Kia ora e te whānau,
We are so thankful to be able to be fully operational for our Residential Guests – it has been a looooong haul operating through our Community Outreach without the Safe Sanctuary of the Retreat to be alongside people in need of that extra Space to Breathe.
We acknowledge the tough challenges of these unprecedented times – and this last week has seen a huge influx of people reaching out for support. We are just so thankful that people are indeed reaching out.
We have heard that ‘unprecedented’ word so much recently. Yet, on a personal level, so much of what we have to deal with is unprecedented for us. Life is full of changes as we grow up, as our family changes, relationships evolve, jobs, children, housing – the list of situations we have to face, that we have never faced before, is huge. And that is why the Retreat exists; the pearl formed from the grit of suffering. We firmly believe that we all need support at some point in our lives, no matter our background.
There is no shame in asking for help; our whole team have faced their own challenges, and know that life throws us curve balls that sometimes are too big to catch on their own. Sometimes the supporters need to be supported and sometimes the supported can become the supporters. The very existence of the Retreat, which was built through huge gifts of time as well as money by this community shows without a doubt that we are all in this together and to survive we need to look out for each other.
email address. Be creative and outside-the-square! Here are a couple of ours to get you started….. you will, I reckon, have much, much cooler pics to share. Think: Encouragement, Hope, Kotahitanga (togetherness).
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A Request, dear reader and friend…
We are working on a “Wall of Support” – a display at the Retreat which will express that togetherness for those who walk these paths. We would love you to share with us your photos which represent this to you. Please do upload a photo or two to our Facebook page with the #Kotahihanga – or send them as a reply to this 
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You’ll be much in our thoughts over the long weekend. Very very much hoping that there will be some good times in store for you over the break.
Jamie, and all at Taranaki Retreat
PS: Click here to read last week’s newsletter, and to flick through further resources in our blog.