Kia ora to our Lower North members!

I have thoroughly enjoyed the past couple of months adjusting to my new role as your Regional Coordinator, but there has been a lot of learning.  Each day gets a little bit easier as I gain more and more knowledge to support you when needed.

This brings me to the importance of training. Just like many of you, training ourselves to become better at our roles as caregivers gives us the tools to be understanding, thoughtful and confident. It can be humbling to accept the fact that we may need training as caregivers, many of us have either experience with our own children or working with children. However, our first time experiencing parenting tamariki who have come into our homes with their own needs, can leave us feeling out of our depth and overwhelmed with the complexities of raising a child with possible trauma, and developmental and behaviour challenges.

Therefore, let me give you all a raised hand of praise, this journey for you all hasn’t been easy, but connecting with our members has truly been the real highlight of this role for me. I hear you, sharing your stories with me, your wins and losses, your accomplishments and frustrations, it really highlights the importance of connecting with each other. That is why I encourage you to take our training opportunities and connect with other caregivers who walk the path too.  Get involved in support groups close to your areas. I understand that there may not be a support group close to you yet, but it’s my goal over the next while to see how I might be able to facilitate some group gatherings.  Remember I’m only a phone call away – 027 501 0394.

Over the next couple of months, I am looking forward to connecting with members, liaisons for our support groups, and building up our Regional Committee.

I have my first event coming up these school holidays – Matariki at Te Papa, and will be attending my first Wellington Family & Foster Care Association Support Group. I can’t wait!

support

Wellington Family & Foster Care Association Support Group

Come join one of Lower North’s long standing caregiver support groups! They are having their next get together over dinner later this month. I will be attending too, and would love to help welcome new members into this friendly group.

Date & Time: Thursday 20th July at 6.00pm,

Venue: Taste Amazing, 190 High Street, Lower Hutt

Please RSVP to the group liaison, Tori, on 027 425 4709.

If you can’t make it to the support group, our closed Facebook groups are another way of connecting when you want to chat with someone but are unable to get away from the house. You can ask to join the group by clicking the button below.

events

Yay, thanks everyone, our Matariki event at Te Papa on Sunday 16th of July has reached capacity. I hope that it will be a fun, crafty, and musical event that our caregiving families will enjoy and I look forward to meeting those of you coming along.

Lastly, one of our wonderful supporters made us aware of a great organisation called FreeForAll. A Trade Me like website where everything is FREE, along with a physical store! FreeForAll focuses on keeping usable items out of landfill by getting people to share their surplus items (sharers) with people who would like to use them (rehomers).

If you are a fan of op shopping you need to head to FreeForAll’s 400 sqm warehouse at 2 Auty Lane, Porirua (behind the Mad Butcher).  Before you enter the store you pay an entry fee to pay for running costs, $5 for adults and $2 for kids but everything in the store is FREE!  As you go to leave, after having a great time, you weigh your items to see how much you have kept out of landfill.

You can also list items on their website, or browse the items listed. To find out more, go to Free For All. 

Come shopping or bring stuff to share, or browse or list on their website, I know I will be checking them out! They are open Mon-Sat 10-4.

Ngā mihi,

Ebony