Two days ago I got an email from a very frightened sounding woman. I want to help her. Can you help?
As I’ve mentioned before, I get lots of emails and I can’t help many people. If I have enough energy I will try and direct them towards assistance but often it’s just too much for me. But I really couldn’t ignore this.
Kylie* is a student at Waikato University in Hamilton. She’s 22. She’s been unable to find a job that works within her limitations, she can’t get any more assistance from WINZ or Studylink, and she’s going to be evicted from her flat if she can’t get the rent together.
She has contacted multiple offices (CAD, outreach centres, MPs), and discussed her situation extensively with WINZ. She got nowhere.
I have passed her details on to Sue Moroney and I am hoping her office can do something from that side of things.
In the meantime, Kylie’s extremely anxious about what to do next.
She needs three things:
1. Possibly some money to get through the next little while. I’m obviously not in a position to provide this, but I could set up a Givealittle. I need advice here please.
2. Somewhere cheaper and lovely to live, close to the University.
3. A job that works within her transport limitations and university hours. (She can do Saturday, Sunday, Monday during the day and has customer service experience).
This is not something I usually use the blog for but I’m doing this for two reasons. One, like I said, I really couldn’t not try to help.
And two, I think this highlights (again) how utterly wrong our assistance and welfare schemes are, that an intelligent young woman who is attempting to put herself through university can’t get enough support to do so. There must be many others in similar situations. Their parents earn over the (ridiculously low) threshold, so the government makes an assumption that they will get parental support. They don’t, and they can’t get any decent amount from WINZ or Studylink until they’re over 25.
So instead, we have people who are trying to study, to contribute to the future of our country, worrying about being evicted instead of doing their exams.
If you think you might be able to help with any of the above, please email me. Otherwise, just please spread the word.
Thank you.
*Name changed, for obvious reasons.