Youth Flourishing in North Auckland: Thank You for attending!

The “Women’s Education and Community Connection Initiative”, is aimed at fostering relationships and community ties among women aged 18-25, whilst empowering them to enhance their wellbeing. Noticing a significant prevalence of anxiety disorders within this demographic in New Zealand, Changing Minds is dedicated through this mahi to creating a secure space where young women can advocate for themselves and others.

Their award-winning Rākau Roroa programme forms a foundation for participants to explore their experiences and wellbeing. It equips them to identify self-stigma, challenge unfair prejudice and discrimination, manage their wellbeing, and comprehend their experiences. Participants then learn how to safely use their stories to assist others and effect
positive change.

Changing Minds is enthusiastic about adapting this programme for the young women’s demographic to promote understanding (‘sense-making’) and the importance of sharing experiences.

Breathing Space is a monthly subscription art therapy product that helps users forge new connections to emotions and experiences through art and creativity. It builds on My Art Box, a social enterprise, which aims to distill the principles of art therapy into a safe, at-home programme that subscribers can use to enhance their mental well-being.

The profits from the subscription business are then used to distribute free Art Boxes to at-risk youth along with invitations for them to engage in a personalised Creative Well-being Programme developed and led by professional Art-Therapists. Their aim is for many more youth to access new connections, more creative experiences, and therapeutic insights all through the beautiful, magical box that is called Breathing Space.

Helmet is a company dedicated to creating a platform aimed at enhancing the mental health and wellbeing of teenagers. Amidst an ongoing mental health crisis, Helmet acknowledges the power of recovery, highlighting the crucial role of a strong support network for those struggling with mental health distress. This network not only serves as a supportive tool but also enhances the effectiveness of other services used by the individual and offers a buffer against future distress.

Guided by global leaders in innovation, public health, mental health, and technology, Helmet is developing a technology platform to foster a supportive community for young people, their friends, and parents. The platform will facilitate easier connections, diminish barriers to vulnerability, and offer support through challenging times. Their ultimate goal is to improve the mental health and wellbeing of millions of young people.

The HBC Youth Hauora Network is a collective comprising community groups, social service providers, public services, and organisations engaged in supporting the youth living on the Hibiscus Coast. Their mission revolves around improving the hauora (holistic wellbeing) of these young individuals by uniting and empowering the various components of the Youth Ecosystem.

Their approach centres on building robust collaborative relationships to realise their vision of a community where the hauora of all rangatahi (young people) is sufficiently supported, empowering them to flourish. The Network aims to reinforce their efforts and explore novel ways of working and collaborating, along with developing several prospective projects and initiatives.

Level Up Mentoring envisions aiding youth to navigate the upheaval and anti-social behaviours they encounter. Their objective is to identify and address the root causes of such behaviours, implementing effective strategies into education and social systems to curtail or eliminate their further development.

Level Up Mentoring intends to overturn the anti-social behaviours stemming from current systems, fostering pro-social behaviours through alternative and efficient strategies. They believe this can be achieved by engaging older, relatable rangatahi (youth aged 17-18 years and older) who have personal lived experiences. With targeted training and development of their mentoring skills, these rangatahi will effectively engage younger peers, contributing to healthier communities.

oVRcome utilises Virtual Reality to increase treatment accessibility globally. Their initial clinical trial with the University of Otago demonstrated an average 75% reduction in the severity of phobias. They’re currently developing a more comprehensive range of programmes to address various conditions like social anxiety, substance abuse, and mild depression. The team at oVRcome is passionately dedicated to leveraging technology to enhance the availability of treatment.

This project acknowledges that it’s common for rangatahi and young people to connect on social media platforms, including those who share a lived experience of mental distress for mutual support and advice. They recognise that rangatahi often engage in this without fully understanding the implications of the content they share and interact with, potentially leading to the dissemination of graphic and distressing content.

They believe that with the correct support and framework, rangatahi can safely connect over shared experiences. Their aim is to develop education and tools for both rangatahi and their supporters to facilitate conversations and promote harm reduction strategies. Ultimately, they strive to empower rangatahi to participate in mutually beneficial and supportive interactions on social media.

Shore Junction, a youth innovation hub in Takapuna, aims to create a safe, inclusive space for all young people. When lockdown ensued, the need for a secure, enjoyable, and accessible online environment to continue youth work and support their mental health became paramount. This led to the launch of a Discord server, a digital reflection of Shore Junction, maintaining communication with youth members through games, activities, challenges, and safe chat spaces, with youth leaders facilitating the server.

This digital extension of Shore Junction continues to operate as a crucial part of their day-to-day operations. Now, they’re gearing up to scale and extend their online youth centre – a welcoming space for all young people, regardless of their ability, background, or ethnicity.

Te Kaiārahi’s kaupapa is to uplift and inspire rangatahi and young people to reach their full potential through a holistic approach to mentoring and reconnecting them to te taiao/nature. Their mentoring is founded on the principles of manaakitanga (hospitality), kotahitanga (unity) and whanaungatanga (relationship, kinship). Te Kairāhi aims to expand their initiatives into a broader range of communities.