![\"\"](\"https:\/\/socialink.org.nz\/legacy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Kat-Clothes-on-Wheels-300x225.jpg\")
Kat Reihana\u2019s efforts to help others in the Tauranga community have saved her mental health – and she says could help many more.Kat runs Kat\u2019z Clothes on Wheels, a free clothing service for the homeless and those in need that she runs out of a van and a couple of storage sheds, all of it out of her own pocket. She says it’s volunteering that helps her get out of bed each day and overcome her own problems.
It\u2019s Mental Health Awareness Week from September 18 to 24, and SociaLink\u2019s Volunteering Services is promoting volunteering as a way to boost mental health. Kat is a prime example of how volunteering for others can boost mental health.
She suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from childhood abuse, and struggles with worsening health issues, including arthritis that frequently restricts movement. She says it\u2019s in her nature to care for people – but that has got her in trouble and in jail in the past for helping the wrong people.
\u201cBeing in jail made me reflect about what I was putting my loved ones through, and I\u2019m an action person so I wanted to do something so I don\u2019t get into trouble. Actions mean so much more than words.\u201d
When she came out of jail she was severely depressed, until a neighbour took her to Turning Point Trust, which provides opportunities for people with mental illness or addiction. There she saw unwanted clothing being sent to the dump.
\u201cIt\u2019s heartbreaking when people need it, and within two weeks I\u2019d talked them into dropping unwanted clothing off to me instead. She began to drop clothes off where they were needed most – first at Kai Aroha, and then began working from her own shed, with all costs for power and rent coming out of her own pocket.
\u201cI go to Turning Point each week to collect, then sort the clothes, make sure they\u2019re clean, not ripped or missing buttons. I put some on auction to pay for diesel and registration for the van and I now have two storage sheds to pay for.\u201d
She would dearly love to have a decent warehouse complete with shelving and hangers, somewhere she could easily sort and clean the clothing.
\u201cPeople deserve love and care, and some of these people don\u2019t deserve to be where they are. Some lost jobs through Covid, some for not getting the jabs. I\u2019ll help anyone, and it warms my heart to do this.\u201d
She\u2019s down at Under The Stars community meals for the homeless on Thursdays and Saturdays, and another charity on Fridays handing out clothing, and on other days she\u2019s collecting and dropping off clothes.
She says it\u2019s the volunteering that keeps her depression at bay.
\u201cI really look forward to those days.\u201d
Volunteering Services Manager Angela Wallace says volunteering is a great way to get active, make lifelong friendships and give back to the community.
\u201cIt\u2019s a proven way to help address anxiety, loneliness and depression. We\u2019re piloting a Social Prescription volunteering programme where health professionals can refer people to volunteering \u2013 we\u2019ll help them find a role that suits their needs and support them to volunteer
their way to wellbeing.\u201d
Find out more about volunteering at www.volunteeringservices.org.nz<\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"