This referral came from Tuai Kopu, the hospitals maternity support service, for a Mama who was pregnant with her 7th child, due in September.
The whānau is Mum, Dad, their 6 children (aged 15-2yrs) and a niece (12). The whānau have been living in their home for a long time and were recently able to purchase it from whānau.
I visited the home and completed a Child Healthy Homes Program (CHHP) assessment. When I initially visited, the whānau were heating the lounge with a radiant bar heater due to a broken fire place. I gave education about how the ideal air temperature is 18-20 degrees and about how radiant heaters heat objects rather than air. We were able to have the fireplace repaired and organised a load of firewood through Tumu and Wharariki Trust. The whānau were really happy to have the fire working again and be fully stocked with wood. We also supplied a heater from the CHHP stock so the whānau could heat the bedroom(s) that were not heated by the fire. A Safe Kids assessment was completed and a fireguard was ordered for the whānau to ensure safety for the children around the fire.
The children all have their own sleep spaces in the home. However, during our assessment I noted there was a broken window boarded up with cardboard in one of the bedrooms. This was able to be repaired through the minor repairs program. Some curtains were missing or in poor condition so we also organised full lengths, double lined, curtains for the home through the Red Cross curtain bank. CHHP provided bubble wrap to insulate some of the bedroom windows that children are sleeping under.
The whānau had a lot with moisture in the home. We gave them advise on how to reduce the moisture and on blast ventilating and removing condensation the home. The minor repairs budget also allowed for the installation of a bathroom extractor fan to reduce the amount of moisture coming into the home from the whānau all showering.
Through our relationships there were also referral’s made to Energy Mates for support with the powerbill and energy saving tips and a referral to MSD for assessment of accomodation supplement and Unsupported Child benefit.
Throughout my engagements with this whānau they were open to learning new things and very very grateful for resources they were given.
Messages of thanks.
“Thank u so so much honestly this will help so much I still can’t believe it’s so amazing we appreciate it so much, thank u again” - Text message received in regards to fireplace repair and extractor fan install.
“Awesome look forward to seeing our curtains”. “Oohh looking forward to our curtains. Thank u so so much” - Text message received in regards to delivery of Red Cross curtain bank curtains
