Hombre Tahuriorangi says he is known around town as the 'Poncho Man'.
But those with a memory that stretches back longer than 18 months may remember him for living on the streets.
The quietly spoken 69-year-old secured a two-bedroom unit in Western Heights after Love Soup intervened and helped him get accommodation last year.
Yesterday the Rotorua Daily Post caught up with Mr Tahuriorangi who said he never imagined after working all his life it would come to this.
He moved back to the city he grew up in from Auckland - after working in security - and found he could not get a job or a house.