August Week 04

BUDDIES PROGRAM

Many questions come to mind when we think of of those in alternate housing situations:

• What does Emergency Housing look like?
• How much does it cost?
• What is the experience of people who live there?
• Why are they there in the first place?

The reality is that some families pay up to $270 to live in a one double bed uninsulated caravan with outdoor shared amenities in a caravan park. There is a huge shortage of affordable housing in New Zealand, leaving over 5000 individuals on the waiting list for state housing. As families turn to alternate housing situations such as caravan parks. they find that there is no official warrant of fitness for the type of housing available.

The ramifications of having no “secure home setting” has potential to cause high levels of stress, anxiety and breaking down of relationships.

Amidst the busyness of exams, sports and everyday life, it was moving to witness the commitment of the Sancta Maria Vinnies as they turned up for their Vinnies input session on Emergency Housing..

Over the next few weeks these Vinnies will be volunteering at a local Emergency Housing facility to run a “Buddies After-School program for children. Today they spent learning about the types and in and outs of Emergency housing and also of the realities of why people end up in these places. We hope and pray that this Buddies Program will build connections and make a difference.

Students are given an insight into various housing situations in New Zealand, and how the aforementioned ramifications can be alleviated through positive socialization.

STAYING GROUNDED THROUGH CONNECTION

Over the last couple of weeks, the young women of the McAuley High School Vinnies have dedicated their evenings to live out their theme of service in a real and relevant way at James Liston Hotstel – a local emergency housing centre. The purpose in which they have served has enhanced this community in a way that is both precious and life-giving. We are very thankful for the staff of McAuley High School, who continually support the students initiative. We continue to ask for God’s blessings in all your journey of service.

Students of McAuley High School prepare dinner for the residents of James Liston Hostel

CARING FOR THE YOUTH.
These fine young women met today to coordinate the final plans for the Children’s Picnic they will hosting for the little ones who are currently in foster care. Marist College will be hosting and working in collarboration with St Peter’s College to host this wonderful day. 

Student leaders and Staff of Marist College meet together to plan for the upcoming picnic for children in foster care.

LEARNING ABOUT OURSELVES AND THOSE WE CARE ABOUT

This evening the Vinnies Youth team, as part of their professional development attended a workshop on the the adolescent brain presented by the CEO of Brainwave trust Sue Wright.

They learnt some really amazing truths about how adolescents brains tick in a completely different way and why. It makes so much sense now why they all want stay up all night at camp, why they are so buzzy and cool! It was lovely to be together as a team again.

TOGETHER WE STAND CONNECTED

The journey of Tertiary Vinnies continue as they take today as an opportunity to connect with themselves and others. Today 14 students from the University of Auckland spent a day in Mission Bay for a retreat, reflecting on their ministry and call in today’s society. Sister Christina of the Lady of Mission facilitated the retreat, providing a platform for support and self-awareness. 

Tertiary Vinnies 2014

NURTURING FRIENDSHIP

Today the Vinnies leaders from St Dominic’s College and Liston College had a planning meeting with Jeanne Warmington the Practice Manager for Montececelia Trust and members of Western Village steering Committee. They have begun the conversation to initiate programmes that will allow the Vinnies to work alongside and build connections with children residing in a local caravan park in Ranui and around the West Auckland area. We are very excited about this new initiative .

UNPACKING VULNERABILITY

Liston College – Theme: “Vulnerability”

A poignant visit with the students of Liston College today as they “Unpack the reality” through a team activity. The young men were astounded by what they discovered… how many different lives are impacted by the poverty cycle and unforseen circumstances. The Liston College thus learned that you can never assume you know poverty simply by face value. We look forward to how the journey will unfold in the term ahead.

Picture below: students taking part in an activity to better understand stereotypes against those considered ‘Vulnerable’.

Students take part in interactive activities to learn more about vulnerability in today’s society

CARING FOR THE YOUNGER ONES

Vinnies have launched an initiative to run an Afterschool Programme for young people @ Monte Celia Emergency Housing Facility in Mangere South Auckland. The hope is to have Vinnies volunteers from the 3 South Auckland Catholic College rostered on every week to help out.

Today the De La Salle College crew took the time to meet, greet and connect with these awesome young people. Everyone had so much fun playing games, engaging in different activities and sharing some well earned afternoon tea snacks.
We look forward to the journey that is ahead and we are thankful to the management team for the invitation to set up this initiative

August Week 03

Monday 18th August – Sunday 24th August

TAKING THE TIME TO CARE – De La Salle College.

During the weekend, several students from De La Salle College carried out a landscaping project. Earlier in the month a request came through the Otahuhu SVdP centre seeking assistance for an elderly lady who was distraught about the state of her garden and her inability to tend to it. After several weeks of trying to source the right tools and manpower. This wonderful team turned up and got the job done.

Student of De La Salle College assist a local household with landscaping.

“Together we significantly improved the quality of one person’s life today and the students have shown such a spirit of giving. They are a credit to De la Salle College, their families and the wider Vincentian family. I particularly appreciated the chance to get to know them all better. Thank you.”

 

LEADERSHIP – “Attending to Ourselves first”.

Today the Leaders from the Legion of Mary of South Auckland came together with the Vinnies youth team to reflect on their journey so far. They laid out their well thought out strategic plan on how to nurture their members faith through Cathesis, to mobilise and connect young people, as well as to outreach and serve in their local community. Their passion, commitment and humility was very evident. Following this they all took part in a leadership workshop led by the Vinnies youth team to help prepare them for their upcoming Youth Camp. 

Leaders of the Legion of Mary based in South Auckland

 LISTENING TO ONE ANOTHER – De La Salle College

Today the students of De La Salle College Vinnies reflected on the theme of “Homelessness” where they discussed  the implications for people who lack the  basic needs and also the vital opportunities that are fundamental to one’s development and livelihood.There were two main points that were raised in their conversation and put eloquently by one of the students.

 “The greatest gifts we have to offer to those who are without homes is hearing what they have to say and being committed to building connections, whereby we can share what we have”. This is a message that these young men have exhibited time and time again. 

 

 WE ARE PUTTING MORE PEOPLE IN JAIL. – St Peter’s College

NZ spends more than a billion dollars a year running our prisons /correctional facilities. The call them “Correctional Facilities” and yet most of the time they do the opposite. Is getting tougher on sentencing the answer?

Today the St Peter’s students attended a presentation about Prison’s in New Zealand by the Vinnies youth team. Information for this presentation was sourced through the JustSpeak organisation who are dedicated to changing the criminal justice sysytem.This presentation highlighted the high rate of incarceration and also some of the background of those who are ending up in New Zealand Prisons. 

The students found the session thought provoking and challenging. Over the next two weeks they will do more work around understanding  the current Prison system and also finding ways that they can help make a difference.

 

 For more information on this Report prepared by JustSpeak . Click on this link:  Unlocking Prison Report

FEEDING THE HUNGRY – St Dominic’s College

 “You will learn the truth and the truth will make you free” (John 8.32)
The young women of St Dominic’s College have spent the last few weeks visiting and connecting in with the residents of an emergency housing centre in Auckland. The students set about serving up the hearty meals and serenading the residents with beautiful songs.

The common response during the students debrief following the dinner was that they thought it was going to be “scary” and that they were surprised at how “normal’ the residents were. The other thing that that also agreed on is that they had a great time making new connections and they were all so grateful for one of life’s most valuable lessons.  

 

BREAKING DOWN THE STEREOTYPES

Sacred Heart College – Theme: “Vulnerability and Social Exclusion”

“As stereotypes are broken down, we nurture the opportunity to build each other up”

This was the heart of what was discussed at Sacred Heart’s Vinnies meeting today. These young men as part of an workshop exercise, were given five bags that belonged to five different individuals. Their task was to profile the owner of each bag and also isolate out the bag that was more likely to belong to a “person who was homeless”. The students were quite shocked to learn that even though some of the bags had the trappings of a very successful businessman, every bag belonged to someone who was homeless. 

Analysing the bags and writing up profiles.

Often a person who is deemed “homeless” is typically recognized as those who are on the streets, however it is a known fact that these people only account for 15% of those who are homeless. Many are housed in refuges, emergency housing, living in over crowded make shift shelter and also living in cars and caravan parks. 

The students of Sacred heart college learnt this vital bit of information  and understood that as long as we stigmatise and stereotype people we cannot achieve justice. These young men are launching their Orange Appeal to gather food items,  warm clothing and blankets for the Citymission.

Video Clip featuring those who are homeless on Auckland ‘s Queen Street.

 

McAuley High School – Theme: “Homelessness”

As part of the unpacking of the theme “Homelessness” the students of McAuley High School have spent a 2 weeks learning about  ‘Homelessness’.  This week these students got the opportunity to  volunteer at a central city homeless shelter to cook and serve meals to those who gathered there.

“We are always inspired and moved to take up the challenge to do our part to put faith into action. We have learnt so much…every person has a story…and they are just normal human beings…more people need to know this.” -McAuley student.

McAuley delivering bulk hot meals to the City Mission drop-in centre.

 

UNPACKING SOCIAL EXCLUSION

Marist College – Theme: Vulnerability

As the young women of Marist College prepare for their service projects in the coming weeks, today served as an opportunity for the students to ground themselves and learn abit more about the realities of families who live in semi -permanent housing.Today they watched a presentation Western Village Caravan Park, which permanently houses up to three hundred people in West Auckland. The student’s were challenged by what these families have to sacrifice and how their well-being is continually compromised.  

See Video Clip: Homelessness : Western Village Caravan park.

August Week 02

Monday 11th August – Sunday 18th August

SERVING IN HOPE

The Upper Room Fellowship – “TURF” – youth from St Mary’s Parish in Mt Albert have spent the last couple of weeks collecting bulk food and clothing in support families needing assistance.

TURF Youth Group prepare the parish gardens for a new icon of St Mary

At midday today they gathered for a landscaping work bee; digging out the front of their Parish church and preparing the ground for a new statue of Mary. After such a long hard day they are now having a practice run of all the music for Mass tonight.

TURF Youth Group have been collecting food and clothing to support families within the community

This youth group is very proactive, and they continue to support their Parish, local community and so many ministries with their gifts and time including Vinnies. We are very grateful, inspired and moved by the generosity, of this youth group. Thank you TURF Youth Group

LEARNING ABOUT SOCIAL EXCLUSION

In preparation for hosting a Community Event in West Auckland for families(Service Immersion ) alongside St Dominics Vinnies, the students of Liston College took time today to begin to prepare themselves. They were challenged to put themselves shoes of someone else. The team were quite moved by the responses and some of what was discussed.
Thank you Liston College Vinnies for allowing the Youth Team to come out today to lead this process.

 

The students of St Dominic’s College also learned more about the theme of ‘vulnerability’ as well as how the dignity of others is upheld when we take the time to connect and listen. Today they learnt ‘Social Exclusion’ specifically about the realities of those who live in one of Auckland’s largest caravan parks. It was quite an insightful and challenging session for these young women.

Students of St Dominic’s College discuss the various needs faced by those who live in alternate housing situations.

THE REALITY OF BUDGETING

The students at Sancta Maria College today met with the Vinnies Youth Team to further unpack the theme of Poverty.Today they were given a Weekly Expenses Budgetting Template. Each group were also given the current WINZ Job Seekers and Domestic Purposes incomes and also incomes of families who had employment and asked to budget their expenses for the week.They were also given specifics like Family numbers , age etc and also market rental prices, housing New Zealand rental etc.
The students found that no matter how hard they worked at the budget, most families were forced to go without the basics. This is a real challenge for most families who live below the’poverty’ line. This gave the students a glimpse of the difficulty and hardship experienced by many.
Thank you Sancta Maria for your openess throughout the session and the work that you have in place for this term.

CREATIVE CONNECTIONS

The Baradene students and leaders met with Elle Plank one of their previous students to share of her experience working in Samoa at a special school dedicated to young people with physical and intellectual disabilities. She showed the group a clip of some of the work she did with Chloe-Rose Barakat-Devine another Baradene Vinnie alumini and also encouraged the students to come up with their own different creative ways to support this school. The students were quite enthused once they understood the importance of this project and the difference they could make. They discussed different activity resource kits they could create and other multimedia options. We look forward to how this journey will unfold. 

CONNECTING WITH THE COMMUNITY

St Dominic’s College Vinnies – Theme: Vulnerability 

Tonight the young women of St Dominic’s are serving up a hearty soup, main and dessert at the local emergency housing centre! As the next few weeks unfold, the students will visit twice a week in order to connect with the residents and nurture friendships already present. The highlight for these students tonight was the time spent with the residents during dinner whilst they listened intently to the residents stories.

Vinnies from St Dominic’s College serve a hot soup to the residents

Rosmini College Vinnies

As the term continues to unfold, the young men of Rosmini College have been seeking ways to better understand the hardship of those who experience financial activity. Many of the students acknowledged the difficulty of budgeting under minimal incomes and benefits in the face of high rental costs and loans. Better equipped with this knowledge, the Vinnies of Rosmini College now look towards community immersion activities to better understand the reality faced by many. “Legis Charitas Plenitudo” – Rosmini College motto.

Students of Rosmini College take part in a budgeting activity

St Paul’s College Vinnies – Theme: Vulnerability

Thank you to the Students and staff of St Paul’s College for allowing the team to come in today to further unpack the theme of vulnerability. These young men will be taking part in community immersion activities over the next week so as to receive a practical understanding of all they have learned so far during Vinnies meetings. We would also like to acknowledge the passing of Brother Patrick Macnamara, a much loved and respected member of the Marist Brothers Community at St Paul’s College.

The St Paul’s Vinnies prepare for a visit to the local refuge centre next week.

August Week 01

Monday 4th August – Sunday 10th August

Connecting with Fellow Students in Need

This afternoon the students of St Mary’s college began their relationship with a special needs school through gaining insight into their lives and acknowledging that there is a need. Both the juniors and seniors are fired up about the up coming projects and we can not wait to see what creative ideas these Vinnies have to offer.

Breaking Down the Stereotypes of those whom we serve

Thank you St Dominics College for allowing the youth team to come out today and unpack the theme of “Vulnerability” with the Vinnies group! The students took part in a thought provoking team activity in which they broke down the stereotypes of those whom they seek to assist. We were very moved by the compassion and the insight of these young women.
We are looking forward to an amazing few weeks ahead with you all!

Students unpacking the theme of “Vulnerability” within groups

Connecting With the Reality of Incarceration

It has been great to see the young men of St Peters College today as they unpack the theme of “Prisons”. The students looked at how different mediums such as the television often give an unfair representation of the reality faced by people who have been incarcerated. As the session progressed, the Vinnies began looking at how they could best support the Prisoner Aid and Rehabilitation Service programme through care and bedding packs.

The layout of cells is uniform across the entirety of Mt Eden Corrections Facility

 Unpacking Homelessness in NZ

Today the ladies of McAuley high school delved into the topic of homelessness to gain an understanding about people who are homeless and what life is like on the streets. So great to open up this topic and create awareness of homlessness in our society. Looking forward to our next session. Thank you McAuley High School!

Students of McAuley High School engaging in a discussion on homelessness in New Zealand

SUPPORTING AND BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH OTHERS

Liston College have been working closely with one of the emergency housing providers in West Auckland that provide ‘supported living’ accomodation to around 30 men. Alot of these men find it difficult to source accommodation for different reasons such as leaving prison, dealing with mental and phyiscal illness, bankruptcy amongst many others.

Liston Vinnies leader Boris with colleague dropping off all the care packs

These students have been building a relationship with the housing coordinator and have been seeking ways to best support these men. They were asked to help source toiletries, personal hygiene and cleaning products as these were highly sought after by the men and are often too expensive.
The Liston College students fundraised and purchased enough stock for 30 care packs. Each pack consisted of soap, wash cloths, toothpaste, shaving cream,deodorants, lotion, laundry powder etc. which were later delivered to the residents. The coordinator and men were very grateful for this generous gesture. Well done Liston College.

Writing the personalised messages to go in every pack.

 

CONNECTING WITH THE STORIES OF THOSE WE SERVE

Sacred Heart College – Theme: “Poverty”

This school term the Vinnies of Sacred Heart College will be incorporating the theme of “Poverty – Food Insecurity” into their service programme. Today these young men looked at some of the challenges associated with budgeting for families… especially when unforseen circumstances occur. Thanks for allowing the team to come out to your school today!

Students of Sacred Heart College do an activity to learn more of the challenges associated with budgeting.

“Supporting and building relationships with those who are without stable homes”

Liston College have been working closely with one of the emergency housing providers in West Auckland that provide ‘supported living’ accomodation to around 30 men. Alot of these men find it difficult to source accommodation for different reasons such as leaving prison, dealing with mental and phyiscal illness, bankruptcy amongst many others.

These students have been building a relationship with the housing coordinator and have been seeking ways to best support these men. They were asked to help source toiletries, personal hygiene and cleaning products as these were highly sought after by the men and are often too expensive.
The Liston College students fundraised and purchased enough stock for 30 care packs. Each pack consisted of soap, wash cloths, toothpaste, shaving cream,deodorants, lotion, laundry powder etc. which were later delivered to the residents. The coordinator and men were very grateful for this generous gesture. Well done Liston College

 

STARTING WITH OURSELVES

Marist College – Theme: “Vulnerability”

“In order to serve the needs of others, we must acknowledge the fact that vulnerability is not present in a select few… but in all of us. It occurs simply when a need is not met, and we are forced beyond our comfort zone.”

Students apply Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs concept to their own lives in order to have a greater grasp on what vulnerability means

The Vinnies of Marist College will be incorporating the theme of ‘Vulnerability’ this term into their service, and so took today as an opportunity to connect with what it actually means to be vulnerable. With the help of Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ concept, these young women applied it to their own lives to show that there is no relative difference between themselves and those whom they serve. Again, they send out an ever important message: There is no us or them; only we. Thank you Marist College for allowing the team to come out today and be a part of your reflection process.