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Helping Anna, Dick and the boys get back on their feet

  • One last message of THANKS x

      23 March 2023

    Kia ora anō koutou,

    Almost two months on from the floods that swept through our neighbourhood and many others we continue to feel gratitude for the support we have received, and aroha and sympathy for everyone who has been affected by the floods and Cyclone Gabrielle.

    Our givealittle page closed a week or so ago and we received a report with all your names and messages. We sat together and looked through it and felt overwhelmed again by your generosity and aroha. Just wanted to send one last message to say thank you all so much.

    To update because we know some people want to know- we are good! All things considered. We’re staying in a lovely apartment in Grafton while we try to follow the process with the house. It has been stripped out and the next step is for it to be treated and dried then assessed… then we will have some very big decisions to make. Like many others in Auckland and around the country there are a lot of questions and considerations and we anticipate it will take a long time to resolve. We’re trying to get information from the council, and rally our community who have all been affected and figure it all out. It’s a lot of extra admin off to one side, but also - we’re just putting one foot in front of the other and trying to move forward. We’re happy where we are, and the kids are settled and doing great. Really grateful for what we have and we want you to know that the support you have given us through this has been a HUGE help and taken away a lot of pressure.

    E kore e warewaretia- your kindness will not be forgotten.

    Ngā mihi nui,

    Anna, Dick, Arlo and Eddie Ray

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  • A week on...

      5 February 2023

    Kei ngā manawa popore, kei ngā tāngata ohaoha, ngā whakatīnanatanga o te atawhai,

    To all you kind and generous people:

    A week on since our house flooded and we were rescued in a kayak from the bedroom window (it still sounds too crazy to be true) I wanted to write with a slightly less panicked mind to update you all and once again convey our endless gratitude for your kindness and generosity.

    After staying with my sister for 4 nights with 10 of us under one roof (it was great), we have been generously offered an apartment to stay in while we work out next steps. This is no small thing with the state of housing in Auckland at the moment and we are thankful every day for the roof over our heads! We have also been kindly loaned a car- another big relief- and shown so many other kindnesses.

    Dick and I spent a back-breaking and heart-breaking week saving what could be saved from the house. The water didn't quite reach the bedrooms we escaped from so most of our clothes and some bits of furniture are still with us. We also took hundreds of photos for insurance of what could not be salvaged- nearly everything else. We were able to do this before the house was red-stickered by council, which was an emotional moment. Eddie Ray found some flowers and put them in the middle of the outside area "for the house" like it was a tangi/funeral. It felt like that.

    Every day at the moment feels like a step away from life as we knew it. In leaving that house we also leave our dog Pete and the whenua/placenta of both kids buried in the garden. The home we knew and loved only exists in pictures and memories now. What stands in its place today is an unrecognisable wreck.

    We are still waiting for insurance to progress our claim, same as so many others. So we don't really know what the future holds long term but we imagine we'll eventually find somewhere to rent and then... don't know! They are saying it could all take years with the number of claims so we are mentally preparing for that.

    But in the mean time we are housed, clothed, fed, mobile, healthy... pretty good really. We are privileged to have what we do and especially to have such a wonderful community around us.

    So thank you again whānau, whriends, everyone. We are so, so grateful.

    Arohanui,

    Anna, Dick, Arlo and Eddie Ray.

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    • 05/02/2023 by Jamie

      It is so refreshing to know that you have been surrounded with aroha - you are loved and admired by so many people. Kia kaha x

  • A message from Anna, Dick, Arlo and Eddie Ray

      29 January 2023

    There are no words to convey the gratitude we feel, but we want to acknowledge the extraordinary generosity we are experiencing and how much your support means to us. Bear with me as I use what words my trauma-addled, very tired brain has to try and describe it...

    The first line to one of my favourite waiata (songs) is "ko te aroha anō he wai", which means "love is like water". That is what we are experiencing.

    The water that came down in Auckland on Friday was overwhelming, literally and figuratively. It overwhelmed anything in its path, including our home, along with many other people's homes. We feel overwhelmed by what has happened, what we and others have lost, and what we are yet to face in trying to find somewhere else to put down roots.

    But the aroha we are receiving is equally overwhelming in the best possible way. It is a force even stronger than that which took our home. We have shed few tears over the things we've lost, but when we read your messages we want to cry and cry not from sadness but something else. We're overwhelmed by your aroha I don't know how else to say it. Every message, every offer of help, every koha means so much and makes us feel so supported- like we could fall in any direction and there would be people there to catch us.

    Some of you have your own major stresses and hardships but you have thought of us and you have given to us. Some of you don't have a lot but you have given- thank you. Some of you have given amounts larger than we would ever have expected- thank you. Some of you will know others in need and will be supporting them as well but you have given- thank you.

    We don't yet know what our permanent housing solution will be. We have been generously offered a roof for a few weeks at least, we should hopefully get insurance to cover a period of rental accommodation and beyond that we really don't know. We don't see how we can ever move back into our house- a house Dick had lovingly made so nice over the nine years we lived there. We don't know if we can rebuild there and we don't know if we can afford to buy anything else. So what your generous koha give us is peace of mind- that we can house ourselves for another spell when the insurance runs out, that we can replace whatever tools of the trade we need for gigs if insurance takes too long or isn't enough (my guitars were not spared!). Our friend Aidee who experienced a similar loss a couple of years ago is helping guide us through and insisted on the givealittle page because she knows we're going to need all the help we can get. We can swallow our pride and admit she is right.

    For now we are glad to be safe. The kids are ok if a little shaken- they've been amazing.

    We are feeling so much for our neighbours who were all affected, for people in other areas who lost a lot as well. Watching people help each other has been heartwarming, but the extent of the damage is heartbreaking as well.

    Reading this back I see I was right- the words don't get it across sufficiently but they'll have to do for now.

    We hope to be able to return the kindness to each of you someday.

    Ngā mihi aroha, ngā mihi whakawhetai ki a koutou katoa

    Love and gratitude to you all

    Anna, Dick, Arlo and Eddie Ray

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    • 30/01/2023 by Adrianne Walker

      We love you guys!