The Neighbourhood Support Network (NSN), New Zealand’s new alternative to the concept of Neighbourhood Watch, is helping to empower the Dargaville community.
Kumarani Productions Trust has hired a new team member, Kelly Kerr, who is focussed on community support and connection. Kelly moved back to Northland in 2021. She has an extensive background in working for the community, including working in the prison system teaching mental health, literacy and numeracy. She has worked with men to have access to their children in the courts.
“I worked first-hand with the proverbial ‘ambulance at the bottom of the cliff’ for numerous years, and I’m now moving to preventative measures in our community,” Kelly says.
Kelly’s role is to inform the public about NSN and help people know what is happening in their community. She is also keenly involved in the upcoming Neighbours Day and has ideas about creating a parenting programme. The NSN is in partnership with organisations such as the police, Red Cross and Civil Defence, among others. The approach has been noted to have done well in the Far North.
“I will be replicating what has been done in other towns. My job is to empower and support people and know what the expectations are of being in the community,” Kelly says.
The NSN initiative is set up to empower the community to support itself. It is designed to encourage people to know the people around them and have a strong connection with what is happening. It takes the focus off crime and enables the community to be more interconnected for wellbeing
February 8th 2022
Author Amy Fifita - Kaipara Lifestyler