Temporary shelter for Napier homeless?

Napier's Clive Square, a popular haunt for street dwellers with an outreach centre nearby. Now a move is on to find a suitable shelter before winter . Photo / Doug Laing.

Hopes of a temporary shelter for the homeless have taken a step forward with the announcement of the first fundraising effort as Napier seeks answers to the problem.

It follows the community-driven establishment of Napier Temporary Shelter Inc with input from Mayor Kirsten Wise and representatives of housing and social services provider Whatever It Takes Trust (WIT), Napier Pilot City Trust, the Trinity Methodist Church on the fringes of Clive Square, Te Kupenga Hauora Ahuriri, and Napier area iwi representatives Te Taiwhenua o Te Whanganui ā Orotū.

New WIT chief executive, former Hastings detective Sam Aberahama, who retired from policing last year as Inspector and commander of the Tairāwhiti Area in Gisborne, said the preferred option to an issue that “is not going away” was to find a rental space, such as a 3-4 bedroom house, close to the CBD.

WIT was now seeking a house and funding to operate the facility, intended to be staffed and used to house the most vulnerable homeless while they access vital services.

A collaborative approach has been taken because individually the groups might not have had the capacity.

“This is about community,” Aberahama said, emphasising the need for the wider community to work together for solutions.

He said funding has also become available for a feasibility study in the hope of finding “a long-term solution to this long-term problem”, and consultants will be contracted to undertake the research.

The first big effort is the May 22 MTG Century Theatre screening of the film Ruby and Rata, with producer Dame Gaylene Preston present and an especially-tailored video of Napier’s own people and circumstances, with a target of 300 in the audience.

The group was formed in February, sparked particularly by two deaths in the street-dweller community in Napier last year, including that of Boy Taylor, alleged to have been murdered in Emerson St in December.

There has since been at least one other death in the community.

While public concerns had focused on vagrancy issues seen as increasing in such areas as Clive Square, where the trust operates one of its three Lighthouse outreach and drop-in centres, Aberahama said such areas had had similar problems for many years.

He said without a cohesive community approach they were issues that “aren’t going away”.

But there are changes in numbers and demographics of the homeless, with agencies reporting greater proportions of younger males than in the past, and people in employment without a home.

The Lighthouse on Clive Square on Monday had about 60 apparently homeless people looking for breakfast.

Aberahama said the group is still seeking a suitable property to rent.

“If anyone has such a place we certainly want to hear about it.”

While by no means a recent release, the movie is close to the heart of the issues.

The producer grew up in Napier, and at the 1990 New Zealand Film Awards, Ruby and Rata was acclaimed for best editing, best soundtrack, best film score and actor Lee Metekingi’s best performance in a male role.

Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke’s Bay Today, and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke’s Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues, and personalities.