#56 - CHA Story - Alpha - How losing everything became the making of something.

In this episode, we meet Alpha, a Peer Support Worker on the Outreach Team at Visionwest in West Auckland. Alpha came to the role the way the best peer workers do — not through a qualification, but through experience. After the loss of his parents, his family lost more than the people they loved. None of them were on the tenancy. The next day, they were asked to leave. Five years of homelessness followed. When a social worker at Visionwest offered him a house through his sister, he accepted. He started as a volunteer at the Pataaka Kai food bank — shy, uncertain, four days a week. Six months later he was offered a contract. He is now a peer support worker in outreach, finding people where they are and building trust with people who have learned not to trust systems. His qualification for the role is not a degree. It is everything that happened before. We'd like to thank Alpha for taking the time to speak with us for this episode.And don't forget to subscribe to the CHA Hub Podcast — wherever you get your podcasts from.The CHA Hub Podcast is sponsored by our Founding Partner, Westpac New Zealand.