It has been a long journey for Carol, and along the way she believed she would never experience the joy of finding a place for her children to call home.

Carol and her seven beautiful children arrived in New Zealand in 2016 with the hope of making a better future for themselves.

After applying for a number of private rentals and being declined every time, Carol found herself with nowhere to live. This single mum was forced to move in with relatives in a very overcrowded house before ending up in a run-down lodge, sharing a single room between the eight of them. During this time, Carol learned about Monte Cecilia and visited us to see if we could help.

Monte Cecilia was able to support Carol with her social housing application, and advocated for her family to be considered a priority for a house. In March, Carol was offered a five bedroom house from Housing New Zealand.

With the support from Monte Cecilia’s advocacy programme, Carol can now dream again. She is determined to give her children the best possible future and has dreams of starting her own sewing business.

“My children are so happy, and so am I!”