|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Many people across the country are feeling the pinch as the cost of living continues to remain high. HELENA O’NEILL talks with Moana Leenders and Sharon Jefferies, who are debt coaches with Christians Against Poverty (CAP) in Pukekohe.
What is CAP?
Christians Against Poverty (CAP) is about releasing New Zealanders from debt and poverty. Our services are free – made possible by partnering with over 45 local churches across the country. Our goal is to build financial resilience within our community.
How long have you been running a centre in Pukekohe?
Pukekohe Reformed Church opened the debt help centre in May 2024. In partnership with CAP head office, our debt help centre provides a practical, structured approach to relieving debt crisis.
Our debt help programme releases families and individuals from the distress of money chaos, particularly the stress of unmanageable debt.
Is it just the two of you running the centre?
We’re the centre managers for Pukekohe, with support from head office in Penrose. We have four support workers from our church. Our team also runs CAP Money courses – which are three sessions to build your money skills and use CAP’s money management tool.
What area do you cover?
We cover from Drury southwest to Pokeno and out towards the Awhitu Peninsula.
What is the referral process?
All referrals go through head office, you can self-refer, or other agencies may refer you, but
everything is booked through our admin staff in Penrose.
Head office has a team of financial advocates, who interact with creditors; to reach a manageable solution, they can advocate on your behalf.
Moana: For me, the motivation was to be active in my local community, to serve my local
community. The other thread is that CAP help works, so I had the confidence that I could bring a beneficial service.
Sharon: We’re on the same page. I’ve known for a long time that CAP works, and I have always been involved in community work. Because I know that it works, it was absolutely worthwhile.
It also helped to have a buddy in Moana, starting at the same time and having someone to share that journey with.
Moana: It’s also a chance to bring hope, real hope, to someone that might feel a bit stuck.
So how does it all work?
We sit down and look at your income and expenses with you, where you can make some changes to reduce expenses, strategise paying back your debts, save for a rainy day, and set those financial goals. We come up with a realistic budget.
Sharon: We’re 100 per cent flexible, we’re here to meet you at your own level, in your own
need. The CAP money course is prescriptive; it’s a budgeting tool. The CAP debt programme is all about setting your own goals and helping you get there.
Moana: We see a need and find a way to help. Sometimes it’s having someone in our church community bake or cook a meal to help take the pressure off. We have a church culture of bringing a meal or baking so it’s a natural thing to do. Other times, it’s finding furniture or an appliance that’s just sitting at home that can make a real difference to another person or another family.
If we can help prevent further debt, then it makes a big difference. Sadly, when you’re in
crushing debt, it impacts your hauora, your wellbeing, so you have less to give. And that’s what the client success stories say – now they have more time for their kids, more time for their partner.
Sharon: Prayer is offered at that first phone call as well, so people know we are a Christian
service, and that prayer is a thing. Some of our clients have a solid faith already, but others are happy to have some prayer.
Moana: There are no fishhooks – we’re just here to help you out of debt. Most of our clients are employed, working hard, but have just high-interest loans, and they’re stuck. A big cost for clients now is Afterpay. People treat it like just another credit card. It’s more debt. The short-term gain may not be worth the long-term cost of debt.
Sharon: Absolutely. Just knowing that it’s an established and proven service that works.
Moana: People go debt-free in two or three years. We do hope that our clients then go on to do the CAP money course – it’s a money management tool that’s free and gives you some financial skills.
I think the biggest message is that there is hope; you don’t have to stay in that dark, difficult place.
Sharon: We’re here. Locals that want to help locals get out of debt.
Christians Against Poverty
FREE help line 0508 227 111
Email info@capnz.org
