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wednesday 29 September 2021
Page 6
Page 20
Apprentice of the year named
Nelson Netball’s super-mum
Families caught in housing crisis Jenny Nicholson The region’s housing crisis is deepening with 40 per cent more people looking for emergency housing assistance than the same time last year. Nelson Tasman Housing Trust director Carrie Mozena says in
the last three years the waiting list for Kāinga Ora public housing has also gone from 40 to 400. “Now it’s just regular people who are working full or part-time finding it hard to get a rental or affordable housing,” says Carrie. One Nelson woman, who didn’t want to be named, works at a
school, has great references, and keeps her motel immaculate but still cannot find permanent accommodation. She, and three of her four children, have been living in a onebedroom motel in Nelson since May. “It’s not easy. It’s not what people
think,” she says. “There is a real stigma to living in a motel.” Her 12-year-old son refuses to live at the motel because of the stigma associated with it. He is currently living with his father. Her 10-year-old daughter also doesn’t want to tell her friends where they live or invite them
around. However, that wouldn’t be an option anyway, as the motel has a “no visitors” policy. The woman’s eyes well up as she talks about how the situation affects her children. She says she has “cried heaps” and feels like a
see page 2
Haere mai, Max, haere mai Kate Russell When Max the miniature poodle is told to ‘e noho’, he sits. “When I say ‘haere mai’ he will come,” says his owner, Felicity Connell. “He also knows ‘haere ki te moe’, which means go to sleep,” she says. Obeying te reo commands has come naturally for 11-year-old Max, according to Felicity. “He picked it up really quickly when I taught him two years ago, he pretty much
Wakatū Incorporation’s Felicity Connell with her miniature poodle, Max. Photo: Kate Russell.
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got it straight away. He’s pretty switched on.” Max is one of 11 kurī (dogs) who accompany their owners to work across Wakatū Incorporation. Felicity and Max are based at Wakatū House with Bear the labradoodle, Curly the greyhound, and Savannah the chihuahua. They also have four canine colleagues based at the Tohu winery, two in Mārahau, and one helping at their Kono horticulture office.
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