Eddie's Orange Sky Family
I don’t think I will ever be able to obtain a full understanding of what it is like to experience homelessness.
After hundreds of hours of interviews with our friends on the street I have never heard the same story twice.
Much of my time is spent thinking about stories that paint a clear picture of what it feels like to do it tough in our communities. Our friends are so gracious with their time and have built up a level of trust through our amazing volunteers, it is a very good place to be as a storyteller.
The words from our friends give me a very good indication of the real Orange Sky service and we are really providing to people doing it tough. Is it connection, is it a service or…is it something bigger, more life changing? I might have a few more years until I get all those answers but feel like I got pretty close with my four days on shift with the amazing Uini’s in Auckland.
Family is something that I have heard spoken about each time I visit shifts in New Zealand. Our friends talk complex relationships that occur with families. In some cases a huge form of support but also when negative circumstances arise something that can be at the root cause of experiences of homelessness.
Which brings me to Eddie, The Uini’s and Orange Sky New Zealand. Eddie’s story is very well known across New Zealand and in one sentence for the un-uini-ightened (see what I did there), he started the free mobile laundry and shower service in Zealand supported be the host country of Australia.
Eddie is the eldest of five children and has a Samoan father and Mother with a mixed heritage from Germany and the United Kingdom. The family all live together in a big house on the outer suburbs of Auckland. It is a bustling hub of excitement and at all times of the day people are coming and going, eating together and supporting each other through words of encouragement (and, when needed, a few sharp words for the younguns).
Elisi (27), Lesina (24), Isacc (21) and Nathan (19) – I have to check those ages – are the lucky siblings of Eddie and adore the big man’s passion for helping other people. Of course when Eddie asked for them to help through volunteering they said yes…but they were definitely not sure of what to expect or even how they felt about homelessness.
Which brings me to Eddie, The Uini’s and Orange Sky New Zealand. Eddie’s story is very well known across New Zealand and in one sentence for the un-uini-ightened (see what I did there), he started the free mobile laundry and shower service in Zealand supported be the host country of Australia.
Eddie is the eldest of five children and has a Samoan father and Mother with a mixed heritage from Germany and the United Kingdom. The family all live together in a big house on the outer suburbs of Auckland. It is a bustling hub of excitement and at all times of the day people are coming and going, eating together and supporting each other through words of encouragement (and, when needed, a few sharp words for the younguns).
Elisi (27), Lesina (24), Isacc (21) and Nathan (19) – I have to check those ages – are the lucky siblings of Eddie and adore the big man’s passion for helping other people. Of course when Eddie asked for them to help through volunteering they said yes…but they were definitely not sure of what to expect or even how they felt about homelessness.
I had the opportunity to sit down with each one of Eddie’s siblings and talk about their experience. They all spoke genuinely and candidly about their perceptions of people experiencing homelessness before volunteering for Orange Sky. They had learnt to see people in the street down on their luck with view that it was someone else’s problems. People they would see in the street or on their way to University did not have an identity and there was no motivation to stop, acknowledge and maybe even have a chat. A bit of a mix of fear, not wanting to offer money and not knowing what would come next if they took the simple step to say hello.
Nathan was very open of his view of people doing it tough:
…i would have…walked with my nose at a higher angle and walked past instead of looking and talking with them…it (volunteering) has completely changed my views on homelessness…playing cards, doing washing having such a great conversation it barely feels like i am actually going out to some voluntary work, it’s like going out and having a game of cards with your mates, only you have a lot of mates now. It just grounds you and humbles you to know all these people at heart.”
All of the siblings have taken to volunteering like ducks to water. They were very open about not making this decision if not influenced by Eddie but now feel strange if they miss a shift and miss their friends.
Elisi puts it best when she says:
“It is so weird that I am actually volunteering for Orange Sky when you think about it. I stay right away from…touching my siblings washing…and avoid conversation as I feel like my conversation isn’t interesting enough, but i jumped, and did it and I couldn’t imagine my life without it.”
It takes a lot of courage to be open about you past perceptions and admit to negative stereotypes that influenced your behavior. But the Uini family want to act as a beacon of hope for everyone in the community to believe in the power of acknowledgement, conversation and connection for our friends doing it tough.
It was so cool to hear Elise close her discussion with this very point. Something that I have never heard before but a powerful reminder of an aspirational existence where everyone feels connected to a community.
“I would really like for Orange Sky not to be such an anomaly and just an everyday thing for everyone to be out here doing everything they can for their fellow Kiwis.
Beyond that I guess, hope and dream OS that Orange sky wont be such a miracle for people and something that is available to everyone”
I just realised that in this whole story I have not referenced the impact on our friends, the power of Orange Sky’s service or the outcomes that our friends receive. But, maybe they are one and the same for the people that take time out of their lives to volunteer. To feel connected to something bigger than themselves, to be part of a genuine community and to have amazing conversations!
Elisi puts it best when she says:
“It is so weird that I am actually volunteering for Orange Sky when you think about it. I stay right away from…touching my siblings washing…and avoid conversation as I feel like my conversation isn’t interesting enough, but i jumped, and did it and I couldn’t imagine my life without it.”
It takes a lot of courage to be open about you past perceptions and admit to negative stereotypes that influenced your behavior. But the Uini family want to act as a beacon of hope for everyone in the community to believe in the power of acknowledgement, conversation and connection for our friends doing it tough.
It was so cool to hear Elise close her discussion with this very point. Something that I have never heard before but a powerful reminder of an aspirational existence where everyone feels connected to a community.
“I would really like for Orange Sky not to be such an anomaly and just an everyday thing for everyone to be out here doing everything they can for their fellow Kiwis.
Beyond that I guess, hope and dream OS that Orange sky wont be such a miracle for people and something that is available to everyone”
I just realised that in this whole story I have not referenced the impact on our friends, the power of Orange Sky’s service or the outcomes that our friends receive. But, maybe they are one and the same for the people that take time out of their lives to volunteer. To feel connected to something bigger than themselves, to be part of a genuine community and to have amazing conversations!
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