Vai Harris says cash will be spent on the new office. Photo / Brett Phibbs
This Christmas the Herald is again featuring charities which have been selected for a $10,000 donation from Auckland Airport. Eleven charities have been chosen and the 12th donation will go to the families of the Pike River 29. The $120,000 came from change given by travellers at the airport this year.
For Vai Harris of the Vaiola Pacific Island Budgeting Service in Mangere, the $10,000 from the Auckland Airport's 12 Days of Christmas giveaway could not have come at a better time.
Demand for their expertise is so high that a satellite office in Mangere Town Centre has just opened.
"The
money from Auckland Airport will help us fit out the new office. We need desks and chairs, computers, phones and other office equipment," Ms Harris said.
The budgeting service specialises in mortgagee sales and manager Vai Harris reports proudly that they have saved 82 houses from compulsory sale in the year to July.
Vaiola P.I. Budgeting Service has been running from an office in the Mangere Baptist Church since 1977. The nine staff - one Cook Islander, one Tongan, two "palagi" and the rest Samoan - field up to 50 calls a day. As well as dealing with mortgage problems, the service provides advice on budgeting, marriage break-up, employment issues and what to do if your car is clamped.
"And the closer it gets to Christmas, the worse the problems become. People who were once earning $1800 a fortnight and had committed themselves to a mortgage have lost their jobs. Those mortgage repayments are no longer possible on $450 a week."
Clients needing Vaiola's help come from all over Auckland, not just the southern suburbs. "We have people coming to us from Ranui and Henderson," said Ms Harris. "We have a good reputation and there is no other service that does quite what we do."
Finding the money to run a small outfit that demands no payment from its clients is always an issue. Vaiola is supported by the Ministry for Social Development as its main funder but for any extras they go outside Government agencies.
"We apply to the lotteries and the ASB if we have a project we need help with," says Ms Harris. "All our staff are trained, and that costs money."
The training comes via the New Zealand Federation of Family Budgeting Services, law centres and Consumer Affairs.
Ms Harris divides her time between the two offices. She is working through the Christmas season but will roster her staff off: "I have to take care of them."
