You Reunited A Father With His Sons

 When the house he was living in was unexpectedly sold and his partner left with the kids, Skip turned to The Salvation Army for help with housing and started the process of getting custody of his boys.

Life had been quite tough for Skip, but he had found a happy place near the beach, breeding horses, working as a roofer and bringing up his two young sons.

Although he felt he had needed to be both mum and dad to his boys, his relationship with his partner was okay until the day they came home to find a ‘for sale’ sign on the fence. Skip was left wondering what it meant for the future. When the property sold, his partner left, taking the boys with her and Skip, bereft, moved into his adult daughter’s shed.

That was home for a month until a social agency referred him to The Salvation Army for Transitional Housing. First, he was housed in a small apartment to show the court he had a stable abode when he applied for custody. Then, when the boys were allowed to visit, he was put in a two-bedroom house so that there was space for them to stay.

‘Compared to 12 months ago, life now is awesome. I’ve changed as a person too, I’m a lot calmer.’

During his almost year-long stay in Transitional Housing, Skip received  help with food along with social work and advocacy. ‘I spent eight months fighting for custody of my boys,’ he says. ‘The Transitional Housing team helped me immensely. I was under a lot of stress, and it was good to be able to vent and get advice.’

Keen for his sons to stay in the school they loved, Skip wanted a house in the area. Finally, a Kāinga Ora house was found, and he now has his boys five  days a week.

‘I’m so grateful to The Salvation Army,’ he says. ‘And my boys are too. They are only seven and eight and they struggled a lot, mentally, with the situation at the beginning. Compared to 12 months ago, life now is awesome. I’ve changed as a person too, I’m a lot calmer.’