This article was first published in Touchstone in May 2018.
Child Poverty Monitor 2018 Technical Report
Child Poverty
The Methodist Alliance put in a submission to the Social Services & Community Select Committee on the Child Poverty Reduction Bill. The purpose of the Bill aligns with our vision for a just society in which all people can flourish. The Bill is a courageous and significant advance and we hope it will provide more opportunities for the Government and our member organisations to work together to reduce the effects on poverty on children and improve New Zealand as a whole. Please contact me if you would like a copy of our submission. You can find more statistics about child poverty here: http://childpoverty.co.nz/
Housing
The housing shortage and high levels of homelessness has been a consistent theme reported by members of the Methodist Alliance. We recently met with Hon. Jenny Salesa, MP, Associate Minister for Housing and Urban Development, to tell her about what the wide range of housing options and services provided by members of the Methodist Alliance. To find out more and how you can help support these services feel free to contact your local mission.
Many of the housing services provided come with support provided by skilled professional staff. Some are social workers and it is said that “Social work is not for the faint hearted.”
This is especially true in the challenging and uncertain times we are live in. There is a lack of services at the prevention and early intervention end of the spectrum and a rising threshold of eligibility for access to services at the other end.
Social workers are not in it for the income – they are in it for the outcome. A truly great social worker is hard to find, difficult to part with and impossible to forget. People understand what doctors and police do, but few people understand what social workers do.
Case Study from a Methodist Alliance member:
Sienna is a 45 year old single mum with an eight year old son. Sienna is a domestic violence survivor and her former partner and father of her child is now in prison. She has some mild mental health issues and a history of drug and alcohol use. Sienna lost her tenancy when the landlord terminated her lease and moved his family in. Sienna was couch surfing with friends and lived in her car for the next four months before moving into transitional housing. Sienna is getting her full entitlement from Work & Income. Her son is enrolled in a school on the other side of town. To provide consistency in education and social connectedness for her son, Sienna has kept her son enrolled in the same school and she spends $50 a week in petrol to take him to school. Sienna also pays $43 per week to keep her furniture in storage. She has been to Work & Income for additional support but has been declined. After her expenses, Sienna has $55 a week left over for groceries for her and her son. She uses food parcels occasionally to top up the cupboards and occasionally her parents give her meat. Sienna isn’t sure how they would eat without this support. Additional costs like school uniforms, stationery, car registration and insurance are hard to save for and Sienna asks for help from community groups and family.
Social workers carry exceptional responsibilities every day. They work with people others have given up on, and restore their self-belief, self-esteem and self-confidence. Social workers are exposed to the very worst of what people can do to each other. Every day of their working life, social workers are faced the inequalities inherent in society, unequal power dynamics, oppression, stigma, violence, abuse, neglect, grief and loss. And they come to work with hope and a sincere belief that people can change.
Social workers seek to enhance people’s capacity and opportunity to change and address their own needs. Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of a person. They treat people in a caring and respectful way, mindful of individual differences and cultural and ethnic diversity.
If you want to find out more about how you can support the work the Methodist Alliance or your local mission does, please feel free to contact me, or your local mission.
Carol Barron, National Coordinator
03 375 0512 | 027 561 9164 | Carol@MethodistAlliance.org.nz
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