Kia ora koutou/ Hi everyone,
I was going to open with a hope that everyone has had a relatively normal and good start to the year with tamariki and rangitahi heading off to the start of a new school year, giving caregivers a much needed “respite” after a lengthy holiday season, but alas………
In our region we have already seen a huge disruption with the West Coast again having to deal with a state of emergency and the trauma of getting ready for a disaster twice in one week. The unexpected situations that throw people out of their routines. We experienced this during our training day in Westport, where we had to practice what we were discussing and put self-care to the forefront of our decisions. I don’t know about others, but I came away feeling encouraged and energized to face the rest of the day!
Denise Green
Upper South Regional Coordinator
03 929 6578 or 027 369 3333
In Nelson, for those of us with tamariki at school, it has meant adjusting to new expectations and anxieties about disrupted attendance due to the current Omicron situation. Mask wearing at school and the changing rules about close contacts for our tamariki has brought disruption to our lives. First and foremost, we are all in this together and are all in different scenarios and circumstances with a lot going on around Aotearoa. Be kind and be mindful that we will not always agree with everyone’s perspective of the current situation; we have to navigate this going forward with empathy and even curiosity.
Unfortunately, due to the increase in positive Covid-19 cases, we have needed to postpone our in-person events for Foster Care Awareness Week (7-13 March). However, Caring Families Aotearoa are excited to offer two virtual events on Wednesday the 9th of March. Come and join in from the comfort of your home (11am or 8pm). We have an international speaker, Sarah Naish (UK), providing a bespoke presentation for our Caregivers in Aotearoa! Some of you may recognise Sarah from videos we have used in previous trainings, (have a google of her YouTube recordings). I know that you will be in for an entertaining hour. Sarah has lived experience as a foster & adoptive mum and has a unique and entertaining way of sharing her journey. She has a wealth of knowledge about trauma and therapeutic parenting. I hope you can join us for either of the times available. Click here to register.
If you haven’t already registered for the Making Changes training, please do so. I have already received feedback from caregivers saying how refreshing it is to do a workshop that focuses on us, the caregivers, and how managing and reflecting on our needs is both an important and useful tool we need to navigate our situations. We had some great ideas come through in the conversations we had in our time together, so click here to register and come along to the next one.
Support/Coffee groups have started back up in our region where they can operate within the Covid-19 Protection Framework. Online support groups are also an option that are gaining momentum. In Nelson we will be meeting on the 2nd Monday of every month (in school term) face-to-face: within the Covid-19 Protection Framework. The next meeting is on Monday 14th March. I will send out a reminder on the Facebook page, so if you haven’t already, please request to join our private Facebook page. You can find the details for the Facebook page below.
Feel free to contact me if you would like to chat or need support
Me tiaki, noho pai / Take care and stay well
Denise
Have you joined our closed Facebook Group?
As a member of Caring Families Aotearoa you have exclusive access to our CLOSED Facebook groups. These are only open to caregivers that are members of Caring Families Aotearoa. This allows our members a platform to seek support, information and resources.
Click the link below to join!