Catholic Social Services | 1 - 30 November 2023
Unity | Togetherness | Collective Action
Kotahitanga Annual Appeal
Our local community needs your help.
Our mission at Catholic Social Services is to support all people and communities to help and empower them through their lives. We are guided by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching and respond to the needs within our communities.
About Kotahitanga
The KOTAHITANGA Annual Appeal is an invitation to join with one another and Catholic Social Services to support our local communities through the actions of Kotahitanga – unity, togetherness, and collective action.
Working together with local groups and individuals to address community needs is the best way forward.
Our Impact in 2023
- Refugee resettlement and advocacy
- Men’s Wellness and parenting
- Seasons for Growth
- Prison and hospital chaplaincy
- Benefit advocacy
- Developing the Befriender programme together with Changemakers Refugee Forum
- Developing community partnerships with other Church and community-based organisations
- Providing coaching and mentoring to other volunteer, Parish and community-based organisations within the Archdiocese to empower them to respond safely and effectively to the needs of their local communities.
- And journeying alongside individuals and families to support them to live in dignity.
Seasons for Growth
Jess Ferroni is the Seasons for Growth Coordinator at Catholic Social Services.
Jess is a warm, bubbly and highly professional addition to our team who comes from the education sector specializing in Trauma Informed work. Jess hit the ground running this year, getting her own training completed so she could begin offering companion training for tamariki, Rangatahi and adults. Not only has Jess run companioning in some of our schools, Jess has also trained 25 companions to facilitate both the Young Person’s program and the Adult program.
Excitingly, amongst these 26 companions we have five different ethnicities represented: New Zealand European, Māori, Tongan, Samoan and Tokelauan. We also now have a companion who is Deaf and can provide this program to the Deaf community as well.
The Young People’s programme aligns with World Health Organisation’s advice for robust mental health curriculum in schools. A large majority of the work at the beginning of this year involved visiting schools in the Archdiocese of Wellington region promoting the Seasons for Growth program.
With the release of Te Oati – A Bicultural Dimension for Companions of the Seasons for Growth Children and Young Person’s Programme, this has been a key focus when promoting the Seasons for Growth program. This incredible resource was developed by Māori companions in collaboration with Stand Tū Maia Children Services to empower Māori for delivery to their whānau and communities.
In addition to her other work Jess has run several reconnectors for current companions wanting to learn how to use Te Oati. This has generated a great deal of interest in the programme.
Watch: Jess Ferroni talking about the Seasons for Growth programme
Meeting the Needs of People who are Isolated and Lonely
An emerging trend we are seeing in our work is more and more people are feeling isolated and lonely. An online survey carried out by Research First in 2023 supports this, but concerningly the finding also confirm that loneliness is highest among our Rangatahi. https://researchfirst.co.nz/loneliness-may-2023-update/
Kindness, such as a friendly ear, can go a long way towards helping people and the privilege of these encounters brings with it many joys. Practical support, like food parcels, help through an immediate and pressing crisis or need. But systemic or deeper issues faced by people can be hard to spot except by a trained and experienced eye. Unless we recognise this need for additional support and thread in the kind of help that will make a difference, all we are doing is binding people to us and bringing them back to emergency or crisis assistance over and over again.
CSS regularly receive calls from people desperate for connection. And to safely respond to these needs we are looking for ways to connect with Parish and other communities to whom we can refer people. As CSS is an MSD accredited social service agency, we have strict privacy, safeguarding, and safety protocols. Before we can make referrals to community groups or volunteers who offer friendship and connection, they must meet certain minimum criteria.
How Catholic Social Services can support your visitation and friendships ministry
CSS has developed a programme to do ensure that we can refer people to community volunteers in a way that meets our criteria and supports the work the community is already doing. By coaching and empowering teams and volunteers to carry out this ministry more safely CSS providesthe tools to recognise when appropriate help needs to be threaded into the relationships. It is about strengthening and supporting communities, building local capacity and addressing the rising numbers of people experiencing loneliness and isolation.
CSS are currently working with two groups, St Joseph’s parish Levin and Our lady Of Kāpiti in Paraparamu. It has been a privilege supporting these groups as they grow this ministry in their communities. We welcome any enquiries and the opportunity to meet with your groups to see how we can support the work you do. Call Deirdre Meskill 043858642 or email reception@wn-catholicsocialservices.org.nz
Photo: Kamau Holland Director CSS presenting coaching certificate to Brian Nolan leader of the home visiting ministries at St Joseph’s Levin.
Women’s Friendship Project
Deirdre Meskill (pictured), our Community Facilitator, leads the Women’s Friendship Project: we pair locally-connected women with former refugee and migrant women for intentional friendship with a commitment to meet regularly for at least 6 months. There is a lot of interest from women and, following an initial 6-month pilot, we are looking to grow the project into the greater Wellington area.
Game On
Men’s Parenting Programme
CSS and Greenstone Doors have been delivering Game On Men’s Parenting Couse since the end of 2021. Game On is part of a wider Men’s Wellness Programme. Game On is an 8 week parenting course for Dads with 2 hour group sessions and some in between one-to-one help if it is required.
The course is Co-facilitated by two dads with a mixture of prepared content, role modelling and some group work. Courses are led by trained counsellors, social workers and facilitators from both organisations.
The men come from a range of contexts including men facing parenting apart, those parenting from emergency accommodation, men who have supervised contact with their children as well as men who simply want to be a better dad.
Our Men's Wellness Programme aims to provide them with the necessary tools, support, and guidance to navigate these challenges and become the best versions of themselves.
By offering culturally competent and inclusive programmes, we ensure that men from diverse socio-economic backgrounds and cultural contexts can participate. We recognize the critical role that fathers play in the lives of their children and the importance of supporting them in their parenting roles.
The programme started in the Hutt Valley, but in 2023 was extended to Kāpiti, Porirua and Wellington City. We have also been working on developing new emerging leaders (volunteers) to facilitate these programmes.
Hospitality is an important part of our men’s parenting programme.
Feedback from the men:
· Happier and have a respectful family.
· If there is any change, it would be me, being able to engage more with my family and kids, in a positive way and I now enjoy it.
· Talking nice to each other, not getting angry as much. Relax and just go with the flow.
· I make time to spend it with my girl after work now.
· If I had not come to this this group I would now be in jail – I was so angry with the family court and my ex-wife, I wanted to smash them
· My ex-partner just kept pushing me and pushing me this week …I felt she was deliberately trying to make me angry but I stayed out of the box and kept my cool…I didn’t go into the box
· I get it…my ex-partner doesn’t see things the way I do and I have tried to make her do things like I would do it…that doesn’t work for her
Volunteer stories
Four of our amazing volunteers share their background and give an insight into the impact of the programmes they are involved in.
Mercy, Co- Refugee Resettlement Coordinator
My name is Mercy, and I am from Colombia. I have lived in New Zealand for eight years. I am a student, studying to be a social worker. I am also a volunteer at Catholic Social Services. I work in partnership with another volunteer, Vera and together we coordinate the Refugee Resettlement Project. This project brings together groups of people who provide household goods and pantry packs that enable us to turn a house into a home for newly arriving families.
Being a former refugee myself, I have a personal connection to the refugee experience. As a person who understands the challenges people face, I want to use my own journey, the knowledge I have gained from my work group, and my study knowledge to help others. Volunteering in this role is an opportunity for me to give back and make a meaningful difference in the lives of fellow refugees. This role also allows me to contribute my skills and to be connected to my community, which is where my heart lies. I believe in the mission of this organization (Catholic Social Services) and its ability to make a positive impact on our community in Aotearoa.
Vera, Co- Refugee Resettlement Coordinator
My name is Vera – and I come from the Waikato. I have a varied background including working for two years in South Sudan on a water supply project for a refugee camp. Currently, I’m pursuing a Graduate Diploma in Development Studies with Victoria University.
I volunteer at Catholic Social Services, together with Mercy we are the Refugee Resettlement Project coordinators. I know first-hand that people who have had to flee their homeland, live under incredibly challenging circumstances, and they hold a special place in my heart. I also get excited by diversity and encounters with people of different nationalities and ethnicities, and think our lives are the richer for this. Being involved in this work gives me an opportunity to serve in a, albeit small, very tangible way. Working in this role since April, I have encountered many incredible people in our Wellington community – they genuinely impress me with their generosity and commitment.
Tristana, Befriender Volunteer
Tristana is a befriender volunteer and part of our friendship project for locally connected and former refugee women. The project is in partnership with Changemakers Resettlement Forum
My joy and identity is found exploring the outdoors with my partner Brandon, with New Zealand hosting all of the excursions we could hope for. I work for Amazon Web Services on the account team for Public Sector, which as a recent immigrant to NZ myself (dual US-NZ citizen), has been informative.
I meet up with a dynamo woman, Venus. With her husband and two boys, she now calls New Zealand home as well. We aim for a coffee date every two weeks and are just a WhatsApp message away for brief check-ins. Venus and I have plenty to talk about; such is the beauty of relationships and life! That is what this encounter offers, the time and arena to step outside your day to day, opening your eyes to the joys, woes, and curiosities of the world within and outside New Zealand. A reminder for us to look up from time to time.
Duncan, Game On Men’s Parenting Programme Facilitator
My name is Duncan and I have been a facilitator for over 20 years. I have facilitated conflict de-escalation and personal safety related workshops to over 30,000 people across government, business and not for profit sectors. I have worked with people who are vulnerable to being triggered into challenging behaviour and violence for most of my working life.
I am a CSS volunteer facilitating Game On Men’s parenting programme. Working with Game On has been the most confronting, the saddest and the most rewarding program I have ever being involved in. At times listening to the men’s stories, I find myself close to tears. Many of the men have absolutely no positive starting point to refer to as a parent, have experienced a totally abusive childhood, are suffering from trauma and long-term injury - but come to the program because ‘I just want to be a better dad for my kids’. They just needed some better information to work with.”
Supporter stories
Three of our supporters share why they support Catholic Social Services. We are so thankful to our supporters.
Francis Fanning
Kia ora - I’m Francis Fanning, a Wellingtonian of European and Maori descent,husband of Jenny, father of 4, and grandfather of 7 and a proud supporter of Catholic Social Services. I’ve supported CSS financially since sometime prior to 2000 when I was one of several Wellingtonians who contributed to the “”!000 Club” which still continues to this day. My reasons for supporting CSS include my belief that all citizens, and especially those of Christian beliefs and values, have a duty both morally and financially to support those less fortunate who exist on the margins of society.
Catholic Social Services have a strong team which focuses on Social Justice, with their many services including refugee resettlement, prison and hospital Chaplaincy, community and family support, as well as advocating strongly for those they seek to serve.
In addition, they act with a strong mission focus based on their strong Catholic Social Teaching Christian values.
Kia kaha CSS
Susan Apathy
Catholic Social Services is the Church in the Archdiocese serving those most in need in our community. In this time of increasing poverty, emotional anguish, and unnerving change, we need the work of CSS more than ever, and I am so grateful for all that CSS does.
I know that my donation will be used to help people that I will never meet, and that parishes throughout the diocese will be assisted in their work in their local communities.
John
“I am a long time financial supporter of Catholic Social Services. I admire and respect the services CSS provides in our local community. By donating I feel I can join in their work, something I am unable do on a day to day basis.”
How you can help
You can help us help our local communities by making a gift donation to the
Kotahitanga Annual Appeal.
You will be taken to our secure donation page where you can choose your donation options and register your information for us to send through a donation receipt.
What This Means
Your gift to the Kotahitanga Annual Appeal helps fulfil our mission to reach out and serve those on the margins. There is great need in our local communities and the suffering is real. Thank you for believing that together, in unity and through collective action we can make a real difference right here in our local communities.
Ma te Atua e manaaki (May God Bless You)
Whakatauki:
Ehara tāku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini
My Strength is not as an individual, but as a collective.
Catholic Social Services
132 Tory Street
Wellington 6011
123-456-7890
wn-catholicsocialservices.org.nz