Katrina had heard about Visionwest’s housing support services because people she knew had received support and raved about it. However, even though she was in emergency housing herself, until a WINZ worker suggested she call Visionwest Community Housing, it had never occurred to Katrina to make contact. Now she’s glad she did.
Katrina:
I went to the first Visionwest interview and met Sally [a Visionwest Canterbury Tenancy Manager]. I was really, really nervous but I just thought, ‘Be straight up, be honest and straight up.’ That honestly was probably the best thing. I always had a good connection with Sally after that and for 2 ½ years she was our Tenancy Manager, and she was cool.
Katrina talks about her life coming out of addiction and never really being able to settle. For about a decade she had no real place to call home and had come to a point which she describes as, ‘tired in life.’ Visionwest, however, provided a road to journey along and discover a newness of life.
Katrina:
I just had enough. Kana and I were just becoming a relationship. That was pretty cool but, if life was going to go anywhere, we needed to figure ourselves out.
Kana:
I actually owned a house once, but mental health issues meant I ended up in Hillmorton Hospital. That’s a long and interesting story but the bottom line is that during that process I sold my house and spent all my money because I was angry at the world. But then I met Katrina and since then we’ve carried on our journey together.
Katrina and Kana’s new life
Katrina:
Things moved pretty quickly. Sally worked to get us this house and we met Janette [Visionwest Support Navigator]. It was a rocky road for us at the start, but those two, Sally and Janette definitely guided us through.
Once we were in this house and we had good support systems around us, thanks to Visionwest, our lives just started changing for the better. Like, for me personally, it was finally having people who related to me with understanding instead of judgement. There was no judgement, just understanding and guidance to get through because, for me, as a person who was coming out of addiction and that sort of world, I really just needed help to adjust to a normal life.
What I longed for was a life of peacefulness and a home and a family. When baby came along it definitely helped me stick to my path of recovery including trauma recovery. So, the support from Visionwest was just huge, made a huge difference. I’ve always been up and down through my life, but I can say going through Visionwest and being with them about three years before we got our permanent house … life’s quite different.
Katrina admits that she never thought she’d be in the position in life where she is now and credits it to the way her Visionwest support workers stuck with her even when, at times, she was a bit of a handful.
Katrina:
You know, even when I was a bit of a handful for them – that’s being pretty honest about my blow-ups or whatever – you know, they just took us on instead of kicking us out or anything. They talked us through things and helped us through.
Kana:
The support we received from Sally and Jennette and Visionwest was amazing and the understanding that they showed us through the rough patches at the start, while we were in our first house with them, like ‘Trina said, we could have been asked to leave. Not that we were real mischief, but you know, there was a lot of understanding and respect there and it was reciprocated from us so, we just built a good rapport with them and, yeah, it was good to continue on our relationship with them. And what a blessing that has been.
For Katrina, the next part of her journey now that she’s settled is to sort out her career. She’d like that to involve helping others, perhaps starting off in intentional peer support work. Having struggled with addiction, trauma and mental health and come out the other side, she feels ready to begin working towards helping others in the community.
Katrina:
That’s the journey I’m on; maybe down the track we’ll get our own home as a family. The main thing is, I can see a future now. If I’d been asked about the future five years ago, I wouldn’t even know where to start. Honestly, my prospects were jail, getting myself killed with addictions, or something like that. I never had this on my cards, but now I see a future with my wee family … I see a future and it’s cool and it’s bright.
Kana:
I’m just trucking along being the daddy and a hubby. I have a deep faith now and believe what the Bible talks about in Joshua where he says, ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ That’s my life, sharing my faith and bringing up our family together.
Continuing to reflect on the support they’ve received, Katrina has some encouraging words for Visionwest staff and donors.
Katrina:
I want to say to everyone at Visionwest, just keep doing what you’re doing because everything you do helps people like us in our situation to get where we want to be or where we need to be. Without Visionwest, we couldn’t have been here if they and their donors didn’t do what they did, we wouldn’t have the opportunity to be where we are now.
Kana:
One of my favourite scriptures says that through suffering there is blessing. So, whatever struggle we go through, it makes us stronger. I say this because I presume that a lot of people with Visionwest have had struggles like us, so to know that there’s something bigger than yourself can make you look past yourself and onto a bigger purpose and meaning of life.
I love sharing my story. I used to be ashamed of it, but I love sharing it because I realise that it’s encouragement for other people to make them realise that they can do it. It’s possible. It’s not just a dark road. I always say that to people when they ask me how I do it, how I keep going. I just turn and tell them straight out, what I’ve been through, what I did, how Visionwest helped us, and what we’re doing now.
Read another inspirational Visionwest Community Housing story – John’s Story – If I can do it, anyone can do it.
Find out more about Visionwest Community Housing.
** We understand that it is a great privilege when someone generously agrees to share their story. Katrina and Kana gave permission to share their story in the hope it would inspire others to take the steps they did – we thank them for their generosity.