Hundreds of Wgtn homeless caught between housing crisis and support crackdown – lawyer

The housing crisis has created a domino effect that is particularly hard on the most vulnerable, and they are now finding it harder to access support services, a campaigner says. (File photo)
Photo: RNZ / Luke McPake

There has been a 40 per cent increase in homelessness in Wellington, according to a charity working with rough sleepers.

The inner-city community ministry said 464 homeless or rough sleepers came to them for help in September.

This number had increased considerably since last September, when 330 asked for help.

Last month, its staff had also seen three people turned away for emergency housing since the government introduced tougher eligibility and removal rules in August.

Stephen Turnock, the Wellington Center Community Ministry Director, said checkpoint the problem had continued to grow.

“It’s certainly stretching our organization in terms of capacity, but it’s also increasingly difficult to find sustainable solutions,” Turnock said.

Manahautū of Wellington Downtown Ministry – Director, Stephen Turnock
Photo: Provided/Center Community Mission – John Tavoi

The staff was exhausted, but they did everything they could to try and get support and access to resources and housing for the people who come to their door asking for help.

“They’re often in crisis, often in the midst of some kind of mental health or addiction problem, and our staff are at their best to support them.”

New Zealand had been in the midst of a housing crisis for decades, he said.

“We’ve been struggling to find places. I think the whole sector has for many years, and the people we support are the people who are least likely to have access to a safe and warm home.”

He said rising living costs and challenges around housing affordability were also contributing to the rise in homelessness and the situation appeared to be getting worse.

“We’re seeing an increase in terms of barriers (to) the people we support, in terms of accessing the right level of supports and resources, such as health, such as employment, such as access to finance” , he said.

“Things have gotten tough and a lot of people across New Zealand are experiencing this and the group of people we support are probably experiencing it the most.”

The latest statistics released showed there were around 102,000 homeless people in New Zealand.

“This can be in temporary accommodations such as transitional housing, emergency housing, sleeping on a friend’s couch,” she said.

“But then we have about 30,000 more people sleeping rough, these are the people sleeping in doorways, under bridges.

“They live in unsafe and very precarious situations – unhealthy and lead to poor outcomes that are quite significant for all of us.”

The charity had found that emergency housing was now more difficult for people to access, he said.

“I guess our view is that by applying tougher criteria and applying tougher rules – there’s a perception that people are in this situation as a result of poor choices and their own decisions – what we don’t see is that systemic errors are being taken into account.

“So when we look at these policies, they also need to take into account the complex challenges that these people face,” he said.

This also meant ensuring access to mental health services, addiction services and support networks.

“They all need to be considered, not just access to an inadequate shelter like a motel.”

He said alternative pathways and solutions should be created to provide long-term, safe and affordable housing for all, especially those most at risk and homeless.

“While we still experience unaffordable housing, a housing crisis – I actually agree with the government that emergency housing is not something we should need or rely on – but remove this safety net while we don’t have enough places to house people with the right support networks, I think we’re setting ourselves up to create more of a problem than a solution.”

Currently, there are services across the country to help the issue in the short term, he said.

“As a country we have adopted what they call a housing first approach, where the principles are that everyone deserves to have access to housing without preconditions, and then intensive support services are provided.

“Ourselves, we have housed over 270 homeless people.

“There are solutions. But what we need is government support and housing development and increased access to housing.”