Building skills and independence with Monte Cecilia

When Sam came to New Zealand with his partner and their children, he focused on his job as a forklift driver while his partner looked after their children and handled the various aspects of keeping their household running.

However, when his relationship broke down Sam was left looking after their six children alone with little experience navigating New Zealand society and limited English. Sam felt out of his depth and they soon ended up moving from motel to motel until eventually arriving at Monte Cecilia.

Monte’s wrap around services proved to be exactly what Sam needed and he worked proactively with the Monte Cecilia team through a series of goals they set together.

“Sam is very determined,” a Monte staff member says. “Rain or shine, this man walks his kids to school on foot and always makes sure they have food on the table. But when he arrived he didn’t know how to do things like apply for a bank account, set up the power at a new property or take his kids to the doctors.”

“I’m feeling good now,” Sam says. “Before I used to be scared of a lot of things, but now I am doing that stuff myself and I understand English better. I don’t want to rely on someone to do that for me. I try my best to do everything for myself and my kids.”

Sam has recently gotten his ID, and is working to get his driver’s license so he can get back to work and take his kids to their rugby games on Saturdays.

One additional benefit Sam got out of taking part in Monte Cecilia’s F.A.I.T.H. Money Programme was checking the balance of his KiwiSaver account, which turned out to have over $50,000 in it - something he was totally unaware of. As a result, he’s now looking into getting his family a place of their own.