Help for Caroline and Matt after cyclone Gabrielle
For friends who want to support Caroline & Matt after cyclone Gabrielle.
Muriwai, Auckland
Our amazing friends Caroline and Matt—who have helped, loved and supported so many of us on countless occasions are now in need of some of that goodness in return. It's our turn to support them after Cyclone Gabrielle hit their Muriwai neighbourhood especially hard, and they face the uncertainty of what comes next.
We've had a lot of people ask how they can help, and right now the easiest and most helpful thing we can all do is to contribute a few dollars to help them with all the costs they're facing.
We know now that their home has been red-stickered. They won’t be able to return to it. Currently they (and the dogs and cat) are safe, they have a place to stay in Muriwai for now, with their first week rent-free, their own generator and a camp cooker. Their home is insured, but there are many immediate expenses and a lot they need to sort out. This is where we come in—we can help with bills for temporary accommodation, the mortgage they still have to pay, clean up, professional advice and just to relieve the stress of everyday expenses.
I'll update this page as we know more, and to let you know how we can best help our friends. Much love to you all, and thank you.
Jessica Culpan's involvement (page creator)
Old friend, biggest fan.
Use of funds
To support them in whatever they need— paying for temporary accommodation, finding a new place to live, for clean-up and paying the bills.
Latest update
Thank you for your kindness 6 April 2023
Hi Friends - we just wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for generosity and kind wishes. It has been a challenging couple of months and we have both had to dig deep to find a way to accept this challenge and find our way through with a smile.
We have learned a lot about who we are and we have been both relieved and deeply moved to realise what an incredible community of people we have attracted into our lives. It is a cliche but an experience like this focuses your attention on what truly matters: for us, it is the quality of our connections and relationships - and you are undeniably a part of that.
I'd love to be able to update you with positive progress, but it is a hard slog. In short, everyone is waiting on the Council to determine whether we can ever return to our properties in order to progress. We do not foresee that happening until at least October 2023.
Like many in Muriwai, we have fallen in to an insurance/EQC loophole in that our house remains standing - just with an alarming amount of Council land now leaning right up against it! Some of our land has been damaged in the process but the greatest risk is the Council reserve above us and whether that land may fall further in the future. Thus the loophole: the damage and danger is mostly potential rather than actual.
Right now, our best hope is for Council to "Red Zone" our property, prompting a Crown/Council buyout, similar to Christchurch. This would free us from the burden of our mortgage and allow us to modestly start again.
Until then, we have our insurance accommodation allowance which will cover our rent for another couple of months as we continue to pay our mortgage (nb the banks are yet to provide any relief to our obligations). We know that this process will take much longer than that, so this donation will quite literally keep a roof over our heads until the end of the year. This means the world to us. It has given us assurance in a time of great and unsettling uncertainty.
From our hearts to yours, thank you so very much.
The champagne is on us when we (finally) get to celebrate this chapter of our lives closing!
Matt & Caroline xx
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