WECARE.NZ CAMPAIGN STORY Renee’s Story Dear Hon Penny Simmonds and Paula Tesoriero, I am a carer of two (potentially three) children with challenges such as Autism, Intellectual Disability, ADHD, Anxiety, Oppositional Defiance Disorder, Avoidant Food Restrictive Disorder, Sleep-onset Association and Learning Difficulties such as (but not limited to) dyslexia. These are children with high emotional …
WECARE.NZ CAMPAIGN STORY Cherie Story My job is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week In 2003, I became a mother to twins. My daughter, Holly, was healthy, and my son, Mitchell, was born with a rare disorder. For the first 2 years of his life Mitchell lived in Starship hospital, mostly in the …
WECARE.NZ CAMPAIGN STORY Allanah Story Supporting disabled family carers Allanah is one of the 40+% of New Zealand family carers who have a disability themselves while caring for other family members who are unwell or have disabilities. While the role of family caring is largely invisible and unsung in our country, this is especially so …
WECARE.NZ CAMPAIGN STORY Wendy Slieker Sandwich generation caregiving Life can change in a flash, with none of us immune. No one knows that better than Wendy Slieker and her husband Steve Kallipolitis. Steve, an engineer, experienced a sudden cardiac arrest while out running in 2011. His heart stopped for 27 minutes, leading to a severe …
WECARE.NZ CAMPAIGN STORY Family Carer: Maxine Hall “I have two co-existing emotions: exhaustion and dread.” I am exhausted because in the past six years, I have had only about 20 days when I wasn’t a full- time carer, and 14 of those were when I was in hospital with an ankle broken in eight places. …
WECARE.NZ CAMPAIGN STORY Family Carer: Shannon Douglas What if it was you? Shannon Douglas of Whangarei says a lot more consideration and support is needed for New Zealand’s 1m+ family, whānau, and āiga carers. “We are keeping our loved ones out of care homes and institutions so they can remain in their own homes for as …
