"Dad dreamed of being a farmer so my parents bought a bare-land block in Waverley. That dream slipped away when it became apparent we couldn't access the farm half the year when it rained. The money my parents saved to build a home there went on lawyers trying to fix the road," Ms Lewis recalls.
As the cost of living increased her father's wages remained stagnant. Her mother's employment contract wasn't renewed and the family of five children struggled to survive on one income.
"There were mornings when I got up to make my school lunch and realised there wasn't enough bread for us all to make sandwiches. Without telling anyone I chose to go without so my siblings would have something to eat at school."
She finished school at Whanganui City College as its dux and with a scholarship she was able to attend Victoria University where she completed a bachelor of arts and a law degree. "I believed with a law degree I could help fix the farm road and dad could live his dream. Sadly he passed away before I finished."
After university Ms Lewis picked up casual work at the Waitotara dairy and after seven months of looking for fulltime work she went to CLAW, ready to volunteer and left with three days paid work a week as an employment advocate.
It's an area she says she is passionate about. "I have seen the impact that work, and the lack of work has had on me, my family, and the communities in Whanganui and South Taranaki."
Job losses affect families and communities for years, she says. She says the electorate has seen significant job losses at producers like Yarrows bread factory in Manaia, manufacturers like Cavalier Bremworth's Whanganui plant, and in the retail sector with 49 empty shops in Whanganui.
"We have to encourage high skill, high wage employers to set-up here so young people who leave for university will come back. The government can play a role by moving public service jobs here. We must change the way we think about work, if we don't, we risk becoming a rich country full of poor people."
She remembers a time when wool prices fell so low the wool cheque barely covered what her parents owed the shearers. "Our dairy industry faces similar challenges due to low milk prices. We need to make our rural communities resilient by adding value and diversifying our products. I will push for infrastructure projects to be funded here, like the port redevelopment."
More needed to be done to protect worker's rights, she says. While working for ACC she became a union delegate and said staff were too afraid to participate and with membership under half what it used to be, wins were rare and often small. "We must encourage employers to recognise workers are people, not commodities."
New Zealand's proud tradition of a free public education was also being eroded. She says it now costs over $38,000 to put a child through school. "Too many children from working families go to school without lunch, shoes or raincoats."
KidsCan provides those items to 15 Schools in Whanganui, but there are more schools on the waiting list. "No one wants to see a child miss out on the opportunity to succeed because they couldn't afford to attend school. The government must ensure every child gets a free quality education."
Ms Lewis says the health system is overburdened claiming the National Government had underfunded it by $1.7 billion. Whanganui DHB was $700,000 in deficit, she said, and that its cost saving plan includes cuts to aged residential care and home support services. Shifting goalposts meant 7,000 patients in Whanganui and Taranaki had their surgeries declined, she said. Labour would restore health funding and she vows to push to ensure Whanganui gets its fair share.
Affordable housing was another issue. House prices in Whanganui increased last year and home ownership rates were falling as speculators around the country buy homes to rent. Out of town landlords have meant more cold, damp, and mouldy rental homes due to lack of maintenance. She says she will push for more affordable housing to be built locally using Labour's KiwiBuild and Affordable Housing Authority.
"These are the key issues facing this electorate. It will take a strong, committed candidate to work with the next Labour government to address them."
Ms Lewis said she is often asked why she wants to be the MP for Whanganui. "Mum would say I have former Labour MP Jill Pettis to thank. Jill spoke to my class at Waverley Primary about life as an MP. We met again when Jill selected me to be the 2004 Youth MP for Whanganui.
Ms Lewis believes that she can win the electorate for Labour in September. "I have strong connections in Whanganui and South Taranaki, but name recognition alone
won't win this seat back. We must lift Labour's party vote here too.
She has campaigned for Labour in general and local-body elections, door knocked and delivered leaflets. She was Young Labour's rep for the region, and was secretary of Labour's rural sector. She's participated in Labour Electorate Committee meetings, organised successful fundraisers, started a Young Labour branch in Whanganui, and helped create the Whanganui District Council's Youth Committee.
"I will be a young, passionate voice for the people here. My work has given me crucial skills and experience in resolving disputes between the public and large organisations. Most importantly, I have what the government lacks. I have a dream.
"It's my dream Whanganui and South Taranaki will again be the vibrant regions I remember from my childhood, that closed shops will reopen, that people here will have jobs; every child will receive a free, quality education; I dream our people can afford to visit the doctor, or the dentist; and that they have warm affordable homes.
"For me it has always been about wanting to help people, and it started years ago with wanting to help my parents. Whanganui is my home. This is a Labour seat. Chester is the first National MP to hold it for more than a term. Whanganui was Labour for 64 out of the last 82 years. It will be Labour again."