Uncategorised Archives - The Catholic Caring Foundation

One week before the second lockdown, Michael, a young dad and his three young children moved into De Paul House. He had recently returned from Australia where they had been living and working since 2008. In March, Michael lost his job because of Covid19. As a NZ citizen he was not entitled to any Australian government assistance. He had no choice but to return to NZ.

Distressingly his wife, who is not on a NZ passport and needs a visa, has had to remain in Australia, separated from her children. The family do not know when they will be reunited.

Michael was delighted to move into a bright, clean and welcoming two-bedroom unit through the help of De Paul House. He and the children had been living in a very small motel room for nine weeks with no play area for the children, limited cooking facilities and a mix of many transient adults. It was a relief to finally be in a safe, family-friendly environment with space for his young children to play.

He has enrolled his three children into the Early Childhood Centre at De Paul House and they are keen participants. The children love the toy-lending library at the centre which keeps them entertained at home.

Michael is enjoying attending classes in the Learning Centre and is working alongside his social worker to help him navigate the immigration process and apply for social housing. While he and his family are resident with De Paul House they will be helped to save up to $500 of their rent which can be used to cover furniture, household goods from their storage banks and meet the moving costs.

Michael has clear plans for his family’s future including a home, work, education and reuniting with his wife. De Paul House will support them to ensure sustainability and successful integration into their local community.

De Paul House has been housing families since 1986

They provide emergency housing, social support services and learning opportunities for vulnerable and marginalised families. They provide a twelve-week residential programme which aims to provide families access to social workers, early childcare facilities, a learning centre and a kids club. Their mission is to keep family’s united in a safe and dignified environment, help them address the issues that have led them to being homeless, and have them leave to successfully re-establish themselves in the community.

Need help, then contact the team at De Paul House:
Phone (09) 480 5959 or email [email protected]

Pregnant, afraid and homeless – a mother shares her story

We used to live under a tree in a park in New Lynn. We were using synthetics (drugs) to cope with the pain of having our two children uplifted by Oranga Tamariki. My youngest was uplifted as soon as I gave birth to her.

One day, Constable Tony came across us in the park. He helped us into accommodation so we could have a better place to live.

We were still having family violence issues, so Tony referred us to the team at Catholic Social Services (CSS). They worked really closely with us, making sure that we had wrap around support.

We even managed to come off drugs, but violence was still an issue.

Sergeant Martin from the police family harm team, encouraged us to get help from CSS.

Our social worker and counsellor at CSS helped me when I fell pregnant again. We were very concerned that we wouldn’t get the chance to parent our baby.

We finally learnt how to communicate better and to live in a healthy relationship without any violence.

We were able to keep our unborn baby in our care, and some of our other children have gradually returned to our care, too. We’re now moving into a bigger home and this year I had another baby.

We are very grateful to the police for introducing us to Catholic Social Services, and for all the support that CSS has given and is continuing to provide for us.

If you or someone you know is experiencing family violence, please contact the following: In the first instance, please call the police on 111. For counselling services, and social worker support, please contact Catholic Social Services on (09 378 9650) or email: [email protected]

Catholic Social Service’s mission of “Christ’s compassion in our community” is lived in their daily commitment to serve Auckland’s most vulnerable families through the provision of social work and counselling services.

They’ve continued this mission during lock-down in levels 3 and 4 as a designated essential service. They run their services through two offices in Ponsonby and Otara and remotely. They also work closely with other essential service agencies, such as St Vincent de Paul who were instrumental in ensuring that many families were able to get food. They are also grateful to parishes, businesses, and individuals for their contributions.

Oceans apart – Story Five

When home is under a tree – Story one

Pregnant, afraid and homeless – a mother shares her story

Stories Of Hope

Manager

Coordinator, Grant & Donor Administration