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CJ Dafoe - ASB Good as Gold recipient

This week's ASB Good as Gold recipient is a Tauranga woman who's incredibly passionate about the welfare and mental health of new mums juggling the responsibilities of parenthood.For the past two-and-a-half years, Caroline J. 'CJ' Dafoe has been running Mums4Mums, a charity which matches volunteer mums with those in need of a little extra help and reassurance.There are 160 volunteers utilising their maternal experiences to help hundreds of mums in the Bay of Plenty.Mum Paige Saxby nominated...

It takes a village: support network helps new mums

Local charity Mums4Mums is working to ensure new mums don’t have to navigate these challenges alone.A maternal mental health initiative, Mums4Mums provides practical, emotional, and social support for new mums in their homes through a network of volunteers across the Western Bay of Plenty – from Katikati to Pongakawa.Support, while freely available to all, is prioritised for mums of multiples, babies living with disabilities or significant health challenges, and mums at risk of negative ment...

CJ Dafoe - a Woman with Drive and Passion

So, to her role as founder and managing trustee of Mums4Mums, CJ has brought a wealth of experience. All of it is well-suited to match her strong motivation to be a force for good in the community. As an aside, CJ has dual nationality, New Zealand and Canadian, both countries with a strong reputation for breeding individuals with drive and versatility.She started Mums4Mums after responding to a phone call from Tauranga Hospital seeking help for a new mum with premature twin boys. The social work...

Mums4Mums celebrates two years of helping new mums

Saturday, September 3 2022, is the second anniversary of Mums4Mums, an organisation that pairs experienced mums with new mums for a few hours a week to help them find their way.Mums4Mums helps address the overwhelming stress and isolation that new mothers can experience.CJ Dafoe, founder and managing director of Mums4Mums, said it was "mind-blowing" how quickly two years had gone.In those two years, she said the Tauranga-based charity had helped more than 44 families. It had amassed 3000 volunte...

Helping Mums Who Need it Most

Mums4Mums started as a grassroots organisation in November 2020 after its founder and managing director Caroline J. Dafoe – known as ‘CJ’ – saw the need for it in Tauranga.After being approached by a social worker to support a migrant family with twin newborns, and dad at work, what CJ thought was going to be a “one off thing” turned into a “thing thing”.“What we’re doing is peer-to-peer practical support – it’s emotional, social support in the home and it’s making the ...