From surviving to thriving – GM reflects on RISE’s growth
Dee Cresswell got the job of RISE’s General Manager in 2010 – her priority was keeping the lights on. RISE, then called Stopping Violence Services, was “not in great shape” when she started.
Detective Sergeant Ian Langridge, then Stopping Violence Service’s Board Chair, warned Dee things were “a bit tight”.
“We owed IRD and we weren’t really delivering on our contracts,” Dee says.
Over her nearly 16 years at RISE Dee has helped build RISE into a highly respected organisation with 27 across Nelson, Motueka, Marlborough, Kaikōura and the West Coast.
With a business degree and experience running other organisations – including Lower Moutere’s Whenua Iti Outdoors – Dee says her initial priority was making sure Stopping Violence Services was getting the basics right.
Her team applied for funding, and crucially made sure the organisation was delivering on its existing contracts. Dee says the organisation “plugged along” and eventually started to get more contracts and expand its influence outside the region.
Dee knew very little about Family Violence when she started and staff weren’t shy in telling her that. However, she wasn’t deterred and made sure robust systems, practices and processes were in place, and good staff were on board.
“I’m a great believer that if you are going to lead something you don’t need to understand all the content of what you’re doing. You just need to have good people doing what they’re trained to do. And we’ve had really good people.”
Practice Lead Joelene Whitfield recalls just how “precarious” things were before Dee started. Joelene used to bring in her own teabags and always carried her own pen with her and had “a spare in my bag or car, because there were seldom any spare ones to be found.”
Things came to a head when an emergency meeting was called stating that “women’s support services would be stopping and only mandated non-violence programs would be continued, with the implied threat that the doors may still end up closing,” Joelene says.
She says everything changed once Dee took the helm, and RISE has grown - extending services, building relationships and developing capacity to respond to the changing needs of the community.
“Dee is strong minded and decisive, which was a relief and allowed staff to focus on supporting families knowing that the direction of the agency was in safe hands.
“We have gone from strength to strength extending services, building relationships and developing capacity to respond to the changing needs of the community.
Angela, now RISE’s Operations Lead, was recruited three months after Dee started as a Service Coordinator.
“We were going month by month and Angela’s priority was getting invoices in to make sure we had enough to make payroll.”
Angela recalls the organisation was paying rent arrears and was in arrears to the IRD.
She says with Dee at the helm the agency went from became more settled and became financially stable.
Joelene and Angela say Dee has earned fierce loyalty from staff because she is also focussed on the well-being of staff and their families.
This has allowed them to grow professionally and balance the needs and challenges of raising families.
“During my nearly 18 years at RISE I have been able to raise four amazing children as a single parent, while also flourishing in my professional life,” Joelene says.
“There are not many organisations that would have enabled me to thrive in my career while still prioritising the needs of my family and I am so thankful for that.”
RISE Milestones
In 2012 Child Youth and Family Manager Helen White asked RISE to support a gap in services to address family violence in Marlborough. This led to an ongoing and enduring relationship with Maataa Waka to deliver RISE’s Ministry of Justice and Corrections family violence work.
Re-branding from Stopping Violence Services Nelson to SVS Living Safe around 2013.
The folding of Relationships Aotearoa (formerly Marriage Guidance Counselling) in 2014 left a service gap on the West Coast. RISE sub-contracted Family Works to deliver our Ministry of Justice and Corrections’ family violence work.
2016 an organisational change saw Clincians work across the organisation rather than in separate men and women’s teams.
An opportunity to work in Kaikōura also arose following the 2016 Kaikōura Earthquake, when the Kaikōura Family Violence Network asked for support. RISE received earthquake funding through the Lottery Grants Board and RISE Clinician Victor MacGill travelled to Kaikōura to deliver services. RISE now employs Rob Roche to work with men in Kaikoura alongside his mahi as a Community Mobiliser for Hikita!
In 2013 Get Safe Motueka, who had worked with RISE, closed its doors. RISE seamlessly moved into Get Safe Motueka’s premises in the Jack Inglis Aged Care Home and delivered services. This has been RISE’s base for 12 years.
RISE GM Dee Cresswell is retiring after nearly 16 years at RISE.
Angela says Dee’s guidance, kindness and dedication has left a lasting impression and allowed her to grow into her role.
“Dee’s leads with compassion, understanding, and genuine care for those around her.
“She has supported staff and built strong connections within the community, making a difference far beyond the workplace. Her ability to balance professionalism with warmth has created an environment where people and staff feel valued, respected, and inspired. She will be sorely missed.”
Dee says one significant step on RISE’s journey was a rebranding from Stopping Violence Services Nelson to SVS Living Safe around 2013. Removing the word violence from the brand was a deliberate move, as most people “don’t see themselves as violent”.
Three years later in 2016 – after working with RISE external supervisor Bernard Smith and an external consultant – RISE underwent an organisational change, something Dee says has also been instrumental in creating RISE’s great culture.
This structural change saw RISE move away from having separate men’s and women’s teams to operating as a trauma-informed organisation where staff were trained to work with men, women and youth rather than just sticking to one demographic.
“We wanted staff to have exposure across the organisation and clients, as it helps better inform them.”
Dee says as a family violence organisation it was crucial RISE modelled good relationships.
Dee is very proud of the relationships her team has built in the community, and says RISE is also good at treating people how they would like to be treated which builds trust. Team culture at RISE is vital.
“That is how you start to build up credibility by delivering a really good service. We are probably considered a trusty pair of hands.
Despite feeling trepidation at taking on the RISE role, Dee says she has no regrets.
She believes her strengths are being relational, internally and externally, building a good team culture and putting in strong policies and procedures. And believes her business background was also helpful.
Hearing client feedback that RISE has changed, and even saved their lives, makes it all worthwhile.
“I work with an amazing bunch of people. They are the heroes. They get up every day and they still have that passion, still have that care, and they are working with some really tough heartbreaking stories,” Dee says.
“That’s why it is so important to create that environment where they want to come to work every day.”
RISE Milestones contd.
In 2021 SVS – Living Safe rebranded and changed its name to RISE: Respect, Inspire, Support, Empower, alongside hiring a Communications Consultant, now RISE Board Chair, Angela Ricker to raise our profile and tell our story. RISE moved into new premises at the top of Trafalgar St, Nelson.
RISE BOARD invested in work to measure RISE’s impact and reduce reliance on government funding. RISE contracted the Ākina Foundation to measure our success and use RISE’s expertise to grow social enterprise opportunities.
Following the Ākina work, with a Theory of Change and Impact Management Framework, RISE hired Impact Management Business Development Lead Leigh Manson to implement the framework. This has been another important step in RISE’s growth, but more importantly enabling RISE to evidence its impact.
In 2024 RISE applied to ACC for a primary prevention contact. This three-year contract started in August 2024 and adds prevention alongside the intervention work. Hikitia! RISE’s ACC funded primary prevention mahi is a significant contract, employs seven people, and is making a huge difference in the prevention space.
*Dee says RISE’s milestones below are the work of the whole RISE team. It takes a village, and Dee has been proud to be part of the RISE village for the last 16 years.