Rawinia Kahotea and Julie King from Love Soup in Rotorua. Photo: RNZ/Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Two Rotorua motels will stop being contracted emergency housing from the end of the month, leaving only four remaining as the government winds down their use.
One hundred and eighty-nine affordable homes are planned in Rotorua over the next couple of years, but while one initiative is being wound down, and the other wound up, there was concern about who was falling through the cracks.
Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust chairperson and a trustee of the Waiariki Woman's Refuge in Rotorua Jonathan Hagger said Rotorua was built on manaakitanga (hospitality).
"Caring for each other, having a heart for each other and wanting each other to succeed and to be well off in life," was core to the community, he said.
However, homelessness in Rotorua had been a problem from as early as 2017 and some of it has recently become more visible in the city.
"What we have at the moment is there has been an escalation of the number of people who have no shelter whatsoever and who are now presenting on the street," Hagger said.
He didn't think there were easy answers to the problem.
All groups RNZ spoke to point to mental health, addiction, childhood trauma, illiteracy, abuse, and lack of basic life skills as interconnected issues.
Hagger said emergency and transitional housing offered a place to help people with all their needs.
"We were able to move a number of people and whānau into motels. So they were able to have a safe space, and social service providers could keep an eye on them."
They would then be able to support people going through a mental health or addiction crisis quickly.
A stepping stone
Co-founder of Visions of a Helping Hand (Vision) Lynley Deanes agreed that the motels provided a good stepping stone.
She said many homeless people in Rotorua had spent a lifetime on the streets and needed somewhere to go first, before renting.
"I still hold with 'housing ready' rather than 'housing first," she said.
This meant working with people to upskill and support them in what taking on a rental would required, ensuring they were set up for success.
She said using motels for housing was a "necessary evil", and one everyone wanted to be a short-term solution.
The concern was what would happen to people now.
"When the contracted emergency housing motels close down, what are we going to do with those people?"
She believed the loss of contracted emergency housing would leave a big gap.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said no new referrals were being made to any contracted emergency housing in the city, and about 60 households remained in those motels.
This is different from general emergency housing supplied by Ministry of Social Development which uses around 120 motels across the country, although that fluctuates from week to week.
Need for respect, humanity
Anne Warren is a volunteer for Mana Aroha, a vision service which relies on donations and offers rough sleepers in Rotorua a place to shower, wash clothes, and store their things in lockers.
She acknowledged some rough sleepers caused a problem around the city but said homeless people deserved to be treated with humanity.
"That's the biggest thing, they just want to be heard, and they want to be respected too, and not judged."
Nicola, who has been struggling with homelessness in the city for a month, said homeless people faced bias, discrimination, and judgement in New Zealand.
She said circumstances could push people into impossible situations.
"A few things have happened and then all of a sudden that's where they end up. And it's not through negligence; it's not through not being intelligent."
Love Soup is a food rescue group which supplies social services who feed the homeless and hungry.
Founder Julie King said there was often negative media about Rotorua's homeless community, however, being homeless wasn't something most people wanted.
"They just need more advocacy and support; this is where we need our groups to come together to find out how we can be stronger."
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development said everyone in Rotorua contracted emergency housing was being supported into long-term accommodation.
It confirmed to RNZ the timeline to end contracted emergency housing motels in Rotorua is:
- Alpin Motel and Pohutu Lodge Motel would cease to be used for contracted emergency housing on 30 June
- Geneva Motor Lodge would cease to be used for contract emergency housing on 31 July and no one was any longer being referred to this location
- Ascot on Fenton Motel, Lake Rotorua Hotel, and RotoVegas Motel would cease to be used for contract emergency housing on 15 December and no one was any longer being referred to these facilities.
