Down to Earth Conversations

Jeremy is a social worker who loves young people and wants to see them thrive. We talk about his journey of faith, his work in Samoa with children who have been abused and/or abandoned, his adoption of two of these children, his work as a social worker with youth in Christchurch, and his shift from "praying-out-the-gay" to winning awards for his advocacy and support for the rainbow community.

Jeremy Faumuina is a man with a big heart for people. We talk about listening, holistic approaches to working with youth, the migration patterns of butterflies, adoption, and what it means to support those who are different to us...those who are often shoved to the margins, such as the deaf or the LGBTQI+ communities.

Check out the work Jeremy does with his wife Shelley to support SVSG at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/samoaalofatrust/

Instagram: @samoaalofatrust

Website: https://samoaalofatrust.wixsite.com/samoaalofa

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Connect with me at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/downtoearth.conversations

Instgram: @downtoearth.conversations

Website: www.downtoearthconversations.com

Email: [email protected]

Jared joins me to talk about creativity. As a photographer, Jared is a story-teller. He captures moments for people to treasure. We talk about how that connects with faith, how he got into photography, his harrowing experience being detained in US Federal Prison and deported, and how he's learned to bring beauty into the world through his art.

Jared Yeoward is a photographer living and working in Christchurch.  With a background in construction and retail before his shift to photography, and stories including deportation and U.S. federal prison, this made for a very interesting conversation.  We talk photography, beauty, joy, creativity, faith, vulnerability, and about finding the good wherever you can find it, even within chaos. 

Facebook: facebook.com/jayyeoward.com.au/

Instagram: @jaredyeoward 

Website: jaredyeoward.com/

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Connect with me at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/downtoearth.conversations

Instgram: @downtoearth.conversations

Email: [email protected]

Julia is an award winning singer-songwriter, and an incredible speaker. Funny yet authentic, she uses her skills to bring life to others. Her own journey of mental health crises has changed the course of her work, however, as she now looks to help break stigma and create resourcefulness around mental health.

Juliagrace is a keynote speaker, Tui Award-winning singer/songwriter (New Zealand Music Awards), registered teacher, writer/blogger and mental wellness advocate.  She's also a good laugh as highlighted by her recent facebook parody "Nobody knows the stubble I've seen" about the length of her leg hair, which you can see on the Down to Earth Conversations Facebook page.

We talk music, teaching, storytelling, performance highlights and disasters, and her move into a focus on mental wellness driven by personal experience.

Find Juliagrace at:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juliagracenz/ or https://www.facebook.com/mentalwellnessmattersnz/

Instagram: @juliagracenz or @mentalwellness_matters

Website: juliagrace.co.nz

Blog: juliagrace.co.nz/blog

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Connect with me at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/downtoearth.conversations 

Instgram: @downtoearth.conversations

Email: [email protected]

If you need further support around mental well-being, here are some support avenues in New Zealand:

Depression.org.nz

Youthline – 0800 376 633, free text 234 or email [email protected]

Healthline – 0800 611 116 – to get help from a registered nurse 24/7.

Lifeline – 0800 543 354

Depression and Anxiety Helpline – 0800 111 757 or free text 4202 (to talk to a trained counsellor about how you are feeling or to ask any questions)

Suicide Crisis Helpline – 0508 828 865 (0508 TAUTOKO)

Frank is a radio broadcaster, media chaplain, and Wesleyan Methodist minister. He joins me to talk about each of those aspects, with a particular focus on his time as a media chaplain, supporting media who were covering the 2019 Christchurch Mosque shootings where 51 people were killed and many more injured.

In this episode I'm joined by Frank Ritchie - broadcaster, minister, media chaplain.  Frank is involved in talk back radio, having previously been a DJ on a music station, as will as being a Wesleyan Methodist minister of a small congregation in Hamilton, and a support for media across Aotearoa.  

Our conversation journeys through all these aspects of his life, including his role in supporting the media in the wake of the March 15, 2019 mosque attacks in Christchurch.

To hear more from Frank check out his social media sites

Facebook: www.facebook.com/francisritchienz/

Instagram: @frank_ritchie

Twitter: @frankritchie

And to gain access to more content, head to:

Patreon: www.patreon.com/frankritchie 

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Facebook: www.facebook.com/downtoearth.conversations 

Instgram: @downtoearth.conversations

Email: [email protected]

Emma joins me to talk about her work with children with complex needs. Many of these children are seen as 'too disabled' or beyond help. But Emma and her colleagues love and support these children and help them live life to their fullest. She doesn't say they have disabilities, choosing instead to say they have diff-abilities, that is, they are differently abled.

It's a very positive and heart warming conversation.

This episode I talk to Emma Chilvers.  Emma works at the Champion Centre at Burwood hospital in Christchurch - a charity who work with kids with 'diffabilities', as Emma calls them.  We talk work, personal struggles, church, parenting, worship, and everything in between.

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To support the work of Emma and others at The Champions centre, head to https://www.championcentre.org.nz/   

Facebook www.facebook.com/TheChampionCentre/

If you are interested in supporting them with events email  [email protected]  

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Facebook: www.facebook.com/downtoearth.conversations 

Instgram: @downtoearth.conversations

Email: [email protected]