Bed poverty: All Heart Kaikohe seeks quality beds amid housing crisis

Shop manager Debbie Meurant and Te Ara Hou Trustee Linda Bracken say beds are the biggest seller at the All Heart Kaikohe store. Photo / Jenny Ling

Children’s charity Variety says bed poverty is a major issue in parts of Northland. Reporter Jenny Ling talks to staff at All Heart Kaikohe to find out why bed bases and mattresses are so desperately needed.

Northland’s only All Heart store is desperate for quality beds and mattresses to help families living in poverty.

All Heart Kaikohe volunteer Linda Bracken said a lack of housing in the area has led to overcrowding and inadequate, makeshift accommodation, as families flock home to Te Tai Tokerau.

She knows of people living in tents and families who put tarpaulins across a container or similar framework to provide an extra room.

“They’re living in sheds, cars, they’re hidden everywhere,” she said.

“If you drive around the area, you’ll see that.

“Whatever they can do to provide accommodation.

“You can imagine the extra stress that causes within the family.”

All Heart New Zealand is a “profit-for-purpose” organisation that recovers quality unwanted items from corporate companies and sells them on to the public, saving them from going to landfill.

It has branches around New Zealand, including in Auckland, Christchurch, Wellington, and Waitara near New Plymouth.

The Kaikohe store works in partnership with Te Ara Hou Trust, a faith-based charity that provides skills-based training, mentoring, and employment.

Debbie Meurant and Linda Bracken help whānau find quality beds and mattresses. Photo / Jenny Ling

The shop, located on Broadway, offers a massive range of home and office furniture, along with appliances, stationery, office supplies, reconditioned computers, home decor and crockery, books, and clothing.

Bracken, a Te Ara Hou Trustee of Ngāpuhi descent, said beds are “the biggest seller”.

“We get a lot of customers who need beds, and we hear their stories that they’re sleeping rough.

“We’re hearing the same things; they’re on the floor, they’re on couches, they look for the beds first, and if we haven’t got the bed, they’ll see if there’s a sofa bed.”

According to Stats NZ, 156,600 children live in poverty across New Zealand, and many sleep in cold, damp bedrooms.

The figure includes 5800 children living in poverty in Northland.

The Kaikohe store was opened on the former Hammer Hardware premises on Broadway in May 2021 by missionaries Kerry and Annie Hilton.

The Hiltons, who still own the shop, spent the previous 20 years in Kolkata, India, where they started a business to give trafficked women a way out of the sex industry.

They trained hundreds of girls and women to sew bags and T-shirts for export.

Though there are plenty of mattresses at the Kaikohe All Heart store, bed bases are desperately needed. Photo / Jenny Ling

The Kaikohe store has become a focal point for locals; out the back, there’s a covered outdoor area with a table and chairs, giving people a place to connect over a cuppa.

Staff drive a truck to Auckland every couple of weeks to source beds and bring them back to the shop to sell.

Mattresses and beds cost between $200 and $800 at the All Heart Kaikohe store.

While Winz quotes are available, there is no Afterpay “because that causes debt”, Bracken said.

There were about 20 quality mattresses in the store when the Northern Advocate visited.

Most were king and queen-sized, however, none had bases.

“We can’t get bases,” Bracken said.

“Often, people [who donate] will buy a new mattress and put it on their own base.

“That’s how you get that mismatch.”

Shop manager Debbie Meurant said at times, “We can’t get enough beds for the people that come in.”

“We have mattresses but no bases and vice versa, and beds and bases of all different sizes.”

Bracken said many Northlanders were coming home from Auckland and Australia.

It’s been a “general trend” over the years, exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

They were moving in with parents or extended family, and living in overcrowded homes.

And while there were building projects in the pipeline, there wasn’t enough accommodation, she said.

Bracken said she is currently aware of several people who are “sofa surfing” because “there aren’t the premises here”.

All Heart Kaikohe is looking for donations of quality beds and volunteer builders who can build bed bases.

If you can help, email kaikohe@allheart.store

Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and animal welfare issues.