Latest news with #JulieKing
NZ Herald
22-07-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
Rotorua charity plans ‘Adopt A Streetie' initiative to aid homeless
Love Soup's Julie King said the Adopt A Streetie idea had been on her mind for a while and was a natural progression from the Village of Hope. She said the streeties could be put into a home once they were ready. King said they used coming together to eat and prepare food as a way of finding those who genuinely wanted to change and improve their lives. The five people being housed in the village were now helping to prepare and cook the meals for other homeless at the weekend. Love Soup Rotorua's Julie King. Photo / Supplied Love Soup provides between 25 and 30 meals every Saturday and Sunday night, as well as giving food for others to do breakfasts in the morning. 'I know people don't want us feeding them but it is our way of bonding and coming together,' King said. They had heard of similar hosting projects overseas where those given free rent repaid the favour by offering to do jobs and chores. 'If we plan it right, it can work.' King said the sleeping pods idea 'had not really panned out' on the large scale it had originally aimed for, because of compliance issues with Rotorua Lakes Council. It was set up as an emergency response in a secret location on land near Rotorua, but the council advised Love Soup would face enforcement actions if it didn't stop what it was doing and apply for consent. New sleeping pods to be used by streeties at a secret location. Photo / Supplied King said the village was replacing some of the pods with caravans and campervans, which they believed would gain council approval more easily. King said they would sell six of their eight pods – asking about $2500 each. The pods are made from hard plastic and each has ventilation, insulation and sleeps two or three people side-by-side. King said Love Soup set up the Village of Hope for those willing to abide by their rules and there were strict criteria and screening for those they allowed in. The set-up was 'working wonders' for the five people currently using it because they had somewhere warm, dry and safe to sleep. Two were sleeping in pods and the other three in a donated campervan, caravan and a car. Love Soup volunteers transported them to the two secret locations and supervised them from nearby before returning them to Rotorua in the morning. Homeless gather on Pukuatua St for free breakfast. Photo / Kelly Makiha King said the original long-term vision of having several pods on iwi land was no longer going to work. 'We still think the pods are amazing and they work really well. It's just the iwi land has fallen through.' Gaining compliance was also going to be too difficult, although King said once they had their caravans set up properly, she would invite the council to check on their operation in case it needed consent. Jean-Paul Gaston, council district development group manager, told the Rotorua Daily Post last week the council had a legal responsibility but Love Soup had not shared any information about what they planned or what they were doing and where. Gaston said the council advised that any type of accommodation required consent before starting operations and encouraged them to get this process under way. King said Love Soup, as part of wider efforts to find solutions to homelessness in Rotorua, had stopped having regular meetings with other local organisations as they had a clear database now of what everyone was doing. 'It was just starting to be chitty chat but now we are in the movement side to get things done.' Kelly Makiha is a senior journalist who has reported for the Rotorua Daily Post for more than 25 years, covering mainly police, court, human interest and social issues.
RNZ News
16-07-2025
- RNZ News
Sleeping pods for the homeless held back by council consents, Rotorua organisation says
One of the pods in The Village of Hope, Rotorua. Photo: SUPPLIED A Rotorua organisation providing sleeping pods for the city's homeless has said they are being held back by council insisting that they get consents. The Village of Hope has been set up in a secret location by the group Love Soup, which said it was an effort to give the city's homeless somewhere safe to sleep and to move them away from CBD shop fronts. Rotorua has been grappling with a large homeless population in recent years, and last month a large number of homeless people were trespassed from a makeshift camp in the city centre. It also comes as a controversial programme that uses the motels as emergency housing was being phased out. Julie King from Love Soup told Checkpoint the goal was to keep people safe and protected through a community based solution. "Particularly with the terrible weather that we've been having, we've had some streeties going to hospital with pneumonia... then they're not getting proper sleep." The pods, which were made locally, were insulated and lockable. King said the pods being placed in a secret location was due to a number of reasons, but was not being helped by council. "We had a meeting with them on Monday and they were more concerned about paying consents rather than helping the situation. "I know that they're trying to remove [the homeless] from the CBD, but you can't shuffle them from one corner to the next without solutions." She said the council chasing consents is "almost like making camping illegal", and that bigger issues affecting people on the streets needed to be addressed now. "At least they're safe and protected from drug peddlers that are ticking them up and getting them high instead of being able to eat properly." Rawinia Kahotea and Julie King from Love Soup in Rotorua. Photo: RNZ/Libby Kirkby-McLeod A Rotorua Lakes Council spokesperson told Checkpoint they had a legal responsibility for public safety and regulations relating to provision of accommodation are about protecting people, and said they cannot knowingly ignore the regulations. They said once they were aware of plans for sleeping accommodation for rough sleepers a meeting was requested with the group to understand their plans and provide advice, as they had not received a consent application or request for information about requirements the group might need to meet. "We have not been able to properly advise the group as they have not shared any information with us about what they plan to do or are doing, how or where." The council said they advised the group any type of accommodation required consent before starting operations and encouraged Love Soup to get this process underway. They said they were happy to continue working with Love Soup to guide them through the consent processes. King said there were five people sleeping in the pods, the identities of which she wanted to keep private for their protection. "They are safe where they are and they're doing extremely well." King said they were open to working the council and complying with the consent, but currently the group is more focused on helping those sleeping rough. "If they're more focused on charging us for consents when we're not charging anything for helping our people then we have a problem." King said while the pods helped get people off the streets for now there still needed to be more permanent solutions. "There needs to be some kind of solution working alongside council and other community groups to make things better... but there seems to be a division and I just feel that there needs to be more working together." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
Rotorua homeless provided with sleeping pods, council chases consent
politics local council about 1 hour ago A Rotorua organisation providing sleeping pods for the city's homeless says they're being held back by council insisting that they get consents. The Village of Hope has been set up in a secret location by the group Love Soup, which says it's an effort to give the city's homeless somewhere safe to sleep and to move them away from CBD shop fronts. Rotorua has been grappling with a large homeless population in recent years, and last month a large number of homeless people were trespassed from a makeshift camp in the CBD. It also comes as a controversial programme that uses the city's motels as emergency housing is phased out. Julie King from Love Soup spoke to Melissa Chan-Green.
NZ Herald
24-05-2025
- Business
- NZ Herald
Budget 2025: Bay of Plenty foodbanks welcome $15m boost
'This will support the work of the Food Network, regional food hubs and community food providers, as they jointly distribute more than 4.5 million meals a month.' The $15m will go towards national and regional food distribution infrastructure, food security initiatives that increase community food resilience and self-sufficiency, and help providers buy and distribute food. It follows earlier funding. Love Soup Kitchen, a not-for-profit based in Rotorua, provides free, health-focused meals for the elderly, families and children. Manager Julie King said the money could have a real impact, especially if it was distributed fairly and reached frontline organisations. 'Any funding that helps us keep up with demand is a lifeline.' King said Love Soup was remaining 'realistic' with the growing demand it is experiencing. 'We're seeing growing demand at our community pop-ups, especially from families struggling to keep up with rising grocery costs.' Each pop-up attracted 100 to 400 people. 'Demand is overwhelming, we are constantly needing more kai, more storage, more hands and transport. 'The funding will help but it won't be enough to meet the full scale of need across Aotearoa.' She said the challenges go beyond food alone and she would like to see long-term investment in food-rescue infrastructure, transport solutions and support for volunteer-driven organisations. 'While it's a positive step, it's not a full solution.' Tauranga Community Foodbank general manager Nicki Goodwin said the news was 'so unexpected'. 'It does show the good work that's been done by some national groups that connect with the central government.' She said these groups were getting the chance to share a clear picture of food insecurity. 'Voices are being heard, so that's positive.' Goodwin said she did not know what the funding would mean for her organisation or how it would be distributed. 'If we assume they are going to share some funding with us, then the security that gives us to know the support we're giving will be able to continue without draining community resources and funders is important.' The foodbank has helped 109% more people in April 2025 compared with April 2022. It had 12% more households needing kai support in April this year compared with April 2024, which is an extra 75 households. Goodwin said the extra Budget money gave hope. 'It gives us the security to know that we can continue to provide the kind of food support we're offering and not look at having to reduce what we provide or how many people we can help.' The Salvation Army acknowledged the continued foodbank funding, which prevented closures and ensures people have access to food. 'However, this alone does not address the ongoing demand for food security. 'We seek to collaborate with the Government on a strategy to ensure all New Zealanders can reliably put food on the table every day.'
