Soliana is mum to Manaia (8) and Sosefina (3). Soliana came to Barnardos for support as she was going through a difficult time and was struggling to cope.

Usually working 30 hours a week, Soliana can’t work at all at the moment as she has an injury and is waiting for surgery on her knee. The aiga (family) income has reduced a lot since Soliana stopped working and started receiving a Supported Living Payment.

Sosefina attends a Barnardos Early Learning Centre. Staff had noticed that Soliana seemed very stressed so they invited her to talk to Kim, a Kaimanaaki Whānau Worker about the challenges she was facing.

Soliana told Kim that she needed support in two specific areas:

Managing finances
Parenting

Because of her change in employment circumstances, Soliana was going into overdraft every week. Kim referred Soliana to a financial mentor to help Soliana work out a budget based on her new income. In the short-term, Soliana can also access food parcels and items for Manaia and Sosefina through the local foodbank.

Soliana wanted to make sure she was being the best parent she could be. Kim suggested she attend the “Triple P” programme (Positive Parenting Programme), a toolbox of ideas and strategies parents can use to help raise confident and happy children and feel positive that they’re doing the right thing.

Soliana was very keen to attend “Triple P”, but because of the restrictions on her new budget, she wasn’t able to afford the petrol to get to and from sessions. So that transport wasn’t a barrier preventing Soliana from benefitting from the programme, Barnardos provided petrol vouchers to Soliana to make sure she could attend.

Since receiving support from Kim, Soliana and her aiga are in a much better place. Their new budget is working well and Soliana has the confidence that she won’t go into overdraft each week. Soliana loved attending “Triple P”. She says she has learnt a lot from the programme and is putting her newfound skills into action.

Soliana's path to creating a better future for her children