In times of difficulty and challenge, hope can be elusive. Then it emerges, like a thin ray of light through the actions of others, through the provision of love, justice, generosity, and mercy. In these moments, when those who are strong give strength to those in crisis, everyone grows, and everyone is better off. The thin ray of light turns to a beam of hope enabling a courageous and life-changing response.

It is through acts of justice and mercy that we arrive at a place where we can provide people with He heke mai i runga i te tumanako – a future founded by hope.

We see hope in the courage of the mother who spends her last dollar so her children will have kai in the midst of their hunger. We see it in the bravery of the man who finally reaches out for help to unclench his fists and discover peace where there was anger and disillusionment. We see it in the widow whose generosity of spirit gives back to her support worker with such affection that the Support Worker is overwhelmed. We see it in the rangatahi whose eyes shine because, after repeated failings of a system that purported to educate him, he receives the skills and tools to find employment. And we see it in the whānau who, through perseverance and dogged determination, refuses to be a homelessness statistic and gives everything to find a stable home.

A future based on hope is not created solely by social workers, youth workers, support workers or community leaders. It is created by those who, despite ongoing crisis and enduring hardship, have the courage, motivation, belief, and mettle, to rise out of the prevailing storm, and allow the light of hope to illuminate their life.

Every week, our kaimahi bear witness to such acts of courage and determination. And while we all need each other to get through tough times, hope is only truly visible in those moments where it seemingly doesn’t belong but, at the same time, somehow does.