Life’s blows don’t buckle this Mum
Facing setback after setback, ‘beautiful lady’ would still give her last piece of bread to others.
Kim Steffert could be forgiven for thinking life hasn’t been fair to her. Over the years the Hawkes Bay woman has been through a divorce, battled bowel cancer, been slammed with leaky home issues and injured in a car accident. It could hardly get any worse — but then it did. About a year ago her hands were badly burned when a fire broke out on the stove in her kitchen, sending flames leaping to the ceiling. Faced with such misfortune Steffert would have every right to say — as the lyrics to the 1960s hit song Born Under a Bad Sign by American bluesman Albert King put it — ‘if it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all’. Yet Steffert is having none of this kind of thinking. Despite her setbacks she has spent every day of the last 10 years opening her heart — and home - to others in the Porangahau community where she lives (a coastal settlement east of Dannevirke). She has created an open room in her home she calls a “korero” hub where youths, the elderly or those with a simple need can come, have a chat and a cup of tea. Yet it is not just a pleasant refuge. Steffert also offers the room free for many community activities and services — computer classes, medical checks and haircuts to name a few. Now her community-minded spirit has been wher a Good as Gold recipient and giving her $10,000 to do with whatever she wishes. “Kim’s attitude to life is what really sets her apart,” says ASB lower North Island regional manager Barry Coffey. “Despite what life has thrown at her Kim has retained her positive outlook and instead focused on what she can do for others in need. “It is this kind of selflessness that her friends, and ASB, have recognised and we’re proud to name her a Good as Gold recipient,” says Coffey. Steffert (nee Ropiha) was nominated for the award by a friend Karen Williams who says Steffert is Porangahau’s go-to person for anything. “She has nothing, but would give her last piece of bread or can of baked beans to someone else,” Williams says. “She is a beautiful Christian lady with a big heart; she has started a community garden and organised many community events and gatherings. “She has a motto: ‘Love is the key, so come in and have a cup of tea’.” Steffert, who says she was inspired by her parents who did similar work, brushes off this praise: “I do it because of the Lord and my love of the community. The Lord told me he wanted to heal the land and families and bring them back home to their lands and 24 years later the vision is being fulfilled.” Steffert has established Te Ahurangi Services which she says links community services to each other and to people. “It’s over a cup of tea that you find out what the need is — if someone tells you they have cancer I’ll point them to the right community service and offer to go with them on doctors’ appointments,” she says. “The Lord gave me the blueprint for the hub which carries on even if I’m sick or not around.” There have certainly been times when she hasn’t. A mother of two adult sons she moved to Porangahau after returning to New Zealand from Australia in 1998 where she had lived for over 11 years (she was born in Hastings). In 2011 she was diagnosed with bowel cancer, a condition which although in remission she continues to fight: “It’s come back three times and I’ve been in and out of hospital over the last few years.” Then driving home one night four years ago misfortune struck again. Exhausted because of low iron levels, she fell asleep at the wheel. Her car skidded off the road, hit a tree and rolled over, with Steffert trapped inside. “I had cuts in my head and there was blood everywhere,” she says. “I don’t know how I got out — I think I climbed out the passenger side but I definitely rescued myself.” Luckily a passing car stopped at the scene. Steffert was rushed to hospital for treatment although it was some time before she was fully back on her feet: “Things haven’t been easy, but it proves my point that even if I’m not around or sick, the system I’ve set up still works.” The fire was also a narrow escape for her. It broke out after cooking oil caught fire on the stove in the kitchen. With flames licking the ceiling she yelled at her son to ring 111 while she managed to put the fire out herself using water from her kettle to douse the blaze. “It was out by the time the fire brigade arrived, but it burnt out the rangehood and left me with burns to my hands.” Steffert says she is likely to use the ASB award to pay for some of the much-needed maintenance on her house — especially as her leaky home problems have left her facing a massive repair bill.
“She has a motto: ‘Love is the key, so come in and have a cup of tea’.” - Karen Williams