“She was a beacon of hope, very driven, driven by her unwavering dedication to create positive change.”
Sullivan believed Kake was driven by her own experience of living on the streets at a young age.
“Carrie’s own life journey, marked by resilience and perseverance, was a powerful catalyst for her mission … which began taking shape from the age of when she was around 11 … probably even before that,” Sullivan said. “She endured a lot.”
Once Kake had children and a home, she “never stopped” helping others.
Sullivan said she made meals for people on the streets from her own cupboard.
“It was like her house was a never-ending well of food.”
Kake was not a woman you could say no to.
“She’s come out with me and she would have just come out of hospital most times,” Sullivan said, “I didn’t even fight it, you know, ‘Okay, come on then, put a warm jacket on, put some gumboots on’.”
Sullivan said even in her final moments, Kake’s wairua [spirit] remained unbroken.
“She was still motivating and pushing me.
“Sometimes it was like ‘Oh Carrie, just have a rest’, but there was no rest for her.”
Carrie Kake giving a helping hand at a 90th birthday. Photo / Petrina Sullivan
“There’s a whakataukī [proverb] and it goes something like, He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata, he tangata, he tangata … it’s like if you were to ask me what is the greatest thing in the world … I will reply it is the people, it is the people, it is the people. And she demonstrated that really well … she put volume to that.”
Former Whangārei District councillor and social worker Carol Peters described Kake as a good person.
She had been unwell almost the whole time Peters knew her, but Kake still fought for what she believed in.
That fight helped kickstart Open Arms in Whangārei, a long-held dream of Kake’s.
At the venue’s opening in 2018, Kake said it would be a place where people could come and “feel love”.
“Big things will happen here. Healing will be done in this place,” she’d said.
Peters spent family Christmases with Kake, and the pair worked to get people food, showers and into work.
“She just kept going … didn’t take no for an answer … she believed in people,” Peters said.
Carrie Kake and Carol Peters pictured together in 2018 at the opening of Open Arms, a day shelter which had been a long-held dream of Kake’s. Photo / NZME
In a speech prepared for Kake’s tangi, Peters thanked her family for sharing her with the people of Whangārei for “so many years”.
She felt Kake’s legacy would be carried on by those she inspired, including Sullivan and former rough sleeper Jason Poutai.
Poutai worked with Kake after he went public about his road to homelessness in 2023.
Together, they started a petition to rally support for a permanent night shelter in Whangārei.
At the time, Kake had said homelessness was growing, with youngsters living under bridges.
“I need to make this one work, for the people,” she’d said.
Jason Poutai and Carrie Kake in 2023, collecting signatures for a petition to get a permanent night shelter in Whangarei. Photo / NZME
In April 2024, Whangārei District Council said a proposal to open a night shelter at the former Old Boys’ Rugby and Sports Club on Port Rd was off the cards.
Poutai continued rallying for a night shelter. He said Kake had a “big impact” on his life, saying she was “brilliant”.
He was struck by how generous Kake was with her time.
“She helped me in so many ways,” he said.
Before he was on the streets, Open Arms had made an impact on the homeless community.
About 40 people were without a home when it first opened, and Poutai said all now had a roof over their heads.
Toward the end of last year, he found a home too.
That meant he could continue to work on fulfilling Kake’s final wish to open a night shelter in Whangārei.
Brodie Stone covers crime and emergency for the Northern Advocate. She has spent most of her life in Whangārei and is passionate about delving into issues that matter to Northlanders and beyond.