Hope for a future.

Those were the words Executive Director, Kerry Petrie used to describe A Girl Called Hope. After spending some time chatting to Kerry, the future and quite appropriately, HOPE is at the centre of the organisation.

Now in their tenth year of providing support, care and life skills to young New Zealand women, the charity has seen many of these women flourish and go on to lead inspiring lives. While there is a team of 18 staff who dedicate their time to working with a range of issues including abuse, self-harm, eating disorders and unplanned pregnancies, Kerry recognises that it is the young women themselves who do the hard work, “they are the ones that apply the tools to bring change”.

As a non-profit organisation, fundraising is an inevitable task for the team to ensure they can continue to remain active in the community. For this years’ annual fundraiser, A Girl Called Hope are holding an Auction Dinner held at the Hilton Hotel in Auckland and as Kerry aptly puts it, “it is coming up real soon!”. The evening promises to be fun and interactive with some impressive items up for auction including a day on a luxury catamaran yacht, a degustation dinner in your own home and accommodation at the Hilton Hotel. The generosity of those involved with the event never ceases to amaze Kerry,

“people have been incredibly generous and helpful towards the cause. It blows you away that people who have never met the young women we work with, have such hope for them. There are plenty of people out there who’ve put their hands up to help, it’s incredible and very humbling.”

The journey to a brighter a future is not an easy path, the first step for these women is to want to make a change. The realisation that change is necessary is a courageous step and one Kerry admires, “it takes a lot of courage to come to us. It is so encouraging to hear back from the women many years later and listen to what they are doing now. We had a graduate of the programme contact us recently whose life was so different, she is now a youth worker, married and has started her own family, and that is not an isolated case.” The auction dinner is an opportunity to showcase these stories of success, a way to connect with A Girl Called Hope supporters and to introduce what they do, to people that don’t know a lot about them.

In the start-up years back in 2007, Kerry mentioned that a lot of their time was spent on learning and establishing systems and strategies as a non-profit organisation. Now, ten years’ later, A Girl Called Hope is a fully established charity where the foundations have been laid. The focus remains on the residential programme while also looking at being more involved in the community, “to do some life and personal development courses with youth groups, schools and other community groups”.

The Auction Dinner is a chance to play your part in A Girl Called Hope’smission and Velocity Recruitment is looking forward to attending on the 22nd of September, where we’ll be able to learn more in helping them reach their community driven goals and extend gratitude towards the work that they do. As Kerry explains this night is about, “connecting with people, sharing our vision and inspiring others.” After getting to know Kerry and the team at A Girl Called Hope, Velocity can see the big changes they are making, but also the extent to which the organisation wants to push forward and continue to see hope for women in the future. As Kerry concludes, “there is no point in having a great charity if there is no change happening”.