Catholic Care Newsletter

NEWSLETTER CHRISTMAS 2011

Frankton Parish reaches out to those in need Reaching out to families and individuals in need in Hamilton’s Frankton parish has been a “joint venture of care” between Passionate family groups in the parish and St Vincent de Paul.

Six years ago parishioners Heidi Fransen and Tom Purcell set up the parish care venture by starting a list of parish volunteers prepared to help with cooking meals, gardening, shopping and providing transport for people dealing with illness or bereavement, new mothers learning new responsibilities, and families struggling with unemployment and financial need.

Heidi says that home-cooked meals have often proved the most helpful means of relief for individuals and families in stress, and the parish has provided over 170 home-cooked meals for more than 30 families under the initiative. “It’s a way of reaching out to the community, letting them know we care, and being an example of Jesus to them.”

Referrals may come from the priest, parishioners, or even the

A $1,000 grant from Catholic Care Foundation has now bolstered the care venture by allowing the parish to purchase meals from a catering firm owned by a member of the school and parish community, and to store them in a freezer donated to the parish to cover emergency needs.

Jesus was born to a poor family, lived humbly and was crucified with thieves, but He lived joyously and wants us to live joyously too. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11)

Teuila Maggof (left) owner of Big River Catering with Heidi Fransen (right) founder of the Venture of Care in St Columba’s Parish community, Frankton.

Yes! I want to support the work of the caring foundation Name:

I would prefer to pay by:

Address:

Cheque (enclosed) Visa Mastercard Card Number:

Name on Card: Expiry Date: Signature:

Gifts over $5 are tax deductible. All donations are receipted for

For internet banking please use the following number:

tax purposes.

020342 0062180 00

I would like to commit $

per month

Catholic Care Foundation, BNZ Hamilton East

(enclosed is the first two months donation)

Please send me an automatic payment form OR Please use my credit card details

Put $10 towards a family grocery voucher

I cannot donate each month, but enclosed is a donation of $15

$25

$40

$

Catholic Care Foundation PO Box 955, Hamilton 3240 Manager Liz Pennell Phone: 07 839 9045 Mobile: 021 940 042 E-mail: cathcare@tra.co.nz

rooted in a faith that we walk with God beside us; a faith that is lived, that guides our actions and transforms our lives. We also experience joy when we act out of faith to bring hope and joy to others.

I invite you to spread the joy of Christmas by making a gift to Catholic Care Foundation to support Christian good works for people in need in our community.

The stories in the following pages celebrate just some of the projects that Catholic Care Foundation supports in our Diocese. They demonstrate that even the smallest financial gift can be used to bring hope and joy through the transforming power of Christ to those who need it most.

I wish you a very happy Christmas.

We all seek happiness, but modern living with all its pushbutton amenities and worldly attempts to amuse falls far short of producing lasting joys.

God bless you

Joy is a welling-up of a spirit that is unburdened by fear. It is

Bishop Denis Browne

Putting a smile on the face of Jesus On my desk I have a lovely picture of the beautiful face of Jesus and I often use it to talk to him; I feel sometimes he is talking back to me and it is great to sit very still and listen.

When we pray it is difficult to picture the face of Jesus, but through statues and pictures we are helped to focus on the reality of Jesus.

There are times in prayer when we feel we are really talking to Jesus and you can visualise his beautiful smiling face saying, “I love you.” Often when Jesus tells you something it may not be what we want to hear. It might be something that will be difficult to carry out, but the fantastic thing is that he will be there beside you helping you all the way.

Phone:

Please make any cheques payable to: Catholic Care Foundation

One of the world’s most popular Christmas hymns summarises the message of joy that lies at the heart of Christian faith. We celebrate the birth of Jesus because He overcame fear and death and brought us joy and life in all its abundance.

You can ask Catholic Care Foundation to buy a grocery voucher for a family in need this Christmas. Fill in the form below and tick the box if you want some of your gift to be used in this way.

Email:

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come.”

principal of St Columba’s Catholic School.

Give a grocery voucher this Christmas ✁

From the Bishop

In our everyday lives we carry out the work of Jesus. By a kind word in someone’s ear, inviting another person to join you in a meal or just smiling at a stranger. All these small things have a great influence on our brothers and sisters and we can be sure that when we do these things “the smiling face of Jesus” will be watching us.

At Catholic Care you have an opportunity to serve Jesus through financial contributions or by making a bequest in your

will. These gifts will carry on working for years after you have joined Jesus in heaven.

So we invite you to join us in “putting a smile on the face of Jesus” by working with us and remembering the Catholic Care Foundation is a fantastic channel through which you can serve Jesus, because without you the Foundation cannot continue the real work that it carries out. Five dollars a week through automatic payment is a great gift and one you will hardly notice, but the power of that gift is enormous. Don’t do it for us, but for yourself and for Jesus.

Mike Morris Chairman Catholic Care

NEWSLETTER CHRISTMAS 2011

City Hope Charities Trust since 2006 and employes five trained staff to provide a range of support services for families of both pre-schoolers and school-age children.

Shama lights the way for migrant women Adapting to a new culture in a new country can prove a difficult and lonely time for many women refugees and immigrants.

Everything is new and must be learned from scratch – the language, the food and how to cook it, where to go when your children are sick, how to get there, what to buy to keep the family warm in winter and how to budget for it.

Shama Hamilton Ethnic Women’s Centre Trust has been helping migrant and refugee women adapt to a new life and home in Hamilton and its Zinai Siviter – helping migrant women environs for the past 10 develop skills and confidence. years. It operates a dropin centre in Beatty St, Hamilton, serving 1,000 families from Ngaruawahia to Cambridge, inlcuding nearly 30 different ethnic groups. It offers life-skill classes from English conversation and cooking to gardening and driving, as well as workshops on the NZ legal system, children’s holiday programmes and homework support groups.

Trust manager, Zinai Siviter, who emigrated from the Philippines 24 years ago, says many ethnic women suffer isolation, lack of knowledge about accessing resources, and financial difficulties. “I can relate to many of our women from my own experiences when I first came here.”

Thanks to nearly $8,000 support from Catholic Care Foundation, Shama has been able to continue to offer evening “Healthy Living” cooking and conversation classes for a year as part of its life skills programme. The money helps pay for the cooking ingredients, facilities, volunteers’ expenses, and a creche for the children.

The course not only enables women to learn what new foods to substitute for their own traditional foods, and how to cook them, but also helps them to meet new friends and learn English conversation at the same time.

Zinai says the Healthy Living courses are both educational and therapeutic for the 80 or more women for which they cater every year.

The Incredible Years Parent Programme run by Life Community Services for parents of 6-12-year-olds provides much-needed guidance for single parents and parents who lack the basic skills and confidence to raise their children.

The manager of Life Community Services, Jane Bisset, says the programme is a well-proven American programme that is run by accredited and trained facilitators. It is accessed by

“This support has allowed us to provide petrol vouchers to parents who could not otherwise have afforded to come, small rewards to help them reinforce good behaviour at home, course refreshments and catering, and even food parcels and other support for families in real need,” says Jane Bisset.

Life Community Services manager Jane Bisset

A grant of about $2,500 has helped keep the Teenage and Young Adult Group (TAYAG) fortnightly evening sessions and school holiday programmes running even though the main Waikato branch of Autism New Zealand has been put into recess due to lack of funding.

Shama volunteer Stephanie Yang demonstrates kiwi cooking.

a range of people, including low income Maori, Pasifika and migrant families who are seeking help for themselves, or who are referred by schools, or other agencies such as Child Youth and Family.

“We are unique because we can help families who are locked out of help from other agencies when there is no evidence of domestic violence or sexual abuse,” says Jane Bisset.

“We meet a real social need and we are thrilled we have finally succeeded in getting Government recognition and support for next year,” she says.

Life Community Services has run under the auspices of the

As a result of the course and extra in-home coaching, parents learn how to develop positive relationships with their children and how to redirect behaviour in positive ways.

Providing a social life for autistic teens Catholic Care Foundation support has provided a social lifeline for teenagers and young adults in the Waikato who have Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), including Aspergers.

Teaching positive parenting skills to families in need This year Catholic Care Foundation has helped to support the only free parenting programme with in-home coaching support for parents of school-age children in Hamilton.

The parenting programme for parents of school-age children currently has 50 families enrolled and a waiting list of 15 families.

Catholic Care Foundation support of $1,500 helped supply resources and consumables for three 12-week courses in this programme for 2011.

She says Shama is an Indian word meaning “a lit candle”: “We help women to build their confidence, develop skills, improve their health and well-being, and feel included and valuable in their new home country.”

TAYAG is run by coordinator Fran Greenfield and a group of volunteers, with continuing support from the national organisation of Autism NZ, to provide a structured and supportive recreational environment for youth with ASD who need opportunities for social interaction.

“The programme is structured to challenge them,” says Fran.

“We teach them social cues, how to understand situations, and how to cope with changes.”

Fran has never missed a TAYAG meeting because – having earned the trust of the young people – she has now become very central to their lives. Not only is the group very important to the young people, it also provides secure relief for families.

Fran was a disability awareness consultant for 30 years before starting work with Autism NZ about six years ago. She also has a son with Aspergers, so she came with a background of understanding.

Fran is blind and walks with a cane, but manages the group with a deft touch. She listens carefully to voices and walking patterns to ensure the group is at ease, and she deals with issues quickly.

“I have got to know them and I have their trust,” she says.

“They know I can fall over and bang into things. They accept that I’m different. They also accept themselves. They know that they are different and that it’s okay.”

Many young people with autism have no opportunity to socialise because they find it so difficult to interact with other people. Changes and situations they don’t understand can cause them to become anxious and aggressive. “They can spit, swear and rage out of anxiiety and frustration and all too easily be characterised as ‘bad’ ”, says Fran.

The TAYAG group introduces them to games, movie nights, and even cooking together.

Fran says the group has been so successful that the young people have learned how to make decisions about their own activities and even to take responsibility for fundraising by running sausage sizzles. “This is a massive achievement,” she says.

TAYAG participant Peter Ryborg (right) enjoys indoor rock climbing with a TAYAG support worker.

NEWSLETTER CHRISTMAS 2011

City Hope Charities Trust since 2006 and employes five trained staff to provide a range of support services for families of both pre-schoolers and school-age children.

Shama lights the way for migrant women Adapting to a new culture in a new country can prove a difficult and lonely time for many women refugees and immigrants.

Everything is new and must be learned from scratch – the language, the food and how to cook it, where to go when your children are sick, how to get there, what to buy to keep the family warm in winter and how to budget for it.

Shama Hamilton Ethnic Women’s Centre Trust has been helping migrant and refugee women adapt to a new life and home in Hamilton and its Zinai Siviter – helping migrant women environs for the past 10 develop skills and confidence. years. It operates a dropin centre in Beatty St, Hamilton, serving 1,000 families from Ngaruawahia to Cambridge, inlcuding nearly 30 different ethnic groups. It offers life-skill classes from English conversation and cooking to gardening and driving, as well as workshops on the NZ legal system, children’s holiday programmes and homework support groups.

Trust manager, Zinai Siviter, who emigrated from the Philippines 24 years ago, says many ethnic women suffer isolation, lack of knowledge about accessing resources, and financial difficulties. “I can relate to many of our women from my own experiences when I first came here.”

Thanks to nearly $8,000 support from Catholic Care Foundation, Shama has been able to continue to offer evening “Healthy Living” cooking and conversation classes for a year as part of its life skills programme. The money helps pay for the cooking ingredients, facilities, volunteers’ expenses, and a creche for the children.

The course not only enables women to learn what new foods to substitute for their own traditional foods, and how to cook them, but also helps them to meet new friends and learn English conversation at the same time.

Zinai says the Healthy Living courses are both educational and therapeutic for the 80 or more women for which they cater every year.

The Incredible Years Parent Programme run by Life Community Services for parents of 6-12-year-olds provides much-needed guidance for single parents and parents who lack the basic skills and confidence to raise their children.

The manager of Life Community Services, Jane Bisset, says the programme is a well-proven American programme that is run by accredited and trained facilitators. It is accessed by

“This support has allowed us to provide petrol vouchers to parents who could not otherwise have afforded to come, small rewards to help them reinforce good behaviour at home, course refreshments and catering, and even food parcels and other support for families in real need,” says Jane Bisset.

Life Community Services manager Jane Bisset

A grant of about $2,500 has helped keep the Teenage and Young Adult Group (TAYAG) fortnightly evening sessions and school holiday programmes running even though the main Waikato branch of Autism New Zealand has been put into recess due to lack of funding.

Shama volunteer Stephanie Yang demonstrates kiwi cooking.

a range of people, including low income Maori, Pasifika and migrant families who are seeking help for themselves, or who are referred by schools, or other agencies such as Child Youth and Family.

“We are unique because we can help families who are locked out of help from other agencies when there is no evidence of domestic violence or sexual abuse,” says Jane Bisset.

“We meet a real social need and we are thrilled we have finally succeeded in getting Government recognition and support for next year,” she says.

Life Community Services has run under the auspices of the

As a result of the course and extra in-home coaching, parents learn how to develop positive relationships with their children and how to redirect behaviour in positive ways.

Providing a social life for autistic teens Catholic Care Foundation support has provided a social lifeline for teenagers and young adults in the Waikato who have Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), including Aspergers.

Teaching positive parenting skills to families in need This year Catholic Care Foundation has helped to support the only free parenting programme with in-home coaching support for parents of school-age children in Hamilton.

The parenting programme for parents of school-age children currently has 50 families enrolled and a waiting list of 15 families.

Catholic Care Foundation support of $1,500 helped supply resources and consumables for three 12-week courses in this programme for 2011.

She says Shama is an Indian word meaning “a lit candle”: “We help women to build their confidence, develop skills, improve their health and well-being, and feel included and valuable in their new home country.”

TAYAG is run by coordinator Fran Greenfield and a group of volunteers, with continuing support from the national organisation of Autism NZ, to provide a structured and supportive recreational environment for youth with ASD who need opportunities for social interaction.

“The programme is structured to challenge them,” says Fran.

“We teach them social cues, how to understand situations, and how to cope with changes.”

Fran has never missed a TAYAG meeting because – having earned the trust of the young people – she has now become very central to their lives. Not only is the group very important to the young people, it also provides secure relief for families.

Fran was a disability awareness consultant for 30 years before starting work with Autism NZ about six years ago. She also has a son with Aspergers, so she came with a background of understanding.

Fran is blind and walks with a cane, but manages the group with a deft touch. She listens carefully to voices and walking patterns to ensure the group is at ease, and she deals with issues quickly.

“I have got to know them and I have their trust,” she says.

“They know I can fall over and bang into things. They accept that I’m different. They also accept themselves. They know that they are different and that it’s okay.”

Many young people with autism have no opportunity to socialise because they find it so difficult to interact with other people. Changes and situations they don’t understand can cause them to become anxious and aggressive. “They can spit, swear and rage out of anxiiety and frustration and all too easily be characterised as ‘bad’ ”, says Fran.

The TAYAG group introduces them to games, movie nights, and even cooking together.

Fran says the group has been so successful that the young people have learned how to make decisions about their own activities and even to take responsibility for fundraising by running sausage sizzles. “This is a massive achievement,” she says.

TAYAG participant Peter Ryborg (right) enjoys indoor rock climbing with a TAYAG support worker.

NEWSLETTER CHRISTMAS 2011

Frankton Parish reaches out to those in need Reaching out to families and individuals in need in Hamilton’s Frankton parish has been a “joint venture of care” between Passionate family groups in the parish and St Vincent de Paul.

Six years ago parishioners Heidi Fransen and Tom Purcell set up the parish care venture by starting a list of parish volunteers prepared to help with cooking meals, gardening, shopping and providing transport for people dealing with illness or bereavement, new mothers learning new responsibilities, and families struggling with unemployment and financial need.

Heidi says that home-cooked meals have often proved the most helpful means of relief for individuals and families in stress, and the parish has provided over 170 home-cooked meals for more than 30 families under the initiative. “It’s a way of reaching out to the community, letting them know we care, and being an example of Jesus to them.”

Referrals may come from the priest, parishioners, or even the

A $1,000 grant from Catholic Care Foundation has now bolstered the care venture by allowing the parish to purchase meals from a catering firm owned by a member of the school and parish community, and to store them in a freezer donated to the parish to cover emergency needs.

Jesus was born to a poor family, lived humbly and was crucified with thieves, but He lived joyously and wants us to live joyously too. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11)

Teuila Maggof (left) owner of Big River Catering with Heidi Fransen (right) founder of the Venture of Care in St Columba’s Parish community, Frankton.

Yes! I want to support the work of the caring foundation Name:

I would prefer to pay by:

Address:

Cheque (enclosed) Visa Mastercard Card Number:

Name on Card: Expiry Date: Signature:

Gifts over $5 are tax deductible. All donations are receipted for

For internet banking please use the following number:

tax purposes.

020342 0062180 00

I would like to commit $

per month

Catholic Care Foundation, BNZ Hamilton East

(enclosed is the first two months donation)

Please send me an automatic payment form OR Please use my credit card details

Put $10 towards a family grocery voucher

I cannot donate each month, but enclosed is a donation of $15

$25

$40

$

Catholic Care Foundation PO Box 955, Hamilton 3240 Manager Liz Pennell Phone: 07 839 9045 Mobile: 021 940 042 E-mail: cathcare@tra.co.nz

rooted in a faith that we walk with God beside us; a faith that is lived, that guides our actions and transforms our lives. We also experience joy when we act out of faith to bring hope and joy to others.

I invite you to spread the joy of Christmas by making a gift to Catholic Care Foundation to support Christian good works for people in need in our community.

The stories in the following pages celebrate just some of the projects that Catholic Care Foundation supports in our Diocese. They demonstrate that even the smallest financial gift can be used to bring hope and joy through the transforming power of Christ to those who need it most.

I wish you a very happy Christmas.

We all seek happiness, but modern living with all its pushbutton amenities and worldly attempts to amuse falls far short of producing lasting joys.

God bless you

Joy is a welling-up of a spirit that is unburdened by fear. It is

Bishop Denis Browne

Putting a smile on the face of Jesus On my desk I have a lovely picture of the beautiful face of Jesus and I often use it to talk to him; I feel sometimes he is talking back to me and it is great to sit very still and listen.

When we pray it is difficult to picture the face of Jesus, but through statues and pictures we are helped to focus on the reality of Jesus.

There are times in prayer when we feel we are really talking to Jesus and you can visualise his beautiful smiling face saying, “I love you.” Often when Jesus tells you something it may not be what we want to hear. It might be something that will be difficult to carry out, but the fantastic thing is that he will be there beside you helping you all the way.

Phone:

Please make any cheques payable to: Catholic Care Foundation

One of the world’s most popular Christmas hymns summarises the message of joy that lies at the heart of Christian faith. We celebrate the birth of Jesus because He overcame fear and death and brought us joy and life in all its abundance.

You can ask Catholic Care Foundation to buy a grocery voucher for a family in need this Christmas. Fill in the form below and tick the box if you want some of your gift to be used in this way.

Email:

“Joy to the world! The Lord is come.”

principal of St Columba’s Catholic School.

Give a grocery voucher this Christmas ✁

From the Bishop

In our everyday lives we carry out the work of Jesus. By a kind word in someone’s ear, inviting another person to join you in a meal or just smiling at a stranger. All these small things have a great influence on our brothers and sisters and we can be sure that when we do these things “the smiling face of Jesus” will be watching us.

At Catholic Care you have an opportunity to serve Jesus through financial contributions or by making a bequest in your

will. These gifts will carry on working for years after you have joined Jesus in heaven.

So we invite you to join us in “putting a smile on the face of Jesus” by working with us and remembering the Catholic Care Foundation is a fantastic channel through which you can serve Jesus, because without you the Foundation cannot continue the real work that it carries out. Five dollars a week through automatic payment is a great gift and one you will hardly notice, but the power of that gift is enormous. Don’t do it for us, but for yourself and for Jesus.

Mike Morris Chairman Catholic Care