Meeting the need
We are a whānau of community organisations operating across Aotearoa New Zealand, employing over 1,500 people who share a passion and determination to make a difference.
The Wise Trust was created in 1989 – but we weren’t called the Wise Trust back then. We had one organisation, one employee and a dream to help people with mental illness live happier, healthier and more fulfilling lives.
Our work includes mental health and addiction services, housing and homelessness services, violence prevention, employment support, education and training, workforce development, research, information services and software development, community wellbeing initiatives, specialist dementia care and business support.
Read on to find out more about each of the organisations that are now collectively known as the Wise Group and the new opportunities we are creating for people, vulnerable populations, organisations and communities.
Download the Wise Group 30 year book, published in 2019, to learn more about our journey.
We believe in valuing people
and enhancing wellbeing.
1989
Living support
A group of community organisations and individuals in Hamilton concerned about the lack of support for people from Tokanui Hospital formed a charitable trust to provide practical daily living support. This trust would later become known as Pathways.
Today, Pathways provides a range of community-based support services around housing, practical daily living, employment and being healthy to help people with experience of mental illness to live well in the communities of their choice. Pathways also supports Real, a range of wellbeing services for young New Zealanders.
1999
Training
As community-based services grew, so too did roles for community support workers. To meet the training needs of this emerging workforce, high quality education was required to develop skills in mental health care. From 1999 to 2017 Blueprint for Learning developed and delivered specialist training for mental health workers.
Today, Blueprint for Learning is a quality training provider in mental health and addiction, dedicated to both workforce development and community training. Blueprint for Learning has a Category 1 External Evaluation and Review (EER) rating in education achievement and self-assessment issued by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
2000
Employment
People using our services wanted the same things as everyone else in the community – including meaningful employment. New research also indicated that employment is good for recovery from mental illness. This was the start of evidence-based supported employment in New Zealand. A new organisation, Workwise, was established to support people to find, get and keep a real job with real pay.
Today Workwise is leading the way in New Zealand by delivering high quality evidence-based employment services for people who are facing personal or health challenge. Supports include not only helping them to find a job, but to keep it.
Having a paid, meaningful job plays a crucial role in helping people live happy, healthy lives.
2001
Housing
Having a home that is affordable and meets our needs is important to us all. But sometimes finding, getting and keeping a home can be a challenge. Keys Living Choices was established in 2001 to support people using Pathways’ services towards independent living. The organisation then became known as Keys Social Housing.
Today, Keys Social Housing services are provided by LinkPeople – a registered community housing provider and part of the Wise Group. It supports people to live well in safe, healthy and affordable homes.
2002
Shared business services
To avoid duplication and create economies of scale, Wise Management Services was formed to provide people & culture, IS, finance, property solutions, project management, design and digital expertise to the group’s frontline services.
2005
Workforce development
A number of Government-initiated workforce and research programmes were tendered out by the Ministry of Health for further advancement. Wise was selected to host these programmes, and New Zealand’s first national workforce development organisation was created – Te Pou o te Whakaaro Nui
Today, Te Pou is a national centre for information and workforce development in mental health, addiction and disability services. They leads a range of initiatives aimed at realising workforce potential to support the wellbeing and mental health of New Zealanders.
2008
Client record management
Pathways was one of the first community-based mental health services in New Zealand using an electronic client management system, called PHACTS. This system was developed by the Wise Management Services IS team. In 2008 the Government announced that all mental health services would be required to collect information and report on the health outcomes of the people they serve. Wise saw an opportunity to take its tried and tested system to market…and Wild Bamboo was born.
Today, Wild Bamboo delivers client management system, Recordbase, to community organisations so they can easily manage client information and quickly report to funders – giving them more time for client care and support.
2011
Young people
We wanted to respond to the mental health and wellbeing needs of young New Zealanders so we worked with young people to design what these services would be like. In 2011 a suite of services for young people was launched, called Real.
We believe by supporting young people in a way that recognises their need for unique services and supports, fewer will go on to need services later in their lives. Today there are Real services across the country supporting young people to build resilience, confidence, wellbeing and strong connections with their whanau, friends and within their community.
As the youth brand of Pathways, Real is for all young New Zealanders – wherever they are in terms of their health and wellbeing. Our youth respite and community service teams are working to support young people to feel great about their futures and help shape their communities.
2012
Connections
Today, Linkage services are provided by LinkPeople. It helps people to access the supports they need for their health and wellbeing.
2013
Pasifika support
Today, Le Va walks alongside Pasifika families, communities and services to provide resources, tools and information for the best possible health, wellbeing and social outcomes.
2014
Solving homelessness
2016
Housing and support
LinkPeople is a registered community housing provider that links people to healthy and affordable homes and the health and social supports they need for their wellbeing – because everyone has the potential to live well and the right to a healthy home. Today, LinkPeople services are available in Auckland, Waikato, Rotorua, Taranaki, Whanganui, Wellington and Christchurch.
2018
Expert advice
We believe that employment is a health intervention and for 18 years, Workwise has been supporting people to find, get and keep jobs.
Workwise has successfully used the evidence-based Individual Placement and Support (IPS) approach to make this happen. Integrated with mental health care and treatment, IPS employment support is used across the world.
As a centre of expertise and guidance, Work Counts was established to offer expert advice, practical training and support to help New Zealand organisations develop and deliver IPS employment support programmes.
2019
Free online therapy
In 2017, the Wise Group was extremely concerned about the growing numbers of people not being able to access immediate psychological support to help with their mental health.
We knew we needed to find, and offer, a solution that was effective, affordable and most importantly, accessible to all. For two years, we have been committed to developing a tool to help support the mental health of all New Zealand people.
In September 2019 the Wise Group, with the support of the Prime Minister and Minister of Health, launched Just a Thought – a free tool that offers evidence-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) courses online.
2020
Delivering more housing solutions
When the Wise Group started 30 years ago, it was all about housing, and 30 years on it is still an issue, affecting the mental health and wellbeing of people and communities.
Today, The Group has a much wider portfolio of leased and owned properties across the country, requiring a collaborative and sustainable approach to managing this important investment.
In 2020, Wise Property Solutions was created to power the Group’s housing solutions, at a time when they have never been more needed. Its purpose is to work in partnership to deliver innovative and sustainable property solutions that create fresh possibilities.
2020
‘Here to help u’
When COVID-19 arrived on our shores, New Zealanders needed to access social and wellbeing support at their fingertips. At the same time, community service providers were navigating an increasingly difficult environment to do their important work. So the Wise Group worked collaboratively to design a tool that makes getting and delivering help easy. ‘Here to help u’ was launched in April 2020.
‘Here to help u’ successfully enables people to access a wide range of free support by simply submitting one help request online. It’s quick. It’s convenient. No judgement, no barriers, no stress and no unnecessary complexity. It’s help…. made easy!
Over 175,000+ people and whānau supported through ‘Here to help u’. It’s the place people can rely on to get the support they need.
2024
Evolving to meet need
Dalcam Healthcare Group approached the Wise Group to acquire their highly regarded mental health and addiction services, and specialist dementia care service Westella.
St Dominics and Madison mental health and addiction services in Feilding and Tauranga added two highly regarded services to Pathways. Specialist dementia service Westella, also based in Feilding, builds on the natural evolution of services across the Wise Group, driven by responding to the needs of vulnerable populations. The service takes an innovative approach to dementia care, supporting people to live a full and connected life.
