Honouring our caregivers who step up

Catherine and Miles Dalton have an incredible amount of aroha to care for children during their most vulnerable times.

After a lengthy struggle to have children and difficulties during pregnancy, the Christchurch couple were able to have two sons through IVF.

Following the birth of Liam and Finn, now 17 and 15, the couple were told they couldn’t have any more children. But they both felt deeply that they had more love to give.

That feeling led to something more permanent, and Miles and Catherine were chosen by a young girl’s birth parents to take life-long care of her. Matilda is now 13 and makes up the third sibling of the Dalton family, growing up alongside Liam and Finn in Canterbury.

Catherine and Miles’ ability to care didn’t stop at their family of 5. Catherine is quite practical about it, saying that if she has the means to help others who need it, she can’t see a reason not to.

“We’re privileged enough that we are able to help in that position, so that's what we did, and we opened our home for transitional, respite, emergency and emergency care.”

Catherine and Miles are two of more than 2000 caregivers across Aotearoa, including respite, emergency, transitional and family home caregivers.

As well as providing a forever-home for Matilda, the couple have provided a number of other rangatahi and tamariki long- and short-term care for the past seven years.

The first child Catherine and Miles welcomed into their home for respite care stayed with them for 18 months. This was a deeply emotional experience that took strength and compassion from the couple.

“After the first one we didn’t know if we were going to be able to do it again. Having a child in your care for that long, that you’ve loved like your own that you let go, it is heartbreaking, the grief is huge.”

Their strong family unit became the foundation that helped them overcome that grief.

“A family support has to be strong here to be able to provide that level of care that those children need.”

Caregivers can access free counselling and support for life events through the Oranga Tamariki Caregiver Assistance Programme.

Oranga Tamariki also offers the opportunity for training, like the foundational Prepare to Care programme during their approval process, and the opportunity to get trauma-informed learning through providers.

Catherine says she’s part of a strong network of caregivers in Canterbury and is proud of the work they do.

She hopes that not only has she helped children in care, but that it has shown her own family what it means to be grateful.

“It’s important that my children appreciate what they’ve had. They see value in what we do, and my message for them is to make sure you look at who’s next to you and check that they have enough.”

Find out how to become a caregiver with Oranga Tamariki, including what’s involved, financial assistance and learning opportunities for caregiving whānau.