Giving up a comfortable job, home, even your car for the sake of others is something most people would not be able to fathom.
But one Kiwi woman in Australia has done just that, in order to help address unemployment in a poor Western Sydney area.
Vicki Crawford was stricken by the plight of young people in Mt Druitt, particularly young Maori and Pacific Islanders.
The precinct has a 9.2 per cent unemployment rate, compared to the national average of 5.6 per cent.
So late last year Ms Crawford gave up her full-time job and started work on a not-for-profit outfit called Next Step Communities.
"A lot of our kids aren't connected with our culture," she says of those living in the area.
"So I wanted to create an environment that was based on Maori concepts - so manaaki, awhi, aroha - where they could come and it felt like a marae."
While the project was originally aimed at youth, it has now morphed into one which helps the wider community through offering cheaper food options and job training.
One of those to go through the scheme, Jonathan Kilroy, says it has made him a better person.
"When I first arrived here I was really, really quiet. I really didn't want to do anything," he says.
“I know I'm a lot happier, as broke as I am
Now he has been trained in administration work, and is seeking a job in that area.
But for Ms Crawford the success has come at a cost.
Because she doesn't earn an income, she has had to move herself and her tow teenage children out of their home. She has also lost her car.
"It's taken a huge toll on me personally," she says.
"Every day I feel guilty because I sacrificed a lot of what I had provided for my family to help so many others in the community."
But she says her children are proud and support her.
"Our financial hardship that we're in at the moment is time limited. Those that we're wanting to help in the community, for some of them it's been a lifetime."
Ms Crawford is hoping to re-focus on youth, particularly Maori and Pacific youth, as the programme develops.
She says despite what she's lost, she would not change anything.
"I know I'm a lot happier, as broke as I am," she told 1 NEWS, laughing.
"I haven't laughed in my entire life as much as I have this year.
"I probably haven't cried as much either, but I honestly don't regret it."
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