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Chris Farrelly says collaboration is the only way to fix Auckland’s poverty cycle.
Farrelly began as CEO of the Auckland City Mission on 1 June.
“It’s no one organisation, no one political party, no one government, no matter what can do this, it’s a whole community”
“We work all the time, day in, day out with some of the city’s most poorest [sic], we feed and we house, we know the situation. We have our finger on the pulse.”
Auckland City Mission has followed 100 families closely to work out what’s happening and research shows that there are many causes, and many solutions.
The cost of housing, mental health, debt, drug and alcohol issues, violence and lack of education contribute to the poor living conditions of Auckland’s most vulnerable, Farrelly says.
“We need to be part of something that would change that. Over the years we haven’t collaborated well. Sometimes we are part of the problem when we don’t collaborate to change.”
64-year-old Farrelly has most recently been chief executive of Manaia Health Public Health Organisation in Northland.
He spent 10 years working in the slums in Asia. “All my life I’ve been working with poor people,” he says.
“This has been my life, it’s where my heart lies. “So it was a call to my heart, some expertise and some experience.”
“I’ve seen a lot of suffering. The results of poverty, of pain, or brokenness. But what stands out for me is in the midst of all this I’ve seen incredible goodness and human strength.”
Source
- stuff.co.nz
- Image: nzdoctor.co.nz
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