Creating work connections: supporting people to live great lives
Workwise is part of the Wise Group – a family of charitable organisations – and our work includes health and wellbeing services, housing support, employment and navigation services, education and training, workforce development and research, software development, and business support services.
It was the people using the Wise Group’s services who originally sparked the need for an employment support service. They wanted to work and asked for support to access real jobs with real pay.
In 2000, Workwise was created as a direct response to that request. Using a combination of local and international research and training, including new research at the time that showed the value of employment for recovery from mental illness, we were part of pioneering the use of IPS employment support in New Zealand.
Operating in the Waikato region since 2000, Workwise has grown and currently provides employment support services in the following regions: Auckland, Waikato, Thames-Coromandel, Rotorua, Taupō, Taranaki, Whanganui and the Wellington region.
We work with a clear purpose
We are guided by a set of beliefs including:
- Hope matters
- Purpose brings health and wellbeing
- Everyone has skills, talents and potential.
Every person we work with teaches us so much about the barriers to employment for people living with mental distress or other challenges and how to overcome them.
We continue to strive to be at the cutting edge of new thinking and new ways of operating, focused on achieving the aspirational dream of all Wise Group organisations: ‘Creating fresh possibilities and services for the wellbeing of people, organisations and communities’.
Working together
Workwise works collaboratively with many agencies and partners in the mental health and addiction, disability and employment sectors. We work closely with other organisations in the Wise Group such as LinkPeople, Pathways, The People’s Project and Work Counts.
Workwise is a member of Platform | Atamira, a national association of community mental health and addiction wellbeing services, and of the New Zealand Disability Support Network (NZDSN). We are also a partner of the Accessibility Tick Programme which brings together organisations across the disability sector.
We are a supporter of the Equally Well initiative.
