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Pact provides support for about 800 people with intellectual or other disabilities or those recovering from mental illness and employs more than 300 staff, providing services in the West Coast, Otago and Southland. During 2011 we also employed a coordinator in Christchurch to help connect clients, service providers, schools, tertiary institutions and employers to ascertain needs, identify gaps and create opportunities following the Christchurch earthquakes. This service is currently managed from Dunedin. To learn about what Pact does in each of our regions, please go to the relevant region page:
HISTORY
The organisation had its beginnings in an organisation called the Patients' and Prisoners' Aid Society of Otago (PPAS). PPAS was set up in 1877 by a group of Dunedin people whose mission was to "help the helpless and bring relief to the needy." It provided support, help and hope to people in Dunedin prisons and "lunatic asylums".
In the 1980s two new trusts were set up to provide separate services - one for patients (PACT - the Patients and Community Trust) and one for offenders (PARS - Prisoners Aid & Rehabilitation).
When Cherry Farm Hospital near Dunedin closed in October 1992 Pact rapidly expanded in Dunedin, providing services such as a drop-in centre, a hostel, a respite service, community support and a Maori service.
In the 1990s it expanded into Southland, providing both mental health supported accommodation and community support, the West Coast with supported accommodation and Balclutha and Oamaru with mental health services.
TODAY
Today we provide a range of support for child and youth and adult clients. We provide the support in a range of settings including houses with staffing to meet client needs (eg we have supported landlord houses with no staff on site through to houses with 24-hour staffing); day programmes and centres which include social enterprises and vocational support, community support in people's own homes, respite care and carer support, peer support, consumer leadership, specialist Maori services, holiday programmes for youth and help into employment.
THE FUTURE
Pact has always changed and adapted to meet the needs of the communities it supports and we see that continuing. In the past couple of years we have focused more on providing meaningful activities for our clients during the day with the opening of The Armitage campus in South Dunedin, our outdoor campus on the Taieri in Dunedin and vocational programme, Options, on the West Coast targeted at people with any disability (including physical disabilities).
We would like to continue to expand our current support beyond what we provide now to anyone who has support needs - regardless of why they have those needs. Our model of support in the community could apply to a wide range of people and we plan to explore such services further. Part of this will include looking at new revenue streams other than the current district health boards, and Ministries of Health and Social Development. It could include local government, business, philanthropy and fee-paying clients. |
