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Urgent call for help to keep Merge Cafe from closing

Donations of $100 or more will be MATCHED if received by 31 March.

Will you please donate $*|HTML:MMERGE8|* to raise $*|HTML:MMERGE10|* and help save this vital homelessness service?

DONATE NOW

Dear *|HTML:MMERGE6|*,

Due to COVID-19 Alert Level 3 in Auckland, Merge Cafe has had to remain closed. But I'm about to share with you why Merge Cafe's doors might never open again.

If you have already made a donation, thank you SO MUCH for your support! Please read on to know about our latest appeal to our supporters.

I’m used to tight budgets, but what I’m seeing now is terrifying.

Lifewise lost a major grants funder last year because of COVID-19. Since then, the number of people sleeping rough and in need of our help has sky-rocketed.

Unless I can raise $60,000 by 31 March, it looks as though I’ll have to close one of our most important services: Merge Café on K' Road.

I can’t bear to let that happen to people like Richard, who rely on the Café for some nutritious food, and to escape the danger of the streets. So I picked up the phone and explained the desperate situation to a small group of donors.

To my great relief, they agreed to my plan to match your gifts of $100 or more.

Now I really need your help, please, *|HTML:MMERGE6|*.

Send your tax-deductible $*|HTML:MMERGE8|* by 31 March and it will be DOUBLED to keep Merge Café running.

This is a lifeline for the café, and I hope it’s also an exciting opportunity for you. You get to double your gift, and play a big part in giving Merge Café a future.

"If Merge Café shut down, everyone would be back on the streets. People might go back to addiction or violence. Some might just give up." - Richard, Merge Café regular

Richard said it was really tough when he moved to Auckland 15 years ago.

“I was getting a lot of “no’s” for work and started getting quite low for money. I got quite depressed.”

Determined to make it on his own, Richard kept searching for work and took any part-time job he could to make ends meet. But when some of that work dried up, his life started to unravel. To have enough money to eat, he had to stop paying rent.

Soon, Richard began sleeping rough. He told me:
“I started camping out in the parks around the city. Albert Park or Myers Park. I felt a bit safer there than on the street. I tried to get back into private housing but was always knocked back. And even if I got on a waiting list, it could have taken years to get a home”.

Richard described that time as ‘brutal’. Until he walked into the Merge Café on K' Road, and his life began to change.

Merge Café is a safe, welcoming place for anyone facing homelessness.

It’s where Richard discovered he could get a free cup of tea, a nutritious meal and do the simple (but important) things many of us take for granted – like charge his phone.

The Café is also where people can look for a job, receive mental health support, and even get help finding a permanent home.

If it closes, where will people like Richard turn? I’ve been lying awake at night thinking about it.

Donations of $100 or more will be MATCHED if received by 31 March.

Will you please donate $*|HTML:MMERGE8|* to raise $*|HTML:MMERGE10|* and help save this vital homelessness service?

DONATE NOW

Below is the Merge Café budget, which shows the $13k loss each month. Our team at the Café has worked hard to try to raise the shortfall through extra sales, but major roadworks along the street have kept paying customers away.

Unless I can make up this funding shortfall by 31 March, I’ll be forced to cut our services.

Merge Café will have to go – which would be devastating for people like Richard.

Please donate $*|HTML:MMERGE8|* by 31 March to raise $*|HTML:MMERGE10|* and keep this life-changing service running for people who’ve fallen on hard times.

Merge Cafe has a massive funding shortfall

After years fighting to survive on the streets, Merge helped Richard get his life back on track. Through Merge, Richard discovered his passion for painting, and was connected to a choir and a theatre group.

Those things gave him purpose, companionship, and a way to improve his mental health. As Richard said to me:
“The groups brought me out of my shell. I went from being closed off and having a terrible chip on my shoulder to coming back and reconnecting with my family and being part of the community instead of feeling like a burden on society.”

Next, support from people like you changed his life forever by helping him find a permanent, secure place to live – which he’s since filled with his colourful artwork.

Artwork by Richard

Whiti te marama (The moon in full moon effect)

Richard's story proves that with support from Merge Café, people experiencing homelessness can - and do - turn their lives around.

But without this support, I worry they won't ever have that chance. They'll be trapped in despair, never knowing their lives really can feel "too good".

With the fall-out of COVID-19 and the growing pressure on housing, Aucklanders are living closer to the edge than ever before.

Even one piece of bad luck, a sick child, a missed day of work or an unpaid bill can send a person into temporary homelessness - or worse.

As Richard said to me: "I was just someone who'd fallen on hard times. I didn't want a hand out. I just wanted a place to come where I felt like a human being."

If you walk down K' Road today, you might still bump into Richard at the Merge Café. He’s not only there as a customer though. He’s now a peer supporter, and helps other people off the streets. Just like people like you helped him.

Donations of $100 or more will be MATCHED if received by 31 March.

Will you please donate $*|HTML:MMERGE8|* to raise $*|HTML:MMERGE10|* and help save this vital homelessness service?

DONATE NOW

When someone new comes through the doors, Richard has this piece of advice:
"If you're struggling, try to hold on and wade through those waters - because there are good people out there who want to help us."

Will you please donate today to help people who are just barely hanging on? Right now, you have a chance to make a huge difference to their lives and futures.

You'll make sure Merge Cafe isn't boarded up when they turn up needing a warm meal, or to talk to someone, or a computer to write a job application on.

Your gift of $*|HTML:MMERGE8|* will become $*|HTML:MMERGE10|* and you can’t put a value on the comfort and safety and hope that will bring to someone who needs Merge Cafe in the future.

Ngā mihi nui ki a koe!

Thank you for your beautiful care. I hope you'll join with us today to save Merge Cafe.

Jo Denvir
Chief Executive, Lifewise

PS. If I can’t raise $60,000 before 31 March I may have to close the Merge Café on K' Road.

Thankfully, a generous group of donors have agreed to match every donation above $100. That means your gift of $*|HTML:MMERGE8|*, $*|HTML:MMERGE9|*, or $*|HTML:MMERGE13|* will be DOUBLED to save this life-changing service.

PPS. Donate by 31 March and you can claim a third back in your tax deductions this year.

DONATE NOW