Tania Lewis-Rickard, who directs food charity Kai Aroha, says she is seeing a lot more homeless women turning up every Friday night at her two locations to get fed. Photo/File
Two organisations feeding the homeless on the front line in Tauranga say there needs to be a women's shelter in the city, but other advocates working with those on the street disagree.
Tania Lewis-Rickard, who directs food charity Kai Aroha, said she was seeing a lot more homeless women turning up every Friday night at her two locations.
"Maybe not as much as men, but a lot more than last year, hand on heart, that's for sure."
Some were living in tents, she said.
"There does need to be a women's shelter. The women's refuge - a lot of women don't fit in that category because they're not coming from a domestic violence background.
They're just solo mums struggling, or just single women.
"I don't know why there isn't something. Why not?"
Liz Kite, who runs Under the Stars, which provides meals and more for the homeless three times a week, also said Tauranga needed a women's shelter as homeless women were being overlooked.
She said while there were more homeless men in the city, there were also vulnerable women on the street and "sometimes they have got nowhere to go, so we definitely need a women's shelter".
A spokeswoman for Tauranga Women's Refuge (TWR) said it supported the calls for the city needing a women's shelter.
"TWR supports that homelessness levels have increased and that women continue to be vulnerable in our city," she said.
"It is good to see the work of Te Tuinga and Salvation Army in supporting that space with Tauranga Men's Shelter."
But Tommy Wilson, from Te Tuinga Whanau Support Services Trust, disagreed and said a women's shelter was not a priority right now.
"We get this all the time. [There are] very, very few actual women that are either not being catered for by the Women's Refuge, or we take women on their own in our situation ...
"In my opinion, no. We cater for women as it is now. No, it's not a priority."
Annamarie Angus, the manager of the Tauranga Moana Night Shelter for men, said they only know of one, maybe two long-term homeless single women.
"Obviously we're talking rough sleepers - those are the people that are more likely to come in connection with [us]. The people that other people are aware of, like families, women and children and so on, would be more the hidden homeless that I don't get to know about.
"And that's people living in cars or inappropriate housing or in places that aren't safe for them."
She said she did not know if a women's shelter was going be the right option for women and children.
Ms Angus said when the Tauranga Moana Night Shelter Trust looked at homelessness in the city - "and at that time it was mainly men" - it did a feasibility study to look at exactly what the need was and what support it would need to put around that if it was going to open a shelter.
"That would have to be done to look at the need for who's out there - is it single women? Is it women and children? And what is the appropriate type of emergency housing that they should have?
"I think it's very complex to have a shelter for women and children and possibly for that demographic, [it's] not the best way to go. That would be what I would say."
Meagan Holmes, manager of community development at the Tauranga City Council, said the concept of a women's shelter had a lot of merit, but that shelters were designed for short-term emergency use.
"Instead, the focus has been directed to a much wider, longer-term solution to homelessness in Tauranga.
"A more substantial homelessness project is being worked on with a range of community providers which is anticipated to have both an immediate and lasting effect. We hope to provide further information about this project in the coming weeks."
What Tauranga candidates say about homelessness:
Stuart Pedersen, Act Party
Homelessness is a desperate situation, all the more tragic when there are children involved. This is a complex issue with no quick fix, but ACT applauds the efforts of Te Tuinga Whanau and Tauranga Moana Nightshelter, and the Accessible Properties initiative. Houses now cost too much to rent them out affordably. We need to fix the housing shortage, by cutting local and central government red tape, freeing up landowners to build up and out. Only this will close the gap.
Vanessa Lee, The Opportunities Party
Our current tax regime allows the needs of property investors to realise their profit take priority over the needs of tenants whose focus is on obtaining, safe, secure and affordable housing. TOP will turn this around by plugging the asset tax loophole, eradicate the poverty trap with our youth and young families Unconditional Basic Incomes (UBI), expand the supply of social and affordable rental housing, and change the regulations around residential tenancy law to finally give real rights to renters.
Jan Tinetti, Labour
Homelessness continues to be a critical issue in Tauranga. Families continue to lose their housing due to increasing rents and rental stock sell-off. Over the past year we have seen an increasing supply of emergency housing in Tauranga, and, while that gets people off the streets, it is a short-gap measure. People are still living without long-term security. Labour will take serious action to end homelessness in line with the recommendations of the Cross-Party Homelessness inquiry.
Emma-Leigh Hodge, Green Party
The Bay's homeless are affected by all the same governmental failures as those 40,000 others (OECD 2015 figures) throughout our country. Housing (not stable, not enough, not affordable), the continual gutting of our social service sector, a punitive welfare system failing our communities, and still treating drugs as a criminal issue, not a health issue where we could offer support. None of it is good enough, and none of it is evidence-based. Greens in government will turn it around.
Simon Bridges, National
Homelessness is a priority issue. The Government is investing more than ever to get people into warm, dry houses. We support people with accommodation supplements. And, under our social housing programme, we will be looking to purchase an additional 150 social housing places by 2019-20, in addition to the 1500 existing social housing places in Tauranga. This will be a significant step forward for the most vulnerable in our community.
Rusty Kane, Independent
Homelessness is a multifaceted economic, social problem on the rise. That can't be solved by a few well-meaning Samaritan groups. We need a nationwide community wraparound solution to assist homeless individuals, families, and rough sleepers. A mufti-funded agency specificity set up in each city and town for individuals and families who are homeless or are at risk of homelessness. Many agencies pulling together, using their combined resources, to identify, help, connect, prepare and house our homeless, until eradicated.
Clayton Mitchell, New Zealand First
Homelessness is one of the largest issues we face in Tauranga, and it's about housing affordability. New Zealand First will introduce a housing commission which will focus on acquiring land and building affordable homes. We will ensure our state housing stock is sufficient to keep up with demand and we won't allow them to be sold off. This housing crisis has been accentuated by hyper-immigration which has put a huge demand on a limited supply of houses.