Strength, connection, and recovery through citizenship, belonging, and community.

The six-month programme for adults originated at Yale University and focuses on building relationships, connecting with resources, and exploring rights, roles, and responsibilities. Participants engage as students in twice-weekly classes which cover content such as values and goals, identity and worldview, wellbeing, problem solving, self-advocacy, resilience, self-compassion, and education and employment. Classes include a “What’s Up” component where students share their experiences, hopes, challenges, and extend mutual support.

The project comprises:

• A strengths-based approach that focuses on self-determination
• A powerful class culture of collective learning and support
• Access to wrap around peer support for all students
• Peer support training provided to students
• A valued roles focus for students to plan and embark on personal aspirations, stepping into meaningful roles and challenges such as whānau support, online learning, and community volunteering
• Strong community connections including presentations by guest experts
• A nurturing context for students to explore and test out skills, attitudes, and aspirations
• Together, these elements support students who have often experienced marginalisation to build their skills, understanding, and confidence to take up citizenship and experience belonging. Project impacts have included a wealth of personal growth and successes including:
• Students better able to articulate their strengths, stories, and aspirations
• Most students completing introductory peer support training and motivated to undertake further training and seek work in the peer sector
• Some students commencing training in health and wellbeing and other areas
• Students ready to seek or start employment, readying their CVs, submitting applications, and some commencing paid and volunteer roles
• Students reporting feeling that they make a difference in others’ lives, more confident to stand up for themselves, more accepted for who they are, and more involved in their community
• Enduring friendships, support, and connections within the class community
• Students building the confidence and capacity to engage in community activities, networks, and recovery groups
• Students who have managed and even thrived through the challenges of Auckland’s lockdown

This project was delivered as a collaboration between Mind & Body and Odyssey.  Mind and Body led the project on adjusting the content to the New Zealand context.

A Citizenship Project can take place in a range of settings and contexts, in ways that are meaningful and useful for each cohort. It is a brilliant vehicle for truly community-led action.

To find out more, contact Magdel Hammond, Mind and Body Consultants