Sandy* is a single mum with five children. Her oldest is eight years old while her youngest is just 10 months. After a breakdown in her relationship she was forced to move out of her private rental due to no longer being able to sustain the cost of rent.  She had just graduated with her Bachelor degree but was now unable to pursue a career in her field due to partner leaving.

She moved in with an uncle in his two-bedroom Kainga Ora home. Although her uncle kindly took them in, given the limited space there was only a single room for her and her five children to stay in.

Sandy’s uncle was also elderly and didn’t like it when the kids were noisy or touched things in the house.  She tried her best to keep the kids quiet and would take them out to a park to get them out of the house on weekends, giving her uncle some peace.

She heard about Monte Cecilia through a social worker from another organisation, and she applied for help.

To her surprise it was only been a month before she got a call with a house offer from Monte.  She quickly moved into a four-bedroom house, allowing her children to have their own rooms. Sandy gets very emotional when she speaks about her kids’ reaction as she surprised them after school and took them to the house. Although it’s only temporary, she feels well supported by the team at Monte and knows they will support her to get into a long-term home.

Sandy said just having a healthy home where there’s enough space for her kids to move around and not have to worry about making too much noise or getting in other people’s way. That has certainly eased up on her Anxiety levels and stress and she feels much more at peace now and very grateful. She’s happier seeing her kids happy and growing and developing as healthy as they can be.

Sandy’s satisfied that with her degree, the time will come when she’s able to pursue her career in her field.  Right now her main focus is taking care of her children and being there for them.