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3 Jul 2023 Downtown Community Ministry Ngā Kōrero - Latest Stories from DCM Wellington Mayor Tory Whanau joins DCM's Outreach team, checking in with people who are rough sleeping in the city communities where whānau are housed, connected, valued and thriving About Us Contact Reaching out with the Mayor GUEST WRITER: LEE-ANNE DUNCAN DCM’s Toro Atu (Outreach) Team were delighted when Wellington Mayor, Tory Whanau, accompanied them as they checked on people sleeping rough on the city’s streets. She declared herself “an advocate” to see their heart, passion – and impact. “Kia ora, gidday, would you like to say hello to the Mayor?” says Rowan McCardle, introducing a man sitting in Te Aro Park to the Wellington Mayor, Tory Whanau. The man – who Rowan knows well from his visits to DCM – is keen to chat, almost flirtatious, from his spot in the bright afternoon sun. After a quick chat, Tory, Rowan, and her co-worker Clifton Raukawa, head down to Courtenay Place responding to a notification just through from the Wellington City Council. A woman has been rough sleeping outside a business on Courtenay Place, and while it’s sunny, it’s June, so it’s chilly. “She has only a thin blanket, and the person who notified the council about her is concerned,” says Clifton to Mayor Tory, reading off the email on his mobile phone. “We know this woman. She’s been away but must be back in town, so we will need to see how we can support her.” The WCC email notification is great timing as this is exactly what Rowan and Clifton, workers from DCM’s Toru Atu, or Outreach Team, want to show the mayor – how DCM responds when a member of the public calls the council to report concerns about someone sleeping rough. It’s a service the council helps fund. It’s also not great timing – the woman’s blankets are spread out in the lee of a post box, but she is nowhere to be seen. “It’s okay, I’ll circle back in a few hours. She won’t have gone far,” says Clifton. He’s troubled though. As the woman has been out of town for some time, she’s no longer eligible for emergency housing here and must start the process again. Clifton’s already thinking about how he can support her, ensuring she’s connected in with DCM’s Aro Mai Housing First team. Tory and Mere – Photo by Damon Keen. Rowan, Clifton and the Mayor (and, yes, a couple of photographers and journalists) continue down Courtenay Place. Within a few steps, Rowan spots another familiar face. “Nanny! I haven’t seen you in ages! Kia ora!” It’s Mere, whose face is also familiar to Wellingtonians who spend time at this end of town. However, for some weeks her usual spot outside the St. James Theatre has been vacant as she’s been settled into a rest home. Rowan introduces the Mayor, and Tory and Mere sit down on a bench to discover their whanaunga – who they know in common. It doesn’t take long to find connections, to the evident delight of both. “DCM worked with Mere for a long time to get her into the rest home,” says Clifton. “We had to build a lot of trust with her, but she agreed to go and it’s clearly agreeing with her. She’s looking really good.” Nonetheless, here she is back on Courtenay Place? “Yeah, but that’s her social connection. Coming here to chat to people, to connect with her friends, that’s what she knows. But now we know she’s well housed and cared for, so that’s okay,” says Clifton. Some of the people street begging are housed, but having a house costs money. Benefit payments don’t go far, and often street beggars aren’t physically or mentally able to work. Being on the street supplements their income, but, also, like Mere, gives them the chance to meet up with their mates. Clifton has his own experience of homelessness. Living and working in Auckland, he was visiting Wellington when the COVID-19 lockdowns began. Suddenly, he was homeless and jobless. Luckily, he found a flyer for DCM, which found him housing, then offered him a job as a peer support worker, as DCM values lived experience. Clifton is now studying to bring theory into his practice. Like Rowan, he loves his Outreach work, as tricky as it is at first to bowl up to people who – quite honestly – might tell you to bugger off in no uncertain terms… Clifton - Photo by Juan Zarama Perini. A little further down Courtenay Place, the trio have a quick chat with Mark. With everyone they meet it’s a quick, “Kia ora, how are you, how’s it going?” Much of their work is making repeated connections, building trust, finding the right supports at the right time, even after someone is housed, like Mark. He was rough sleeping but now is permanently housed and being supported by DCM’s Noho Pai (Sustaining Tenancies) Team, as keeping house is tough when you’ve not had to do housework, be a good neighbour, or pay bills for quite some time. The Outreach Team were lucky with the weather the day they took Mayor Tory for an up-close look at their mahi. On the streets of the capital city, the days are not always so clement. Wellingtonians are generally compassionate people, they want to help, and the way many action that support is by handing over food, money, blankets, clothes. “But that’s short-term assistance, which actually makes their situation more long-term,” says DCM Director, Stephen Turnock. “It teaches people they can get money and food by street begging or rough sleeping. At DCM, we are about providing long-term change. So we say, if you want to buy kai or provide support to people on the street, then look at donating to DCM. You’re still helping by ensuring people who are trained to engage will work with that person long term to get more sustained outcomes than just that brief moment where you give someone some lunch.” DCM’s Outreach Team approach street beggars and rough sleepers with nothing more than a warm smile – and often, like Clifton, their own lived experience of homelessness. Every week day they’re out on Wellington’s streets, in all weather, stopping and chatting to people they already know by name, and, importantly, scanning for people they don’t know. If so, they will approach them, encourage them to come to DCM to access the many support services available at Lukes Lane, and get connected with social agencies, all in the one place. Social Issues reporter Hanna McCallum (left) wrote this great article about Outreach in The Post – Photo by Damon Keen. The other thing Wellingtonians can do, especially as winter grips tighter, is call the Wellington City Council on 04 499 4444 if they spot someone sleeping rough on the street, in the bush or in a car. After that call, a ‘ticket’ is created and emailed to the Outreach Team. The team receive at least two a day, but sometimes 10, usually numbering between 90 and 120 notifications a quarter. Sometimes notifications are for the same person, showing people are really concerned. After receiving the notification, the team races off to try to connect with the person, wherever they are across the Wellington region, whether out on the streets or tucked in the bush. “The team’s tagline is ‘Whatever it takes’,” Stephen says. “If they’re told to go away, they’ll respectfully keep checking back in, and usually the person will come into DCM. When they do, that’s a great win for the team. “For people experiencing homelessness, the value our team brings is showing them that someone in the community cares. For the wider city, our team is about recognising that the people we see rough sleeping are people. Yes, they might have some issues, and they come with a history, but they’re so much more than that. Our team brings that insight and knowledge to the wider public.” Walking out with the team has also brought insight to Tory Whanau. The Outreach Team has been walking the streets since 2016, with Wellington City Council providing funding for the team since 2019. Mayor Tory is more than reassured it’s money well spent, and she – like DCM – is perplexed no other council in Aotearoa New Zealand does anything similar. Her walk-out with the team has spurred her to urge other Mayors to follow suit. “Until you come out here and see what the team does, you don’t really see the value. I can see that clearly. Until all the systems are fixed – mental health, welfare, housing, which are all long-term issues – homelessness won’t go away. As a society, we need to have more compassion and see the human side of homelessness. If more of us know the people sleeping rough on our streets, we would be more compassionate and understanding. This city is also where they live.” Tory and Rowan – Photo by Damon Keen. Stephen is equally warm about the council’s support. “Everyone there is truly invested in the social wellbeing of our people. There’s a continued and genuine passion that’s shared about these vulnerable communities. That, I would say, is the primary reason the Outreach mahi exists and is so well supported here in Wellington.” The final stop on Mayor Tory’s tour is for Rowan to check in on a young woman in her early 20s, ‘living’ behind a piece of cardboard down an alleyway an arm’s length from Wellington’s home of high culture, the Michael Fowler Centre. Her behaviour – caused by a history of trauma, mental illness and drug addiction – has seen her evicted from emergency housing, which means she’s no longer eligible for it. So, if she’s not on the psychiatric ward, she must live on the street or with her abusive boyfriend. Usually, she prefers the street. Rowan walks up to the cardboard, calling the young woman’s name. After a few words, Rowan’s back. She wasn’t up for talking today, but Rowan knows they’ll likely see her tomorrow at DCM, at Te Hāpai, where people can come for a cuppa, a chat, and have any health, addiction, housing, benefit and money issues dealt with, and maybe collect some kai from the Foodbank. “She’s engaged with us and we have a rapport with her. If we don’t see her, someone from our team will look for her. We’ve got her working with Aro Mai Housing First, so hopefully we can find her a permanent home soon.” And from there, the Sustaining Tenancies team will step in, guiding this traumatised young woman to keep her home. Photo by Juan Zarama Perini. Back at DCM in Lukes Lane, Mayor Tory Whanau is vocal in her admiration of what she’s witnessed. And she’s hopeful more Wellingtonians will call the council if they see someone street begging or sleeping rough this winter, rather than handing over food, money, blankets, clothes. “It’s been great to be here and see the notification process in action, and then to see the heart Rowan and Clifton have when they approach people in response. That’s how they deserve to be treated. I was already a big supporter of DCM but being out here today has taken it to the next level. “Seeing what’s happening here, and meeting the people, hearing the stories, it brings it home to me even more. If more Wellingtonians could experience what the Outreach Team sees each day, they would have a greater understanding of homelessness, and how we must protect our most vulnerable.” Lee-Anne Duncan is a freelance writer and editor who has written many stories for DCM, such as ‘We count, we matter – and we vote’, the 2020 General Election at DCM, and ‘Right at Home’, the story of Arthur. Thank you Lee-Anne for hitting the streets with Tory and the DCM team. It’s getting cold out there As we have shown in this story, help is just a phone call away. If you spot someone sleeping rough on the street, in the bush or in a car, call Wellington City Council on 04 499 4444 and they will notify us. You can also help by telling all your friends and whānau about DCM and our important work in Wellington with those who need us most. Please forward this email on. Because together – with your help – we truly can end homelessness in our city. Support DCM Copyright © 2023 DCM. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: DCM PO Box 6133 Marion Sq Wellington, Wellington 6011 New Zealand Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
Accepted from DCM alerts archive
9 months ago
by feedreader
Tagged as: covid-19 theatre wellington-city-council
30 Apr 2019 Downtown Community Ministry 96
April update from DCM - together we can end homelessness
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Celebrating our neighbours
Last month, New Zealanders were encouraged to connect with their neighbours during Neighbours Week. In the wake of events in Christchurch, many people reflected afresh on what it means to be a good neighbour, and expressed a commitment to showing kindness or manaakitanga to their neighbours. Here at DCM we have a number of neighbours who have become part of team DCM.
From his physio practice next door to DCM, Jeff from Tiaki Wellington enjoyed listening to DCM staff and taumai singing our daily waiata outside in our courtyard. One day he came to visit us and to learn more about our work with people who are experiencing homelessness. Jeff could immediately see how he could lift up our taumai, especially those who are rough sleeping on hard ground, carrying heavy loads on their backs and dealing with multiple health challenges. And so he began offering physio sessions here at DCM.
Jeff is able to help with a range of different issues, from neck or back pain, foot or knee issues, sore hips or shoulders, and other physical ailments. He joins DCM's growing pool of amazing health volunteers such as dentists, ear and eye doctors.
Another of our neighbours is Neville. When Neville moved in to the apartment block next door, he came over to introduce himself to us. He offered to help us in any way he could. It turns out Neville is quite the handyman, and he has been a big help to us at DCM. If we need something fixed, installed or replaced, we just give Neville a call and he comes straight over.
In our 50th birthday year, we are acknowledging the many Wellingtonians who are part of the "together" in our byline - "together we can end homelessness" - and this month we lift up our neighbours for their commitment to our mahi.
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Sharing our stories
We love sharing stories about our work and the difference it makes in the lives of people experiencing homelessness. Whether it is through stories on our website, welcoming visitors here at DCM and speaking to them face-to-face, or through printed stories – it is such a pleasure to give you, our supporters, an insight in to the success that you make possible. Because together we CAN end homelessness!
This month we have taken delivery of a new printed brochure, made possible by the generosity of several committed supporters of our work. We would love to share this brochure with you, and to have you share it with your networks. We encourage you to come down to DCM to pick up some copies, and to support us in getting the message out to the people of Wellington – that we can all play our part in ending homelessness in our very special corner of Aotearoa New Zealand.
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We need your books
DCM would appreciate your quality secondhand books for our annual Bookfair on Saturday 17 August. From May, you can take them directly to our sorting facility on Shelly Bay Road on Thursdays or Saturdays from 9:30am - 1:00pm. Large quantities welcome, and if you have any spare banana boxes or if you can collect some from your local supermarket for us, these would be especially welcome as we have a shortfall!
The door to the sorting unit is directly off Shelly Bay Road, across the street from Chocolate Fish Cafe.
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What can I do?
Become a regular donor to DCM - visit our website and Support DCM
Deliver your books to Shelly Bay
Next month we will be contacting people about volunteering for the DCM Bookfair. If you like to join our team of Bookfair volunteers, please email events@dcm.org.nz
Have you encouraged your dentist to volunteer at our dental service and do you know any dental assistants who would like to join team DCM?
Our Foodbank is currently short of tinned meals, soup and canned fish - bring these items into DCM any week day or to our donation bin at New World Chaffers
Do you know others who would love to learn more about DCM and our work with people who are experiencing homelessness? Encourage them to join our mailing list for monthly updates during our 50th birthday year.
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Read More Success Stories
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Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi
With your basket and my basket, the people will thrive
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Copyright © 2019 DCM. All rights reserved.
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Accepted from DCM alerts archive
47 months ago
by feedreader
Tagged as: print issues cafes media singing events dental rowing books wellington art pies people
27 Jul 2018 Downtown Community Ministry 96
DCM Bookfair 2018 - One Week to Go!
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Saturday 4 August, Shed 6, Queen's Wharf, 8am-6pm.
DCM Bookfair 2018 - One Week to Go!
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DCM's annual, fundraising Bookfair is ONE week away!
Saturday 4 August, Shed 6, Queen's Wharf, 8am-6pm.
Wellington's annual DCM Bookfair has been raising funds for vulnerable Wellingtonians for 23 years - but unless a new storage venue is found, this year's event will be the last. Our thanks to Lee-Anne Duncan for this story, published in today's Your Weekend.
There's never a shortage of donations but the storage unit DCM has relied on will not be available next year, leaving the future of the book fair in doubt.
Every year, book lovers flock to the DCM Bookfair on Wellington's waterfront to grab an armful of bargains in support of vulnerably housed citizens. But unless a new storage venue is found, this year's event will be the last. Lee-Anne Duncan reports.
It's catnip to bibliophiles, that smell. It's the bouquet of books, heavy with dust and knowledge, to be stacked and sorted, packed then transported to Wellington's Shed 6 for next Saturday's DCM Bookfair.
This year is the 23rd time hundreds of volunteers have poured thousands of hours into collecting, sorting, boxing and setting out nearly 100,000 books for the country's biggest book fair. The event is also DCM's biggest single fundraiser. Formerly known as the Downtown Community Ministry, DCM works "at the serious end" of homelessness. Along with supporting people to find sustainable accommodation, DCM provides a variety of services to support vulnerable Wellingtonians.
The organisation calls the people they work with "taumai", meaning "to settle", preferring it to the less personal "client". While DCM receives funds from local and central government to carry out some of its work, donations and fundraising events like this one are its lifeblood. If this book fair is as successful as those past, a near quarter century of book fairs will have collectively raised at least $2 million to fund DCM's work.
"That's $2 million we haven't had to ask of central or local government agencies," says Stephanie McIntyre, DCM's director for the past 14 years.
"The only reason we have been able to raise that money is through the generosity of Wellingtonians who donate their books, the people who buy them, and of course the volunteers who give their time to make it all happen."
A fundraiser's success often comes down to those volunteers, especially for an event as large and complex as DCM's annual book fair. But this year's event might be its last, as the planned development of Shelly Bay means the Wellington City Council-owned warehouse used to store and sort donated books won't be available next year.
"All this is absolutely at risk," says McIntyre.
"We have had zero response trying to find another warehouse. We'd love to have another book fair as it's become such a classic Wellington thing and it's essential fundraising for us. Next year is our 50th birthday and it would be a great shame not to have a book fair in such an important year."
DCM director Stephanie McIntyre.
Many – if not most – of the fair's volunteers give their time year after year. A core group of about 30 helpers travel to the warehouse on Thursdays or Saturdays, or both, for generally five or six hours a day every week between April and August. There, wrapped up against the winter chill, they receive donations, sort the books into categories, then into subcategories, and sometimes even into micro-categories.
"I've found quite a few books on grief. I'm hoping I can get enough together to make a section of its own," says long-time volunteer Wendy Nelson.
"And I've got all these diet books. This year we seem to have a lot of paleo books."
Spirited exchanges have been known to happen over categories. All Blacks Don't Cry by John Kirwan, for example: "Is that sport or mental health? I even found copy in Psychology earlier," says Nelson.
If there's more than one copy – and often there is – the books can be allotted wherever book seekers may think to find it. A marine biologist, Nelson works full time as a principal scientist at Niwa but spends her Saturdays sorting. She's been involved in the book fair every year since the first, in 1996.
"The then director, Helen Walch, said she'd had this great idea to hold a second-hand book fair as a fundraiser that would engage the volunteers and community.
"I thought it sounded like a good idea – I like books, so why not get involved? DCM does such important work, and is such an important part of Wellington. Sometimes it's hard to know how to contribute, but this is a way for us to do our own small bit."
Volunteer Wendy Nelson, a marine biologist and book lover.
Each year DCM supports about 1000 people who are experiencing homelessness or in danger of becoming homeless. But the work DCM does goes far beyond putting a roof over their heads.
Every DCM day begins with a karakia and waiata. DCM kaimahi (staff) and their taumai gather to give thanks for the new day at 9am when the organisation's doors open in Te Aro's Lukes Lane. Social workers are on hand to talk to taumai to get to the heart of why they're experiencing homelessness. They support the person to access a benefit and manage their money, find and sustain housing, and connect to whānau and culture, health and other services.
Statistics New Zealand defines homelessness as: "Living situations where people with no other options to acquire safe and secure housing are without shelter, in temporary accommodation, sharing accommodation with a household, or living in uninhabitable housing."
Research by Otago School of Medicine in 2016 put the number of New Zealanders living this way at more than 40,000 people, nearly 1 per cent of our total population – the highest rate of homelessness in the OECD.
It's difficult to accurately quantify homelessness. During this year's census, DCM staff worked with Statistics NZ staff to encourage and support people who were homeless to complete the census forms.
"We explained that government funding decisions are made on census data, so filling out the census made sure they were counted," says McIntyre.
DCM's own data vividly describes the increase in demand. Over the past five years, the number of people who are homeless that come to DCM for support has increased by more than a third.
"Even more worrying, the number of people we see who are actually without shelter – so rough sleeping, or sleeping in cars – has more than doubled."
McIntyre expects the number of people DCM supports to increase this year.
"When you get a severe housing crisis, as we have now, it's the most vulnerable who are kicked to the end of the line. As housing gets harder for everyone it gets especially hard for these people, which makes our work even more necessary."
In May, the Government announced $100 million to address homelessness – $37 million of that was allocated to find places by the end of this winter, with the rest spent over four years on the Housing First programme. While DCM will be at the forefront of delivering Housing First in Wellington, the organisation will continue to rely on volunteers and donations to pay for its core services.
We visit four Saturdays from sale day. There's a stiff nor'wester whipping the waves a few metres from the warehouse. Out in the harbour, a rare southern right whale is leading the news. Te Amo Roberts, another volunteer and someone DCM has supported, reports he saw the whale on his way in. He stirs himself a coffee between breaking down cardboard boxes and helping with some of the "grunt work".
Volunteer Te Amo Roberts received assistance from DCM in the past. Today, he's an important part of the book fair team.
"There are some biscuits on the sideboard, Te Amo – Cameo Cremes," says McIntyre, who's holding a brief meeting with a small group of volunteers, a long, tightly written to-do list on her crossed knee.
Cut sandwiches and fruit are boxed on the sideboard, along with those Cameo Cremes. Everyone knows a volunteer army sorts and packs on its stomach.
Most of the fair's book-sorting volunteers stick to their areas of expertise – a retired anaesthetist is set to work deciding which medical books are still useful, and a war buff flicks through the military books. They determine which books will sell and for how much, which subjects are likely to be "in"' this year, and which – judging by the number of those donated – are on their way out.
The volunteers' knowledge also means they're well-placed to spot a valuable book. Then, with the aid of local auction house expertise and internet bookseller searches, a price is applied and the book is included in the high-value stack. "We do get some amazing finds where people might not have realised they've gifted us an extraordinary treasure, but we have no way of reuniting it with its owner," says McIntyre, who, drawing on her own pre DCM music industry career knowledge, found a rare Beatles book some fairs back.
"At the same time I'm sure we've had books we've sold for $2 that may have been worth hundreds. But you've got to be philosophical."
A hand-drawn diagram of the Shed 6 book fair layout is pinned to the wall. Each table has a number assigned to a book category: children's, history, health, fiction (so much fiction), New Zealand, art, and so on. The more work done now, the better 100 or so volunteers on set-up day know exactly where everything fits. Taking too many books to fit a category's allocated section would lead to chaos – setting out 90,000 books is a precise science.
"We've got a phenomenally good offering of children's books this year, so we've had to shuffle up some other things to accommodate that," says McIntyre, scrutinising the diagram.
"The foreign languages are fine but the music is the big headache at the moment," says one volunteer, popping in to give McIntyre a quick update on her areas.
The team is following a packing plan with scheduled revision points. According to the plan, by this day 75 per cent of books must be sorted, tallied and packed on pallets (each holding about 800 books) ready for transportation to Shed 6 at dawn the day before fair day.
With clipboard in hand, Alexi Manouilenko is responsible for the tally. DCM stepped in when he needed support a couple of years ago, which led to him volunteering on fair day in 2016.
"As well as wanting to give back to DCM, I'd been out of work for a while and people are reluctant to hire you when you don't have anything to explain your time off. I realised the best way to get back into work was to volunteer to show I could work. I already knew DCM so I volunteered for two years. That led to some paid work and now I have a full-time job with DCM."
Part of Manouilenko's job is to decide how many books in each category should go to the fair and use his maths skills to keep tabs on the packing.
"I look at the previous two years to see how many books were taken in each category and how many were sold. From that I try to guess at what we should take this year, and I tell the volunteers how many boxes in each category to pack."
This level of organisation is why DCM must close the book on donations four weeks out from the fair. Even on the last day, every few minutes book-toting donors poke their heads around the peeling-painted door.
"I just want to drop some books," says a man, setting down his burden.
"Thank you, mate," says McIntyre. "Come to the fair and buy a whole lot more, won't you?"
Surely he will – book lovers only clear their shelves to fill them with new finds.
While the DCM Bookfair is certainly about finding new homes for old books, it's also about raising funds to support marginalised Wellingtonians into homes of their own.
Nelson remembers when the team was ecstatic to raise $15,000 – now the book fair raises around $100,000, which goes directly into funding DCM's work with people experiencing homelessness. It's that work, as well as their shared love of books, that motivates the volunteers.
Volunteer Tamara Morton with stacks of books ready for the fair.
Tamara Morton is a consulate advisor at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, but spends her Saturday mornings in the warehouse's fiction section, estimating the book-buying public's appetite for Philippa Gregory and Dan Brown.
"When I was living overseas, circumstances happened that I found myself looking for a place to live. It was short-lived and I've never been truly homeless, but I can't forget the anguish that came with thinking, 'What am I going to do? I've got nowhere to go.' To be able to help an organisation with the resources to address that is why I do this for DCM.
"There's also the huge bonus of making connections with people you wouldn't meet in a lifetime of routine days. The people who work here come from all sorts of backgrounds and different stages of life. It's really cute to see the cheeky banter that goes on between a Millennial and a Baby Boomer. It's really delightful to be a part of that."
Nelson is busy assessing travel guides (nothing published before 2010 goes on sale).
"What I love about the book fair is that everyone's winning," she says.
"The people off-loading their books feel they're going to a good place, the people who rock up to the book fair get fantastic bargains, and the people who volunteer get satisfaction from contributing to something. And it's about making connections into the community."
Our thanks to Lee-Anne Duncan for this story, published in today's Your Weekend.
Feel free get in touch with us at DCM over the coming week if you have any questions about the Bookfair on (04) 384 7699 or events@dcm.org.nz
Click Here to Donate Now!
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