A new website has North Canterbury communities covered when it comes to life’s roadblocks.

Hurunui District Council’s Together Hurunui and Welcoming Communities Facilitator Natalie Paterson said problems can sometimes feel overwhelming — and when that happens, stress can often impact problem-solving abilities. Paterson’s advice is to have a browse of the new online directory that empowers North Canterbury communities to seek out their next steps to unlock potential solutions.

The Next Steps website is a collaboration between Waimakariri and Hurunui District Councils, Together Hurunui, Social Services Waimakariri and the Lottery Grants Board, with funding from the Ministry of Social Development. The directory can be found at www.nextsteps.org.nz

“The website puts the power back with our communities to seek out their next steps,” Paterson said. “The initiative came out of the Covid pandemic and navigates people through to the services they might be needing.”

Paterson has been instrumental in ensuring Hurunui is well represented across the website and over the last month she has fed in over 50 Hurunui services and organisations into the directory. Paterson will be hitting the road to spread awareness about Next Steps and is excited about a range of merchandise that will help to promote the message at Hurunui’s five medical centres, schools and social services.

“When this project was raised, we wanted to engage with the construction industry to spread awareness, especially around mental-health resources, and so we developed builders’ pencils and wristbands as a way of starting these conversations,” Paterson said.

The website comes with a range of tabs that link in with how the user if feeling. If they are hungry, they can click to links to North Canterbury food banks. If they are feeling anxious, a click takes them to organisations and services working in the mental-health space. A migrants’ tab takes users to resources and services that include Hurunui Welcoming Communities and Citizens Advice Bureau.

Paterson says the work will not stop there as information would continually be analysed and updated.

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