More rough sleepers on Auckland streets: 'NZ doesn't have to be this way'
Photo:
RNZ / Amy Williams
Makeshift shelters of cardboard and blankets - some propped up with road cones - are dotted along the street near Auckland City Mission, which is struggling to support an increase in rough sleepers.
City Missioner Helen Robinson said its outreach team is in regular contact with 129 people living on the street, a big jump on the 40 almost a year ago.
"The mission quite appropriately, here on Hobson Street, acts as quite a beacon. All throughout the city here in Auckland and up and down the country the prevalence of street homelessness is growing."
Helen Robinson
Photo:
RNZ / Marika Khabazi
The numbers spurred Auckland Council to
ask the government for help
after outreach teams recorded a 53 percent increase in homelessness between September and January - an updated tally is expected this month.
Shop owners near the mission said they worry for their safety, and their business.
Across the road from Auckland City Mission's Homeground on Hobson Street, a kebab shop does thriving business in felafel, fried chicken and scoops of chips.
Berein Patel has worked there for six years and now owns the eatery. He has noticed an increase in people sleeping rough.
"It's quite terrible, the numbers are increasing day by day so it's not good for the country," he said.
"At the moment, in front of our shop there's a couple of guys always sitting [there], bothering our customers coming in."
Kebab shop owner Berein Patel
Photo:
RNZ / Amy Williams
Patel said the shop loses about $50 a day in theft.
"When we try to stop them they run after us, which is not good. Sometimes we feel we're not safe. The worst part is they pee and poo on the street which is really bad for others. Normally we call the cops."
A few doors down, Quest Apartment Hotels night manager James Salva said the increase in rough sleepers was affecting business.
"We usually get bad reviews from our guests, especially foreign ones from out of Auckland," he said.
The hotel has more than 300 customer reviews on TripAdvisor, with an average three-and-a-half stars.
"They usually say that the hotel is nice, very convenient because it's in the city centre but after that the negative reviews we've got are many people loitering outside, sheltering at night, especially women are afraid at night to go out."
There is no night shelter in Auckland and social services report emergency housing is
hard to get
.
Last year, the Ministry of Social Development introduced stricter entry criteria for emergency housing, and new requirements that make it more difficult to stay.
The City Mission is a magnet for those with nowhere to go, offering one free meal a day to those in need and outreach teams that link people to support services.
Robinson said they were working with more first-timers on the street.
She understood shop owners' dilemma but said moving people on was not the answer - she wanted access to emergency housing restored.
"Our job is not to move people on, if we are we're moving them onto a house and a home and support services that are really appropriate. I think the madness about moving people on is where are we moving people on to?"
Homeless shelters outside the City Mission on Hobson Street in Auckland.
Photo:
RNZ / Amy Williams
Robinson said there was a lack of public amenities in the city, something the council was trying to address.
"In the bigger picture you move someone on who has no home, no place to stay, no place to sleep and no place to go to the bathroom... what do they do?
"People are moved on to another place but then it's actually just the same story again. We will have rough sleepers who talk about being moved on multiple times in any one day or week, which is totally understandable and madness."
Rough sleepers often stayed awake at night to keep safe and warm - during the day, the mission's busy lobby has half a dozen people sleeping on the floor or bench seats.
"The mission stands to be a refuge for people and we will always be a refuge. Very honestly though, my heart breaks every day when I go down and see people sleeping in our laneway. New Zealand doesn't have to be this way."
At the end of this month, Auckland Council's community committee is due to table a report with updated numbers on the city's rough sleepers.
It also has a team that works with the city's homeless, doing morning rounds to wake and move people from doorways.
Council head of community impact Dickie Humphries said they also relied on the public to alert them to any concerns about a rough sleeper, including the vulnerable person's safety.
"We have seen a steady flow of traffic to our community safety and support page online and through our contact centre, where people can find information on how to report a safety issue, or contact the various support agencies that help those experiencing homelessness," he said.
"The council continues to receive reports of homelessness at council-run spaces, like libraries. However, as awareness grows, we are aware that more people are contacting social service providers and community organisations involved in these responses directly."
Shop owners, including Berein Patel, would like to see more support for the city's homeless.
"There's not a proper solution for this, the council people are getting rid of them but usually they're back here in an hour," he said.
"I think the government should work on the problem and provide them shelter and food."
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