Homeless for the holidays - how Tauranga services fared over the Christmas break

Tauranga Moana Men's Night Shelter manager Annamarie Angus. Photo/John Borren

Homelessness services in Tauranga have reported a busy but uneventful holiday break.

The exception was last week's storm, which left some homeless people with damaged tents and sodden belongings and prompted service groups to put calls out to the public for donations of mattresses, blankets and shelter.

Tauranga Moana Men's Night Shelter manager Annamarie Angus said the 20-bed shelter was at capacity up until December 28.

After that they had two men return to their families and another two found boarding arrangements - "great" outcomes that left four of the Elizabeth St facility's beds available, she said.

Soon after, two men known to have been living rough on the streets of Tauranga for a long time arrived at the shelter and, for the first time, settled in, she said.

"It's really something to celebrate when that happens. We roll out the red carpet."

Angus said the shelter had been receiving two or three referrals or walk-ins a day, about half as many as they were seeing in the colder months. Many were people who had recently found themselves without a home, she said.

"We do have to turn people away. The long-term homeless in the CBD always take priority."

Tracey Carlton, one of a team of volunteers who began organising Milo nights two nights a week on Mondays and Fridays for the city's homeless and hungry last year, said demand had remained steady over the holiday.

Carlton said Milo nights were held once a week on Fridays over the break, with this week being their first Monday night back.

She said they had not seen an increase in numbers, but they had seen some new faces, including boys as young as 14 sleeping rough.

Christmas was also quiet for the more than 30 families, including 76 children, housed in Te Tuinga Whanau Support Service's emergency whare across Tauranga.

Executive director Tommy Wilson said they "did not have a single incident throughout the Christmas break".

That was notable because the festive season could be stressful for people on low incomes, and in the past it had been a catalyst for family strife, he said.

Meanwhile, both police and the council say although homeless people may be more visible during periods of warm weather - when they might sleep more in the open - they have not seen a notable lift in numbers sleeping rough.

Acting area commander Inspector Karl Wright St Clair said police dealings with Tauranga's homeless over the holiday break were on par with the rest of the year.

It was normal for police to get more calls about homeless people in warm weather because they were more visible, he said.

Tauranga City Council bylaws officer Paul Mason said he did not think there had been much of a change in the population of chronic homeless over the summer.

Some people had moved around to different areas, he said, but he had not seen many new faces.

A council spokeswoman said they had received one complaint about begging in the past four weeks.