Woven Earth

Does anyone have a cot in excellent condition they can donate for a baby in a home we are furnishing this Wednesday?
Please email [email protected] if you do have one and can get it to Silverdale before Wednesday.
Thanks beautiful community 🥰

For seven long months this Mum and her two children have waited for today. But wind the clock back further in their life. Years of abuse has haunted them.
We call it fleeing violence for a reason. You have no option but to flee to save your and your children’s life. Taking with you what matters most…. Your children.

Living in refuge is not a holiday or respite. It is scary and overwhelming to say the least. Then you view homes and they are empty and you know that you have nothing to put in that house but you also need to get your children into a home
so you say yes to an empty box. The harsh reality in NZ is that there is no access to practical support to furnish a home that doesn’t come with debt. If you have pre-existing debt or don’t have the right visa then you don’t qualify for any financial help.

Woven Earth is entirely free for the families even down to the transport.
Today, we changed three more lives. The family were honoured with items based on who they are, what they love and need. A home is so personal and this is what we respect each home, each person over and over again.

This week we have 5 homes. Next week more.
We desperately need home decor to add the personal touches to homes and we need to boost our regular donors. If you know of a friend or a business who may be in a position to join our community of regular supporters please connect them with us. Signing up is easy via the Donate tab on our website.

Today we created a home for a Mum and her little boy. We were honoured to have the help of two Mum’s who have previously been the recipients of our service. To see these two women standing strong one year on working alongside us to create a home for another family in the same position as they have been was something so special. This is a first for Woven Earth and over time we often hear from past families about the long term impact of our service but have never had a family come and work with us before. I have never been more proud to stand at a home and be part of our community from this perspective. These women hugged and cried this Mum today as she walked through her home with the same disbelief at having a furnished home to start again.
Our volunteers say they get more out of being part of Woven Earth than what they put in and families say how life changing it is to receive our support at such a critical time in their life when so many people return to their abusive partners. Our supporters tell us they feel proud to be part of our community and positively impacting survivors lives at such a personal level. Families we support share their hearts and homes with us and each time the enormity of our impact grows! There is something truly magical about Woven Earth and our community.

We are looking for a bike, stereo and a fishing rod for a man whose home we are furnishing on Thursday. Please email me if you have either of these on [email protected]

Huge thanks to the ladies from Wheel Club of Orewa & Whangaparaoa who have gathered brand new kids winter PJ’s for us to give out. We have those these three for the children in the home we are packing for that is heading out tomorrow. Thanks ladies! Love your support

The home we created today is for a Mum and her two children who said she didn’t expect much and was so worried about asking for too much. We get this often. The shame of asking and not believing in themselves enough to see how worthy they are.
Well, we gave this family the most stunning loving home and through many tears and hugs we led her through her new home. The reality of what she has left behind and the unimaginable terror about how to furnish a home was replaced with disbelief at how many things her and her children now have to call their own. No cost, no guilt, no expectations - just kindness and dignity in its truest form.

If you see in the kitchen the popcorn maker and popcorn for their Friday night movie nights. The children’s birthday party supplies for the upcoming birthday party for one of them. The sewing machine because the Mum loves to sew and is teaching her children. The Chromebook for their school work. The brand new fridge with frozen meals. The decor to match their tastes. The bikes because they love the outdoors. The plants with gardening gloves, seeds and tools because she is a gardener.

Every detail is selected to match each of them as people. It’s these touches that make Woven Earth so magical.

We as a team stood in her presence and carry with us the enormity of the gift Woven Earth has given. Witnessing a home being transformed is the cold face of the positive power of a community in full swing. Thanks to all of you three more lives can begin to rebuild. Three lives have a home to close the door on and be at peace without violence.

We don’t set up every home. For various reasons it might not work out that we can because the family are in their home already, they want to set it up themselves or we can’t get there enter have too many other homes we are needing to pack for.
Yesterday we sent a home out to three siblings who are making a new start together. They had nothing to create a home. Our truck driver, Gavin loaded up and delivered a truck loaded to the roof of everything they needed to create their own home. They did such a beautiful job setting it up themselves and lucky for us they shared their home with us. All those beautiful donations you all give create loving homes.
Sharing the email of thanks they sent us today which says it’s all!

“Me and my siblings are wanted to express our sincere gratitude for providing us all the beautiful furniture for our new home. Your generosity and thoughtfulness have truly made a difference in our lives, and we are deeply appreciative. Not only you provide all these wonderful furniture for free but also the delivery! Your willingness to go above and beyond to help us during our new journey means more to us than words can express.

We ended up homeless with nothing at all having to leave suddenly, but you have helped us start over with so many beautiful things for our new home.
Please know that we will always remember your kindness and generosity and we hope to one day have the opportunity to pay it forward and make a different in someone else’s life, just as you have done for us.

Your kindness has truly touched our lives in a meaningful way.”

UPDATE: BIKES ALL SORTED! Thanks everyone

We are needing two bikes for a family next week (by Monday). A 7 yr old girl who loves unicorns and fairies and a 5 yr old boy who loves dinosaurs.
If you have an excellent condition bike or would like to help us buy them new bikes please get in touch via email. [email protected]

The bitter sweet emotions that we as a team carry after every home is something I do find difficult to put into words. No one can ever walk in someone’s shoes but we are there sharing tears and striving to make sure every person is given a chance to feel empowered, worthy and supported as they try and figure out their life after abuse.
The woman in today’s home walked in with a small shopping bag that held her possessions.
Within 1.5 hours she had a loving home filled with items that are needed to live with dignity.
It’s a lot to process.

I know that all of us there today will lie awake tonight reliving today for another brave warrior who has touched our hearts.

We have another big week ahead and tomorrow furnish a home for a mum and her children. 4 homes this week and so many more booked in.

Can you believe when I started Woven Earth I had to sell the concept and prove we were a needed service!

I’ve been a bit quiet on here this week because we have solved a huge issue within our little charity- space for furniture and big items!
It’s these behind the scenes things that are not often talked about because they can be super boring. So, without boring you I’m sharing a few of the pics of our NEW depot space for furniture. A depot space became available right beside our current main depot on east coast road in Silverdale! Call it divine timing or just luck it has solved a huge problem for us.
This depot is double the size and now the task of transferring furniture from the old depot begins.
Three days in and this is us so far with big furniture items getting transferred next.

Thanks to our volunteers who have given so many hours already into helping make this move happen. Feeling tired but so grateful that we have such a supportive team.
On top of this we have furnished 4 homes this week!

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Thank you for joining us as we share homes and offer a different insight into one of the gaps that survivors of family violence experience. On behalf of the families whose lives you help change, thank you for following us and being part of the change we need to see.

The Mum and her little boy whose loving home we created today have some words I can share with you.

“From the bottom of my heart, my son and I would like to thank you for all the love and support that you have given to us. We have come from a lot of hardship and left with nothing. My baby is young and I felt very stressed all the time. This is like a dream. Thank you for all the beautiful gifts and touches around the home for myself and for my baby. It is life changing.”

Let’s continue creating more loving homes together. Woven Earth 🥰💕💛💛💛

Yesterday we took on the challenge to set up two homes for two families leaving refuge. I have shared one of these homes last night and now sharing the second.

So hard to find the words to describe the emotions we go through as we embrace these incredible woman who are in such shock that their empty rooms have been transformed into a loving home. It’s always the small details they gasp at that catch our hearts. Yesterday this Mum walked into her room and screamed. A scream that was both delight and disbelief at a room created to her tastes and her style.
Anyone can have a bed and a sofa but we care what their favourite colours are and what style they like and all the details on how they are. This is what matters, this is what gives dignity back and lifts survivors into a space of feeling seen, heard and respected.
This is the magic of Woven Earth.

One of the homes we created today gave a Mum and her two little girls a new beginning.

We stepped inside an empty house and thanks to the power of our volunteers we turned it into the most stunning home. It catches me every time when I feel the energy and passion from my team of phenomenal women as they turn spaces into such loving homes for lives to rest and heal in.

As the Mum walked into her girls bedroom that they will share her shoulders shook and she had to ask for reassurances that this was all theirs.
She has never had a bedroom of her own and couldn’t wait to collect her children from school and bring them HOME.

So much rests in this word and so much is stripped from your life when this is taken from you.

We cannot let survivors be further abused by not continuing to fill this gap and give the support needed to break the cycle of abuse.

Another loving home created and another family forever etched in our hearts. 💕

The sound of karanga rang out as the social worker called the whanau into their home today. Our Woven Earth team stood with our hearts bursting and handed the family their furnished home.
From the intensity of the unloading when we arrived and what seems like disorganised chaos at first, a home starts to take shape over a few short hours.
Every item selected for each person in the family is carefully placed to honour their life and offer respect to their new space.
It is the most personal and important piece to our service. We take objects and furniture and match them with love and care to offer them back to families to raise their dignity.

The little boys were so excited to see their dinosaur beds and spent the entire time we were showing Mum through her new home in their bedroom playing with their new toys.
The Mum said she didn’t have the words to convey how much it meant. Her tears said everything that she couldn’t. Four more lives today have been furnished and treated with the respect they deserve for making the decision to leave domestic violence. Tomorrow the Mum starts uni with her own desk and finally in a forever home with no extra financial burden. They can begin to rebuild and heal from their trauma. What a day. We left with the family waving us goodbye like long lost friends and now have another family in our hearts forever.

A first hand account of what our service means through the eyes of a social worker from Te Whare Ruruhau o Meri Trust.

Our service has deeper long lasting impact than the objects we give. It changes people’s perspective on their future, it gives hope and empowers survivors to believe in themselves. It gives them their dignity and provides a home to rest, heal and rebuild from.
Woven Earth will never perpetrate systems abuse on anyone we support. We don’t have red tape slowing us down, we have no government funding and every life we support will feel noticed, valued and supported no matter what.
🥰

Last year we helped a beautiful young woman who had bravely taken custody of her younger siblings. The loss of their Mum to domestic violence shattered their lives but through sheer strength and determination they found a home and were building a new life together. We furnished their home and they have sent us a poem to covey to us what our help meant for them. To my beautiful Woven Earth community, this is for you all. If anyone questions our impact I say to them, the hundreds of thank you emails, letters and agency messages are the true testament to how many lives we are changing.

“MOTHER EARTH, O WOVEN EARTH,
Soothe my tears,
My broken roots, rewoven to our earth’s embrace Grounded by thy nurturing care o Woven Earth,
I grow once more to flourish to stand strong and balanced,
O Mum, Woven Earth,
I am present and you’ll always be close never distant from mind body and soul, intertwined with the earth and heavens above,
Protect us, Mother Earth
Woven Earth, answered our prayers.”

There are so many things I want to share with you about today’s home. This is a family who have been through so much hardship, grief and loss. They have battled through so many storms and the children have suffered more than you could ever imagine.
They have shown grit, determination and incredible courage to reach this point in their lives. This family have hit my heart in a way I haven’t ever experienced before.
A family of 10 tonight are settling into their own beds, with possessions to call their own and a home bursting with love.
We had over 15 people at the home today sweating it out to make sure every piece of furniture - even a trampoline - and every single thing we gathered was in place so that when the children came home tonight they could have a home.
So proud of our community and so proud to be part of this movement that is shaking up the way we support and fight for the rights of family violence survivors and their children.
It’s not enough to know that we have horrendous family violence statistics. It’s no longer ok to say what can I do about it.
Support us at Woven Earth and join our community and we will show you first hand what we can do.

So satisfying to hand this home over knowing that we have given every single item needed to make the home theirs and help a Mum with two children begin again.
It is exhausting to begin again, to be given the keys to an empty house and have children looking to you to make their world safe and give them a home. We offer not only the relief of a financial burden but also the chance for a family broken by domestic violence and trauma the chance to have a loving home.
We see the impact first hand and in sharing these images with you all I hope that it gives you a different perspective on domestic violence. I hope this makes you stop and think of the broken lives after people leave.
The more support we can give to survivors the better their chances of survival will be.
It’s not rocket science, it’s giving dignity and compassion at a time in their lives when they need community.
If our hearts are heavy thinking about this then imagine how heavy a survivors heart is as they walk through it.
The more support we can get the more homes we can furnish and the more lives we can change. We would love you to join us in our mission and support us.

Over the past 4 years we hear updates from some of the families we have helped. An email popped up in my inbox the other day from a Mum we helped over 1.5 years ago. Her words are so powerfully raw and beautiful that this will answer to anyone who ever says to me “ I wonder what happens after you leave.” Click through the photos to read some of her email.

So grateful to hear from anyone who we have supported and know that what we give at Woven Earth has the long lasting effect we aspire to give each family. Dignity, hope, love, compassion and support to rebuild.
💛💜💛

Behind every home is a story and lives who have been ripped apart because of domestic violence. As we were putting the final touches to the home today we sent off a text to the social worker saying “we will be done in 30 minutes “.
The social worker called the Mum who was both nervous and excited about entering her home and beginning the next part of her journey away from violence.
The Mum arrived 30 minutes later with her little boy in the arms of the social worker - he had fallen asleep so the Mum was able to explore her new home uninterrupted.
Before she stepped into her home the tears were streaming down her face.
In the Mum’s words is always the best way to give you an insight into the importance of what we do.
She was repeatedly saying “there is no way I could have furnished this home, I have no money, it would have taken me a lifetime to be able to get all of this for my children.”
“I feel like I have won the lottery.”
“I don’t even have a pillow of my own and now I do! I could never afford one.”
“All I want to do is lie down in my own bed, this is like a dream.”

Knowing that tonight they can rest in their own place after months of homelessness is so important.

The Mum asked what she could do to ever repay the Woven Earth community for this support. The only answer to that is we expect nothing in return but the best thing you can do for us is to go on and get stronger and be another champion of change in this world and show your children that there is a better life on the other side of domestic violence and support and teach them how to break the cycle.

Another beautiful home and three more lives changed with a loving home

I still have tears well up when I think back to a few hours ago and how the Mum and her children reacted to their home. The pressure of court and the journey to get to today was washed away as they celebrated their new home. We restored their dignity today and gave them a home to be proud of. The Mum said to her children “when you wake up tomorrow you will realise this is not a dream”.

I can’t even do justice to describing their reaction to what we created for them. It was beyond words and tears still spring to my eyes as I type this. Every detail to make sure they each had the room and things that would matter to them were catered for and they felt it. From the bedding to the layout of the room to the personal touches to replace those things they have lost from their journey.

On Thursday we were featured in because for Christmas have announced their annual 12 Days of Christmas which sees them award 12 charities $12,000.
This vital funding for us will help us create more loving bedrooms for families in the South Auckland region.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/woven-earth-charity-gets-christmas-grant-from-auckland-airport-to-provide-furniture-to-needy-families/ZXO2QR7VIZGCXDGDVH43WS5VOA/

So honoured to be one of 6 charities in the Giving Machine Auckland at Sylvia Park.

Instead of a vending machine that distributes food and soft drinks this is a vending machine of a different kind. You can choose what you want to buy to support those in need around Auckland. For us at Woven Earth we have some great items people can give towards. From new towels to sports equipment to kitchen supplies.
If you are shopping at the mall check this out and tag us in a post if you do happen to go and visit the Giving Machine. We will be there this Saturday 2pm if you want to come and have a chat with Kerryn our Founder.

📸 Look at this post on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/Ke45D2BfvTSCVNcT/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Donation vending machines introduced to Auckland mall

This is the link to use for any Mighty Ape shopping. They will donate 5% of your total purchase price to Woven Earth.

https://www.mightyape.co.nz/?r=3681069