Compassion

As an agent for a KO tenant, my own mental health is something I rarely talk about.

Truth be told, the last year has taken a toll on me in many ways but it's the toll of dealing with KO that has caused me the most anxiety.

I've had meetings with a tenancy manager, Spencer's maintenance supervisors, area managers and now a regional manager and every single time I've cried. Cried because I'm frustrated, cried because nobody is listening and cried because nobody seems to care. In all of these meetings, I've only had one person ask how I'm truly doing, how I'm coping with the load I have and stop to give me a hug. One person!!

Megan Woods asking for compassion is pure hypocrisy when my experience as a agent has been horrendous and If my experiences as an agent have affected my own mental health can you imagine the affect it is having, not only on KO tenants but the flow on effects to the wider community? I see the struggles within my own whanau. I have people reaching out to me telling me how their KO issues are affecting them but where are these people supposed to turn when they're having mental health issues? We can't turn to the system, it's broken and ineffective. Hundreds of millions of dollars and 5 extra beds to show for it. (See story below) https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2021/06/just-five-extra-acute-mental-health-beds-after-1-9-billion-investment-in-budget-2019.amp.html

It's time not only for Kāinga Ora but also the government to start showing the compassion they're asking of private landlords. The country is relying on it.