94 | Salvation Army Whangārei New facility a boost for Whangārei Kelly Deeks The new Salvation Army building in Whangārei will make a major difference to the help it can deliver. COMMUNITY After more than a decade of planning, the Salvation Army in Whangārei is now operating out of a new facility that brings together not only the charity’s wide range of welfare services, but also its local staff who can now provide a seamless service as they work closely together, sharing resources, and supporting each other. Following the earthquakes in Christchurch, the Salvation Army undertook a heavy audit of all of its buildings around New Zealand, assessing their health and safety and earthquake readiness. The building in Whangārei was one of those buildings in need of an structural strengthening to make it a safe place for people to work and visit. The building project already in the design phase was given a boost. “We function in a lot of different spaces, including food parcels, budgeting advice, life skills and parenting courses, social work, youth development, drug and alcohol support, and transitional housing,” says Salvation Army Whangārei mission team leader Captain Nathan Holt. “What the Salvation Army in New Zealand is trying to do is for all of our staff in these different departments to work more closely together, and this build in Whangārei is putting all of our services on the same site.” Many people accessing one or another of the Salvation Army’s services will often have a need for other support services as well, and this new business model will better enable seamless collaboration between services. This means the client doesn’t have to go through the same accessing process multiple times in order to access the help they need. The new building was constructed in two stages, with a different architect and a different builder completing each stage. Stage one was the auditorium conference centre and upstairs offices for the Salvation Army Whangārei’s Whanau Ministries. Stage two was the spaces for Community Ministries and Transitional Housing departments on the lower level, and a new Bridge addiction recovery centre on the top floor. “Each of our teams now has more room to spread out and work, while still providing confidentiality for each of our clients,” Nathan says. “One of the biggest advantages of our new premises is to be able to think about the confidentiality of our clients as well as the safety of all people on site. For example, our client interview rooms are windowed with frosted windows, so they are private but we can still ensure that all clients and all staff are safe and able to serve.” Because it was built in two stages with two different architects and two different builders, the resulting building has two separate looks that are joined in the middle with a big, red Salvation Army shield. “I think it represents the Salvation Army really well, because we function in so many different ways but everybody is Salvation Army, so the two different looks of the building fits that metaphor pretty well.” Another major consideration to the design of the building was when a person has had to go through the shame of going to a place and asking for help, how that could be made as comfortable as possible and that shame made less of a barrier. “We thought about how our clients and people from the community are going to feel when they come in.” The Salvation Army Whangārei is helping locals through a variety of hard times. Nathan says housing is a huge issue, not only in Whangārei but throughout the mid north, and the Salvation Army’s foodbank is really active. “A lot of families are just one unexpected cost away from needing significant help. All it takes is a car breaking down or a speeding fine, and there goes your budget. Especially during Covid, with the loss of jobs and the loss of incomes. There is an ongoing adaptive need, and it’s always changing.” The Salvation Army works in transitional housing to get people off the streets or out of their cars for a time to allow them to move into more permanent housing options. Now fully moved in and settled, the Salvation Army Whangārei team is still working on some distressing cases and so while there is an excitement amongst the team, there is also that daily reminder that this new building and everything the team is doing is for the people, so they can have a better day tomorrow than they did today. 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