Woven Earth

How do you begin to piece together a new life for yourself and your children when you have fled your home to escape family violence and have no possession, no resources to begin again? We advocate for people to speak out and say no to family violence, Absolutely. But then what?

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Why This Matters

Woven Earth works to fill just one of the many gaps that opens up after families make the decision to leave a violent relationship.

One of the barriers preventing people from leaving violent relationships is the fear of losing their homes and possessions and uprooting their children’s lives.

When a family has fled violence and finds themselves with little to no possessions to start again, Woven Earth lovingly fills their empty house with everything a family needs to restart their lives, violence free.

Woven Earth fills an empty house with everything a family needs to start their lives again - violence free. A bed to sleep safely in and a table to share meals with the kids are one thing, but more than that, we provide the chance to begin again with dignity.

We individualise our service to make every home filled to the families needs and tastes. If there is a mum who loves green we find her the green bedspread and the furnishing that will match her style. If there is a little boy who loves Spiderman and has lost his bike we will call out to the community to help us find these items to replace what has been lost or is precious to that child.

We work with the New Zealand Police Family Harm Teams, Victim Support, Shine, Family Action, Vision West, and Refuges across Auckland to help family violence survivors rebuild their lives, by furnishing their homes with love and dignity.

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How We Create Change

Woven Earth is the weaving of people, kindness and support that together make it possible to stand up and be part of the world again.

Woven Earth is a charity - we are a caring community of individuals and businesses passionate about doing something positive in response to family violence. We utilise social media, personal networks and monetary donations to gather good-quality furniture, beds, bedding, homewares and whiteware, before transporting them to families in need each week. On average, we fill 3 homes a week, yet sadly there is demand to do many more. As of 30 June 2021 we have furnished 169 Homes.
 
Our small but mighty team of volunteers work with our range of Agency partners to carefully choose items specific for each family. For example, if a child’s favourite colour is pink, we will do our utmost to fulfill that wish in toys, bedding, or whatever way we can. On moving-in day, our volunteers set up the entire house, making beds, stocking pantries and cupboards – banishing soulless accommodation to create warm, loving HOMES. 
 
All our families have to do is open the front door and feel safe. When our homes ‘come together’ we are always thrilled and awed by the magic of our community’s collective goodness, to create safe and beautiful spaces for families to live violence-free.

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Every child is special

A core part of our goal at Woven Earth is to support children, who often have to leave so much behind when one parent flees family violence. We make a point of finding out their special interests and what favourite possessions they may have had to part with. It becomes our mission to source items including toys, clothes and vouchers for activities to ease the turmoil often experienced by children caught up in this journey.

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Our story

Behind Woven Earth is a story of true resilience. Founder Kerryn Thrupp is a family violence survivor who has walked the path that many of those who she now helps are also taking. After bravely rebuilding her life with her two children, Kerryn genuinely understands first-hand the struggles those fleeing family violence face.
 
Inspired by the help she received and the impact of practical support, Kerryn pieced together the foundations for her charity Woven Earth. Kerryn has a Master’s in Communications and enjoyed a successful corporate career in both New Zealand and Australia – yet this did not stop family violence from happening to her. Having started her life over again she is determined to share her story and experiences in order to help others.