Welcome

Challenge 2000 is a professional, innovative, responsive, dynamic and passionate Youth Development, Community and Family Social Work Agency. We work mainly throughout the Wellington region, providing a wide range of services and programmes to children, young people, families and community groups. We also provide these programmes and project work throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. We have a large team of amazing people, with forty full time staff and over five hundred volunteers. Our whanau are from all walks of life and want to make a difference and build a positive, accepting community and country. If you want to get involved contact us today!

Challenge 2000 in Porirua

Challenge 2000 has had strong ties to the Porirua community since it began in 1988. Since 2010, Challenge 2000 has provided social workers and youth workers in four Porirua Colleges. We have positive and valued relationships with these Colleges and their young people and families. We have also provided services and programmes in the youth justice sector and worked with whanau and their communities to utilise the strengths of our rangatahi in the Porirua area.

Currently there is widespread concern for the Porirua community due to the “cluster suicides” earlier in 2018. This has had a significant impact on the mental health of young people in this community. Challenge 2000 shares serious concerns for the wellbeing, welfare and safety of our rangatahi. Our team has continued to work closely with the Colleges, community members and whanau to promote positive engagement with services and support systems. Our team is committed to ensuring the rangatahi of Porirua can grow to achieve their potential and contribute positively to their community.

Challenge 2000 identified the acute need for additional support and programmes for the young people, particularly during high-risk periods. In July of this year, Oranga Tamariki provided one-off funding to Challenge 2000 to provide programmes for young people throughout the school holidays which are recognised as periods of high risk. The holiday programmes were well attended and gave the young people an opportunity to reach out to our team and talk about where they were at and what they needed.

This funding also enabled us to initiate and develop a long-term response plan to research the strengths and challenges of the Porirua area. The research will identify existing services and their capacity, any critical gaps and inform our recommendations for the future of Porirua.

College principals in Porirua recently voiced serious concerns for the wellbeing of their rangatahi. Our existing relationships with the schools and young people, together with our deep understanding of the situation, resulted in a partnership with the District Health Board. The DHB has funded two full-time mental health workers to cover the urgent needs of the Colleges. Challenge 2000 is supporting these workers to respond to the issues faced by the young people and ensure that there is an immediate caring and professional response when required.

Challenge 2000 is dedicated to strengthening the Porirua community and responding to the needs of the young people. There is also a commitment from government agencies, Colleges, alternative education services, church communities, families, the Porirua City Council and NGO’s to build resilience, increase positive social connectedness, and to support the significant number of young people who are experiencing mental distress.