Twenty years of transforming lives

Maree Kenyon reckons she was born to be a social worker.

Whether it was her turbulent upbringing in the 1980s or her gift of uplifting other people -  it is a career path that has now seen her support hundreds of local families over the past 20 years.

Maree is currently a social worker at Barnardos and is one of many across the country who are being recognised today for Aotearoa New Zealand Social Workers’ Day.

“I don’t think I decided to be a social worker,” Maree says. “I think I was born with this innate feeling that everybody needs to have someone just to give them some compassion, whether you know them or not.”

Maree dropped out of school and left her family home in Marlborough at the tender age of 14.

“My childhood had a lot of family violence. My dad was quite a violent man and alcohol was involved.

“We witnessed, and were impacted by dad not being able to overcome that battle.”

She describes her late mother as her and her three siblings’ “saving grace”.

“She was the kindest, most caring mum you could have ever asked for. She was a very compassionate woman, even though her own life was pretty hard. We didn’t have much money, but mum always made things work.”

However, Maree’s home environment became too much for her to handle, and school life wasn’t much better, so she got herself a job at the Marlborough Shoe Factory and moved into a flat.

“I absolutely loved it. I just loved working, loved being around people. I paid $50 a week for my rent, it was cheap as chips back then.”

Maree fell pregnant when she was 18 and decided to keep her baby girl and raise her as a solo mother.

“She changed my whole philosophy on life. She gave me purpose.”

Down the track, Maree also took in her younger sister’s three children.

“Unfortunately, she battled with severe mental health issues and took her own life in 2013.”

It was when Maree was doing some voluntary work for the Family Service Centre in Motueka that she was encouraged to get her social worker qualifications.

So, in 2004 she began her training at NMIT at the age of 32 and “never looked back”.

“The biggest battle was in my head. I’d been fed so much stuff about how I’d never achieve anything.

“Words like ‘useless’ and that sort of thing. Some days I still battle those, but not as much.”

Before starting at Barnardos just under a year ago, Maree worked at Big Brothers Big Sisters for 10 years. Before that, she was at Family Start for around 10 years.

Maree says her journey has helped her lead a career full of compassion and understanding.

“The things I’ve been through and the journey I’ve been on helps me to have compassion and some insight into what people come into this building for, or why people put their hand out - or sometimes why people can’t put their hand out.

“Some people just need someone to smile at them some days. We don’t know what their story is. We don’t know what’s going on in their head. We don’t know what goes on in their homes.

“I just feel really humbled that I’m in a position where someone else would want to come and share their story with me.”

Maree says she has seen a shift in who is asking for support.

“People who have never had to ask before… there has been a significant change in the demographics - and that’s okay, you know.”

Maree says Social Workers’ Day is a way to celebrate all social workers in Aotearoa.

“Imagine a world where there are no social workers? Where would people turn to who don’t have someone else in their corner? I think we’re really important, and what we do is really valuable.”