Chronic homelessness up 50 percent across New Plymouth

RNZ News

3 days ago

Rough sleepers have set up camp in downtown New Plymouth.
Photo:
RNZ / Robin Martin
People working with the homeless in Taranaki say there are more people who need help, and their needs are becoming more complex.
This comes as new government figures show the number of unhoused people nationwide
is increasing.
The temperature is in single digits when the team from the
new YMCA men's night shelter
sets out to deliver a cargo of donated Pātea Hangi Shop kai to the homeless in New Plymouth.
But a warm welcome awaits when they pull up on Devon Street in the central city.
A man, who gave his name as Drake, was one of about half a dozen people sheltering under shop awnings.
He'd given up looking for a home.
"I choose not to get a house now. This system made me this way so now I'm comfortable with it. I can't sleep on mattresses and that, you know what I mean."
Even the cold didn't bother him.
"It's easy ... nah it's not but because I've been doing it for a while homelessness is easy.
"The only thing anyone ever wants is a bath and I do that everyday anyway. Sink, water, you know what I mean."
Shelter manager Adam Douglass and YMCA social services manager Kylie Ewing in the under construction men's night shelter and at its entrance. Homeless will be picked up and delivered to the shelter which will be dry.
Photo:
RNZ / Robin Martin
Drake's looking forward to be able to use the night shelter's laundry.
"For me personally, because I like being clean that's highly important, so that's great. A welcome addition to the homeless circle.
"Before I'd wash my clothes myself and hang it on the main street before the council came around and is hassling us, you know.
"Now they can get washed and dried without having to wait days for them to dry."
Drake's bunkered the hangi for breakfast because he'd eaten at Waimanako / the Hope Centre earlier.
Paul had a history of homeless and stopped by to hang with his mates.
Photo:
RNZ / Robin Martin
Paul's paying a social visit.
"I've just come down to see the fellas and catch up and have a laugh, and be smart to some people, and have a joke, and a laugh, yeah."
The 55-year-old's got a unit now, but had history of living rough.
"Across the road from council, they had the buildings that they pulled down there and we just broke into there, me and another guy.
"We had this whole building to ourselves. They ended up pulling it down, but we were sweet. We had toilets, water, you know, we were pretty much set up."
In between drop offs, night shelter manager Adam Douglass explained the city's housing need was complicated.
"We've got concrete sleepers, for example, we've got people sleeping in cars, people couch surfing, people sleeping in people's garages. It's a really complex situation."
Those living on Devon Street have had a lot of attention but the night RNZ visited, the YMCA team also checked in with people all over town.
People sheltering in pop-up tents on a church stoop, a man living in a car parked behind a popular takeaway, a group now barred from the CBD who were hold up at the Moturoa shops, and even one young man at campground.
New Plymouth YMCA men's night shelter manager Adam Douglass with hangi.
Photo:
RNZ / Robin Martin
Social services manager at the Y, Kylie Ewing, said there were about 1000 people in housing need in the city alone.
"So, within that 1000 you can generally expect about about 5 percent of those to be chronically long-term rough sleepers, so those are the ones we see on our streets."
Census figures - which the Homelessness Insights Report is based on - show district wide in New Plymouth there were about 78 rough sleepers in 2023 - up more than 50 percent on five years ago - about 50 of those people scratched together a life in the city itself.
In Taranaki, there were about a further 40 chronically homeless people in the Stratford District (9) and the South Taranaki District (29).
Ewing said this group faced entrenched, complex challenges - including long-term mental health issues, substance dependency, and the absence of stable support networks.
She said these were not short-term crises but enduring struggles, and the food run was about building relationships ahead of offering consistent, compassionate, and culturally grounded care.
Paul was onboard with that.
"They said somebody's bringing a hangi down, so I thought I might stick around, eh."
Social worker Mel Mitchell prepares to deliver hangi.
Photo:
RNZ / Robin Martin
Ewing said the shelter - which would have about 20 bed and 30 storage lockers - would be a dry facility.
The homeless would be picked up and brought directly to the purpose-built Whare o Tapatahi.
"It's a trauma-informed, culturally responsive practice model-rooted in te ao Māori values that prioritises safety, trust, empowerment, and collaboration.
"Staff are trained to uphold manaakitanga and whakawhanaungatanga, ensuring that every interaction respects the dignity and autonomy of some of our most vulnerable tāne."
Ewing said by focusing on the chronically homelessness, Whare o Tapatahi would not just be offering shelter - it would offering a pathway to healing and stability.
She hoped in the near future to be able to offer a similar service to women.
The New Plymouth District Council and Toi Foundation had committed $1.2 million to the set up and operation of the YMCA men's night shelter.
After some fit-out hick-ups it planed to open in September.