Two Tokoroa men who spent years caught in cycles of addiction, crime and imprisonment are now using their lived experience to help young people avoid the same path.
Joel Nicholson and Richard Heke shared their stories and spoke about Reconex NZ, the charitable trust they have established to work with young people who may struggle in traditional education settings.
Nicholson says he experienced feelings of abandonment and rejection after his father left when he was five. Growing up in a single-parent household, he became acutely aware of the gap between wealthy and poorer families and by the age of 13 was involved in crime and drugs.
By 18 he had been sentenced to prison. He says the next 23 years were spent trapped in a cycle of addiction, offending and imprisonment, including a 20-year addiction to methamphetamine.
About five years ago Nicholson reached a turning point.
He says he was unhappy with the person he saw in the mirror and faced an ultimatum from his partner: choose his family or continue living the life he had been leading.
He decided to change, cut ties with people connected to his old lifestyle and began rebuilding relationships with his partner and children.
“I used to deal with misery and suffering, and now I deal in positivity and change,” said Nicholson.
Heke also began drinking, smoking and using drugs at a young age before leaving school and becoming involved in offending.
A pivotal moment came about 15 years ago when his young daughter told him there was no food in the family cupboards. Heke says he opened the cupboards and realised the values he believed he was providing for his family were no longer being met.
The two men met through an intensive outpatient programme and later trained as peer support workers. Their shared experiences prompted them to develop Reconnects, with the aim of intervening before young people become involved with the justice system.
The programme teaches topics including goal-setting, cultural identity, empowerment, anger management, rebuilding trust and recognising high-risk environments and behaviours.
Nicholson describes the approach as “pre-habilitation” rather than waiting until people have spent years in the justice system before attempting rehabilitation.
The programme has already seen young people return to school, gain driver licences, enter employment and take greater responsibility within their families.
But funding remains a major challenge. Nicholson and Heke have funded some of the work themselves and rely on grants, donations and community support.
Their appearance on The Nutters Club prompted several listeners to offer direct financial support for their work.
For the pair, the goal is to give young people something they say they lacked themselves: consistent support, someone who believes in them, and the opportunity to find a different path before it is too late.
