On the road to independence

Iosefa* and his family moved to New Zealand from Samoa roughly 12 years ago and had stayed in Wellington until recently when his wife’s mother needed their help due to medical issues.

Coming to Auckland they stayed with his brother’s family for a time, but this arrangement was too crowded.

Reaching out to Monte Cecilia for help, he and his family were given a home but also wraparound support to increase their ability to manage and control their income through the Monte Cecilia F.A.I.T.H. Money Programme, which includes 12 weekly financial skills development sessions as well as one-to-one coaching.

“Controlling and managing my money, these were things I didn’t know about. I really appreciated the experience they shared with us,” he says.  

Some of the key technique he learned were prioritising the things he needed and wanted and understanding what to look out for and questions to ask when investigating loans.

“We’ve made some big changes in managing our money. When income comes in I now have the knowledge to control and manage it by putting first things first.”

Iosefa says it will also be useful because his wife is finishing a level five sewing course and they are looking to start a business, which budgeting skills will be useful for.

*not his real name