Kayla Tua and Terrence Taiapo said they were treated unfairly by being evicted from emergency housing. Photo / Michael Cunningham
A family of six is staying in a Kaikohe motel after being evicted by the Salvation Army from an emergency housing unit in Whangārei.
Kayla Tua and her partner Terrence Taiapo, who have four of their children living with them, received their marching orders last week after they had a verbal stoush with staff at the Salvation Army's Aubrey St centre.
The notice terminating the contract with the Salvation Army states the couple behaved ''in an intimidating manner''.
The family had less than 24 hours notice to vacate the unit at the Casa Blanca Motel in Kauika St. Later that day Work and Income booked them into the motel in Kaikohe, where the family has whanau and had lived with Tua's mother until recently.
Tua said she and Taiapo ''owned'' their outburst when staff refused to let the couple and two of their children into the building for a meeting with a budget advisor. However, they are upset the Salvation Army instantly terminated their contract without giving them a chance to discuss the events.
Whangarei community ministries team leader Marlene Bowers said she was aware of the incident but referred the Advocate to territorial headquarters in Wellington for comment.
''Staff safety is of utmost importance to the Salvation Army,'' a spokeswoman replied.
''In this case in Whangārei, the client breached the code of conduct included in their accommodation contract. This led to the contract being terminated.''
She said clients are referred to the Salvation Army by Work and Income, with a contract signed between the Army and the client for accommodation of up to 12 weeks.
''Along with this, the Salvation Army offers a suite of wraparound support including counselling and budgeting advice where appropriate, to help people get back on their feet.''
The Salvation Army did not want to comment about allegations by Tua that the man refusing them entry physically handled her.
Tua said the family stood in the rain while the man, with other staff or volunteers standing behind him, told them the budget advisor wasn't there. Tua alleges that when she said she was coming in out of the rain to phone the budget advisor, the man grabbed her arm.
At that point she asked him not to touch her and one of the children responded with a threatening comments. Taiapo agreed there was an angry verbal exchange at that point.
Tua said she was insistent on going in because she was worried about missing the appointment when the family was trying to comply with their contract requirements.
''My clear issue is, he touched me, his hand was wrapped around my arm. I said to him I don't like it, my partner doesn't like it, my children don't like it.''
The budget advisor came from a room inside the building and confirmed they had a meeting, which Tua attended while Taiapo left.
''I spent an hour with the budgeter and one and a half hours after that they've terminated our [accommodation] contract, without discussion, no-one speaking to us at all. By then it's after 3pm and we've got to be out by 10am the next morning,'' Tua said.
''We own that as a whanau we have many issues affecting us, and that we have nothing. You've got to be grateful, and we really are because we need a roof over our heads, but losing it like that and being sent back to Kaikohe, not knowing where we'll be when the week is up... It's emotionally exhausting.''
The family was in the sixth week of a 12-week accommodation contract the Salvation Army had arranged, paid for by a Ministry of Social Development (MSD) emergency housing grant (EHSNG). The grants help individuals and families with the cost of staying in short-term accommodation if they are unable to access Housing Urban Development (HUD) transitional housing.
At the end of the March 2019 quarter, 70 cases in Northland received $152,096 worth of emergency grants for short term accommodation, including motels and hostels. Those are separate to medium-term transitional housing placements, of which there were 156 available homes or other accommodation in Northland, operated by several contracted providers, at the end of the March 2019 quarter.