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Derek Myers, who has helped many families, is the latest nominee for the Herald's Unsung Heroes series, which rewards some volunteers with a P&O cruise
Derek Myers knows people from all walks of life and, having helped them grapple with huge challenges, he knows them pretty well.
There have been families who struggled to adjust the household budget to cover food for their children, solo mothers who could not pay their power bills and children who were left behind by their classmates because they could not read.
Mr Myers says: "We are all here to help each other out."
As well as working as a probation officer and raising a family, he rallied to establish support groups in his Tauranga community.
Through the Victim Support group in Tauranga, he visited households to help them work through grief.
Some had returned to find their homes burgled, others were dealing with more traumatic events.
When working with human beings, he says every case is different.
As one of the founders of Tauranga's Budget Advice Service, Mr Myers would also arrive on families' doorsteps to help them sort out a financial mess often he was unwelcome.
Budget issues could come hand-in-hand with violence, alcoholism and abuse.
There were times when he felt threatened, but they were never enough to put Mr Myers off trying to help.
While juggling these voluntary responsibilities and his duties as a Justice of the Peace, Mr Myers also managed to squeeze in work as a marriage-guidance supervisor and helped young people at a local intermediate school improve their reading skills.
Diane Howell, who nominated Mr Myers for the Unsung Community Heroes award, said he was never too busy to offer his services.
He had not even stopped at 80, living with wife Rena in a retirement village.
