A Room for Refuge

UPDATE 9th JULY

Firstly, thank you so much for everyone who has been in touch and helped out so far. Don't worry at all about filling in the form, an email is just fine! We now have plenty of books, artwork and Flooring Xtra are very kingly going to install the vinyl floor for us which is major! There is still a lot to gather. The big things we need are the storage furniture (drawers and shelves), a nice armchair or two, rugs and safety gate. If you are able to make a donation to help us purchase these please use reference “Puna Room” to my bank E Kemp ASB # 12-3015-0567994-00 and email me so I have your email address. Every dollar will help out and any extra will go towards the ongoing running of the shelter. Thank you so much!

If you have already donated - please make sure to pop me a quick email so that I have yours to send your print to you! I’ll be sending this out once I’ve finished collecting so I can keep track of everything!

This is something a little different for me. I want to use my interiors and love of colour for good, and I’ve been so fortunate to have been given the opportunity to help an amazing local charity with a really special project - and I’m really hoping you might be able to help me too! This is especially to my friends in Auckland, but please do share!

I was put in touch with Te Whānau Rangimarie, a Maori led women’s and children’s refuge that helps families escaping and dealing with domestic violence, homelessness and poverty, by another amazing charity Woven Earth (that you should definitely check out too) who help families kit out their homes when reestablishing themselves after leaving abusive homes. Te Whānau Rangimarie runs a safe house in Auckland where up to 19 women and children can reside. The work they do is so above and beyond, and meeting with the amazing wahine that run this refuge was humbling and inspiring. They give everything they’ve got to helping these families, and as you can expect resources are constantly stretched.

The before…

I was asked if I could help them transform a mostly unused double garage at the house in to a useable, nurturing, fun playroom - called the Puna Room. This is important for a several reasons, firstly, as a I mentioned, the house can accommodate up to 19 people at a time and children are the majority. For their own security they are mostly confined to the house and the single living space the house currently has. By utilising the garage we can create a second living space, a child focused and child friendly space where kids and mothers can spend quality time, play, get creative, make a mess, have a dance or just take a break. I think lockdown will have taught us all a lot more how relatable and important that makes this space.

A dual purpose of it will be to have a space for the courses that Te Whānau Rangimarie provides and runs for both residents and others in their community - helping women gain independence.

Getting to see the safe house in person, I was so struck by how much these families have given up to ensure their own safety, often leaving their homes with nothing. I believe so strongly that if anyone deserves a beautiful home, even if just temporary, it is these families. I want them to feel loved and nurtured and valued, and to give them a room that gives them the space to be the incredible mothers they so obviously are.

A plan…

A rough sketch of what we hope to achieve!

ANYWAY, I’ll get to the point - I need your help. There are several bits and pieces we need to make the space as amazing as we can and I know this community can make it happen. For a full list of items please see the google sheets doc here - the items listed are mostly specific for the Puna Room, but of course if anything else you might have that you would like to donate please let me know or enter it on the form!

The room will have a nature theme so anything that fits in to that decoratively would also be awesome.

There is no ego here, just a wish to create the best room possible so any suggestions and ideas are very gratefully received too!

Some Inspo…

My friends at Dulux NZ are supplying all the paint we need, and I’m hoping a local flooring company will be able to help out with some practical but homely vinyl flooring. Another “biggie” is some form of fencing (ideally metal pool fencing with a child safe gate) to be installed on the inside of one of the roller doors so we can keep the door open in good weather and make the most of the sunshine - so if anyone knows a company that could help with that please let me know.

I’d love to create a stylised NZ bush scene mural for the wall behind the nature table, so would be incredible if a vinyl printer would like to be involved.

If you would like to donate financially instead please deposit with reference “Puna Room” to my bank E Kemp ASB # 12-3015-0567994-00 and add your email address to the donations form (you don’t need to declare amount) or email me. Anything left over will be donated to Te Whānau Rangimarie.

A thank you…

Puna Still Life - a limited edition print will be sent to all donors to be printed at whatever size you would like.

As a small thank you for any help, I have created a digital artwork that I will email through to all donors for you to print at whatever size you wish. If you are a company that would like to help out - thank you! It’s going to be super gorgeous and I will have professional images to be shared on social media channels, as well as obviously thanks and shout outs on my own channels for any business that wants to be involved.

I can’t wait to see this come together and thank you in advance for any support you can offer. Please do share with family and friends in Auckland and companies that might be able to help because every little counts. Thank you so much for reading through this.

Love Evie x

Full shopping list public form here!