For years, Evangeline lived in survival mode. As a single mother, every choice was made with her children in mind. She gave everything she had to keep them safe, even when she was struggling herself.
“I wasn’t doing too well,” she recalls. “I’d be drinking because I was tired, sick and tired. And I’d think, well, they’re fed and clothed, so I’ve done enough. Then, with tiredness, I’d withdraw into myself.”
But her daughters, once bright and confident, began to withdraw also. “They were watching me, and I wasn’t doing anything. That’s when I thought, no. Do something.”
Money was always tight. Even small requests from her children, like an after-school ice block from the shop, were hard to refuse, but often Evangeline had to. She carried guilt but was always honest about their struggles.
It was a friend who encouraged her to go to Visionwest. Initially, shame held her back. She only came for a food parcel, hiding on her way out. But then she met a staff member who stopped to talk. Slowly, she began to open up.
“I started sitting up, asking questions, letting people talk to me. Allowing myself, not to be vulnerable, but to be humble enough to take the help that was there.”
That’s when she was introduced to Money Mentors, Visionwest’s financial mentoring service. This became her turning point. “I was in debt but they made me feel in control. They helped, but made sure it was me doing the sorting out. That gave me confidence to think, ‘I can do this.’”
From there, her future began to open. She joined in on Glen Eden Baptist’s community lunches, made connections, and enrolled in te reo Māori and business administration classes. “Being here, seeing the confidence of the workers, hearing where they started – it was so encouraging.”
Her dream now is to graduate. “I left school early, but I want to show my children that nothing is over. When life doesn’t go the way you planned, it’s not the end.”
Her children have noticed the change. “They said, ‘Mum, you’re looking smarter, sounding smarter.’ And I said, yes, because I am.”
For Evangeline, Visionwest isn’t just services. “It’s family. A place where you’re welcome, where you can stand up again. I’m stronger, my babies are stronger, and now we see a future filled with hope.”