Life in New Zealand can be pretty great, if you have it all together. The thing is, though, a lot of people don't have it together, and they're not to blame.
There are so many reasons why people might be down on their luck, and it's not for us to judge or tell them what to do to make it right. We can listen, and we can understand, and we can lead them to their answers by allowing them to talk.
The cost of living is not improving, and it is not in proportion to the average working person's wage, let alone the income of a sole parent. Aside from the cost of accommodation, food prices have soared, electricity prices continue to rise, everything has gone "online" so Internet access is almost essential, and let's not talk about the cost of running a vehicle.
It is uncomfortable, to say the least, to live week by week, or even day by day, to be constantly reaching out for help from whanau, friends, or services, to have to tell your children that they can't go on school camp because you just can't afford it. It is uncomfortable to go to the supermarket and see the exorbitant prices on an essential resource, and even more uncomfortable to be told you are making your children sick by feeding them the cheaper options.
Whanganui has so many wonderful organisations who are working tirelessly to help manage this problem, but the root of the problem is always there. There is a cycle of scarcity or poverty, the same as the cycle of abuse, or addiction. It is difficult to change the relationship with money if you have grown up being told that you have not - but it is not impossible. There are success stories everywhere, we see them all the time. The key is in changing what you believe of yourself. Not just learning to budget, not just finding access to cheaper kai, but combining those things with the knowledge that you deserve the best in life and your children deserve the best in life, no matter what.
We want to help people move out of discomfort, to come away from the cycle of scarcity. We want everyone to experience their Birthright and to know that they deserve the best and they have equal opportunities in a beautiful community of caring people.
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