Otorohanga residents come together to get through the tough economic times.
Made with funding from NZ On Air.
Take a walk down Rangatahi Street in Otorohanga and at every house you will find a character with a different story to tell.
Some residents are coping okay, but most families on this street are struggling to make ends meet.
Terri Turner says the street is known by the locals as the hood, but to her, "it's the boulevard of dreams," because everyone knows each other and will always be there to help.
"It's the one street that makes you feel like you're at home, even if you could be in the struggle and the struggle is real, the people are real on this street too."
She says the street's community garden is a prime example of an initiative providing fresh free produce for those in need.
The Otorohanga Community Garden was started by Rangatahi Street resident Michael Waretini as a way to teach people to go back to basics and live simply - as it used to be.
Ms Turner says the community garden saves people a lot.
"So sometimes some us will only have a mince in the freezer or something like that, and that's when this [garden] comes in handy you come over and get yourself some potatoes some kamokamo, some pōhata as well."
Trina Kohonui lives next door to the community garden and says her family is living day-by-day like many other lower income families and the "beautiful garden" is one way they save money.
"We don't look at the real hard struggle, we just have to go through it."
Trina's daughter, Te Aranga Kohunui lives next to the garden too, in a whare in front of her mother's.
Te Aranga says she enjoys being able to pop through the hole in the fence with her children "to show my babies how to grow vegetables."
Without the garden "how are we supposed to teach them what vegetables are when they don't have it in the cupboard or in the fridge."
The situation is upsetting for Trina who has a Bachelor in Applied Science under her belt after studying part time for seven years - at a time that her daughter went through three premature births.
"I worked really hard for that, and yeah I found out that not all degrees give you employment... when I was growing up everyone was saying you should get your higher education gets you better quality job , and it doesn't really help."
And although the Kohunuis are cutting costs and sticking to the budget and home brands, it's hard, especially on a limited income.
But "it's not all about the money to us, it's making sure every single one of our family members is safe and not starving and got a roof over our heads and happy," says Te Aranga.
At one point Te Aranga says they had to seek help and get food from the local food bank because her Mum had been stretching out the food for a while, and there wasn't any more left "so we had to go there" to ensure "the tamariki have got food in their puku".
"It's all about the kids at the end of the day, when it comes to us [adults] it's like, never mind us, make sure the kids are alright. We can starve ourselves, we're all right, just as long as our kids are fed. But it was hard to go there, it was. But when you need the food and you need something to eat, you're going to go, you're going to make it to that place, you're going to walk yourself in there."
The manager of Otorohanga's Support House Whare Awhina, Deborah Hill agrees it can take a courageous move to reach out for help. But, she says, whenever children are involved there's always certainty help can be found.
"It's a very humbling experience, people coming and asking for help, and generally people are at their lowest, and often tears, will come through as they start to tell their story."
Mrs Hill says at least 20-30 parcels are handed out from their centre each month.
"Often the priorities are the bills have to be paid, then the school stationary or school uniform has to be bought, then the food," Mrs Hill says.
It's a reality that many families are faced with nationwide.
Trina says she wants public perceptions about lower income families to change and for people to be more supportive and non judgemental of people's circumstances.
"Just be there and if you see a family struggling give them a hand, you don't need to go knock on their door and say I'm so and so and here's a bag of food, just put it on their doorstep."
