CNA March Journal - Ros & Patrick

Ros Rice • March 8, 2023

Thanks for reading our latest newsletter! Here are our pieces in full.

Kia ora everyone, 


What a terrible month February was!  I have been talking to a friend in Wairoa, plus all the staff here have been talking to our memberships, when we have been able to get through to them. 


I am very proud of the C.N.A Executive Committee who released funds to our Auckland memberships if they were in need.  Money is what people need the most. We didn’t tie these funds to anything, but trusted our struggling memberships would use it, if not for themselves, then for their memberships who existed around them. 


Following the Auckland flooding then arrived the cyclone which destroyed so many homes and took lives as well, down the east side of the North Island.  My friend in Wairoa was out of touch with us for quite a long time, and I was very worried about her and her partner. 


We wondered, what can we do?  In the end C.N.A along with Presbyterian Support NZ and CAB NZ held a joint Summit Zoom to hear from people and to discuss how NGO National organisations can collaborate together when disasters strike, to best help people.  We have quite a few ‘next steps’ which I will keep you updated with over the next few months. 


Finally if you haven’t already signed the petition to save the 33 CAB branches in Auckland here is a link.  Mayor Wayne Brown apparently does not understand how important CABs are to communities.  So lets show him what they mean to us. 

https://www.cab.org.nz/what-we-do/save-auckland-cabs/ 


In the meantime, please stay safe, stay healthy, and be kind. 


Ros
eo@communitynetworksaotearoa.org.nz 


Paddy's Hot Take 🔥- March 2023


Census time folks! Why is it important – another form to fill out! 


Sometimes I agree, why do we need more paperwork?! But without the census the Government and its agencies don’t have an accurate picture of the make up of all of our communities whom we serve. Yes, it’s never really accurate, but imagine how much worse it would be if funding, amenities, and the lot were a ‘best guess’. We already have marginalised and vulnerable people who are side-lined because their voice is unheard or lost in the clamour out there. 


So, last night everyone in Aotearoa/New Zealand is legally required to take part. There are some who won't because they don’t believe in it – I’m all for choice, and also for consequences. There are some who won’t be able to due to Digital Inequality or lack of access to guidance and assistance – another reason why Citizen Advice Bureaus around the motu are incredibly important (Mayor Brown, I’m scowling at you). 


Without the 2018 Census (yes, I know it was rather flawed), we wouldn’t be able to say to  that NGO For Purpose Organisations contributed over $18 billion to the economy; that that is 4.2% towards GDP (Gross Domestic Product). 


We wouldn’t have new information on gender, sex (yes, they are vastly different), variations of sex characteristics and sexual identity. Is this going too far? No, its recognising that a number of New Zealanders go underrepresented. Our whole Sector is about support, care, and representation for those who need it, who may be in adversity, and for those who the Govt. seems to have a blind spot towards.


It's only by shining this light on the population that we acknowledge how wonderfully diverse our people are. Otherwise we might fall back into allowing only men to fill it in – seems a stupid thing to say, but some countries… And if the Government has a better idea of who we are, perhaps they will open their eyes to seeing better, more wide ranging and diverse funding pools. 


Nuff said? 


Patrick
info@communitynetworksaotearoa.org.nz


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