Work is already underway in Rotorua to address concerns raised in the Salvation Army’s recent State of Our Communities report.

The report, published today, focuses on Rotorua, Johnsonville and Queenstown and is the result of 544 interviews.

There were 182 interviews in Rotorua, including four key informants who work in the community.

The major concerns for the community identified by those surveyed were homelessness, drugs and gangs and housing, specifically lack of affordable housing, shortage of social housing and the poor state of houses.

Some of those surveyed talked about the increase in addictions, including alcohol and the need for more mental health services to support people dealing with addictions.

The three main areas of impact by Covid-19 were employment, income and mental health.
More than half of the participants who had lost jobs or income talked about financial stress, isolation from support networks and the stress of school children at home.

Accessible and affordable healthcare services, particularly specialised services for mental health and addictions was an important election issue.

Lakes District Health Board is part of a joint agency collective including Ministry of Education and Bay of Plenty Police to address areas of joint concern in a collective approach but this report highlights the specific areas of priority for the community.

“It’s clearly a major concern and as a result the joint agencies are working together to try to make a bigger impact,” says Lakes DHB Director of Strategy, Planning and Funding Karen Evison.

The full report can be read here.