
‘‘The risk is, we’re going to end up in a corner of the city and wouldn’t be as visible to as many people.’’
A Christchurch woman, who asked to remain anonymous, said she found the service ‘‘vital’’ after she came out of a month-long stay at Hillmorton Hospital because of a manic episode last year.
‘‘It’s a place where you can find a warm welcome from everybody. They are non-judgmental there and take people as they find them.’’
She attended group sessions on Colombo St twice a week last year, which made her feel less isolated. She is now part of a small fortnightly support group.
‘‘They’re an essential service, they’re picking up on people who are falling through the gaps.’’
Public health expert Lucy D’Aeth said MHAPS’ role in the city was valuable ‘‘because it takes the stigma out of mental illness’’.
‘‘The city centre will be poorer if it can’t find an affordable space for a treasure like MHAPS.’’
Before the February 2011 quake, the organisation was smaller and had subsidised rent in Securities House on Latimer Square.
Three small not-for-profits merged to form MHAPS postquake and ‘‘scrambled to be anywhere at all’’ as they suddenly faced market rates, Clapham Howard said.
About 80 per cent of MHAPS’ funding comes from the Canterbury District Health Board, the rest from charity funding.