"I've Found My Spot, Right Here."

I came from Whangārei in 2022, having never been to Wellington before. I had a friend here, or at least I thought I had a friend, but I ended up on the streets. I’ve travelled all over the country, and Wellington was the only place I hadn’t been to. It was very scary for me because I’m not used to the concrete jungle, I’m not used to a lot of people, and I’m not used to living like this. I’m a country girl, put me in the bush and that’s me.

I was staying in emergency housing when I heard about DCM and started coming in every morning. I met Alisi (my key worker), she’s like Santa Claus! She helped move me from emergency accommodation to transitional housing, and finally into my permanent home.
I’ve come a long way thanks to Alisi, and I’ve found my spot, right here.
I haven’t got much in my home, but this is home. This is my marae. It’s a safe space, it’s my space, somewhere to come back to at the end of each day. It’s good to lock the world away and just be me.

It’s amazing to have that support from DCM. I’ve been in my home for two years now, but Alisi still brings a food parcel once a month, calls me every Tuesday, and comes to see me every Friday. I think a lot of people would be surprised to hear that, because people think that once you’re housed, that’s the end. But that’s not the feeling I get from Alisi. I always say to her, it’s good to have that support, it reminds me that there’s somebody on my side.

I’ve really planted myself, and I don’t want to go anywhere else because I know I’ve got support and I’ve never had that before. It’s amazing to have beautiful women around me to tautoko, because I’m not alone anymore.

You’ve got to make sure you look after each other. We’re not getting any younger, and it’s nice to care about other people, at least that’s the way I was brought up. You know, no matter what colour you are, everyone needs a friend. Everyone needs someone to say hello, it costs nothing.