A new approach to methamphetamine recovery in Tairāwhiti is putting whānau and community at the centre of the journey, with a residential safe space now three months into its work supporting people before and after rehabilitation.
Te Whare Whakawatea was developed to fill a critical gap in addiction services by providing a safe, non-clinical environment for people committed to overcoming methamphetamine addiction.
Implementation manager Meka Whaitiri says the kaupapa is designed to bridge some of the most vulnerable stages of recovery — particularly the period between acute care and entering rehabilitation, and the transition back into the community afterwards.
The model was developed after concerns that people seeking rehabilitation from Tairāwhiti often had to travel outside the region to centres in places such as Auckland or Rotorua.
Before the whare was established, people leaving acute care could also face a gap while waiting for a rehabilitation placement, while those returning home after treatment risked being placed straight back into the same environments associated with their addiction.
Te Whare Whakawatea aims to break that cycle by providing residential support, kai and individual whānau plans while people prepare for rehabilitation.
Support continues after treatment, with the whare helping people reintegrate into their whānau and community while maintaining their recovery.
The approach recognises that overcoming addiction does not end when somebody walks out the doors of a rehabilitation centre.
Whānau are also part of the process, reflecting a wider kaupapa Māori approach to recovery that looks beyond the individual and towards the environment and relationships surrounding them.
The initiative comes as methamphetamine continues to cause significant harm across Tairāwhiti. Wastewater figures for the final quarter of 2025 placed Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne second nationally for methamphetamine consumption, behind Northland.
The pilot was established with government addiction-services funding and was designed to test whether a whānau and community-led residential model could improve recovery outcomes.
Three months into the kaupapa, attention is now turning to what the experience can teach health providers and policymakers about closing the gaps that can leave people vulnerable to relapse.
The work also comes as the Government’s new Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy identifies substance-related harm as an increasing challenge and calls for more connected, community-based and recovery-focused services.
For Tairāwhiti, Te Whare Whakawatea represents an attempt to ensure people seeking freedom from methamphetamine have somewhere safe to stand while taking the next step in their recovery.
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