Tanea Reihana, known as Barnee, entered the Welcome Bay Community Centre in May last year drowning in debt, ashamed and terrified. She was at rock bottom.

She came to fix her finances and save her family home from a mortgagee sale. But she also found connection, community, purpose and a way to fill her own cup and touch the lives of other vulnerable whānau.

Buying their family home in 2019 was a major achievement for Barnee and her husband. However, within two weeks of moving in, her husband’s health rapidly deteriorated and he was hospitalised for open heart surgery in August 2019.

He’d been the main provider, and Barnee the primary carer for their children, including a severely autistic, and non-verbal 12 year old.

Barnee saw Sue from Bay Financial Mentors based at the Centre to help sort out her finances and save the family home.

Transitioning from a paycheck to a Supported Living Benefit was challenging. Then her father died in 2020. Her eldest son came home with two grandsons, and their three-bedroom home needed a cabin to accommodate eight people, including three teenagers.

Life became too difficult. She says she was on autopilot and disconnected from herself, her husband, her tamariki and whānau.

“Due to Sue’s confident, honest approach and the way she handled my situation without judgement, created a safe space for complete trust and transparency. This was crucial in addressing our complex financial situation.”

Sue helped refinance the mortgage and got debts under control through the Total Money Management programme, which provided the structure and tools Barnee and her husband needed to manage finances, stop impulsive spending and prioritising other’s needs over their own, says the centre’s Whānau Connector Judiann Tapiata.

“Working with Sue gave Barnee the relief she needed to work on herself as her situation had left only a shell of the amazing wāhine toa she is.”

Barnee then became actively involved in what else the Centre had to offer. She started participating in programmes, and from tools learnt in the Wāhine Supporting Wāhine programme she feels she has gone from strength to strength. Putting herself first, making sure her own needs are met, and ensuring her cup is full, has made her a better mother, wife and a happier person, she says.

“She is now one of the most resolute volunteers, hoping that she can awhi and manaaki others the same way she received. This is her WHY for volunteering.

“Barnee is a huge part of the kai support day. She collects the kai given by Good Neighbour every Tuesday, knows many of the regular faces so can assist them without them having to repeat what their needs are, acts as an intermediary when staff are busy helping others and gets stuck in and does whatever is needed to support whānau,” she said.

“Watching the stress, shame and anxiety melt away because she knows the roof over her family’s heads is secure has been inspiring. Seeing Barnee develop into this self-assured, confident, generous-hearted wāhine and the ripple effects it has created through her whānau and the whānau she encounters at the Centre has been a tremendous honour and privilege.”

And by the end of this year, the only debt Barnee’s family will have is their mortgage.

To volunteer with any organisation in the Bay of Plenty, contact www.volunteeringservices.org.nz

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