Mum opts to sleep in car amidst scramble to find beds for Whangarei homeless families

Whangarei grandmother Kata Kinton is angry her family was not told they had to move out of the Casa Blanca Motel for the weekend.PHOTO/MICHAEL CUNNINGHAM

The Salvation Army has scrambled to find beds for five homeless families asked to leave a Whangarei motel, with one woman opting to sleep in a car this weekend.

The families, all clients of the Ministry of Social Development, have been staying at the
Casa Blanca Motel as part of an emergency housing arrangement.

Motel management say they told the Salvation Army on February 28 that the families would have to move out to allow the motel to honour a previous booking.

However, the families say they were told only on Wednesday, the same day that the Salvation Army says it was told.

The clients are eligible for special needs grants where motels have pre-existing bookings they are obliged to keep.

Not all the Casa Blanca families are staying in accommodation sourced by the Salvation Army, with Holly Smith saying she would live in her car this weekend before moving back to the motel next week.

She had been staying in the motel for six weeks with her adult daughter and her boyfriend.

Two weeks ago, she also moved out for the weekend when a football tournament was held in Whangarei.

This weekend, a sold out Six60 concert has placed pressure on Whangarei motels, although Casa Blanca also has tourists staying, who are not in the Six60 demographic.

Motel director Denise Newman said most of the bookings for this weekend, including about a dozen Chinese visitors, were made six months ago.

Ms Newman said the Salvation Army had been notified on February 28 that the five families would have to leave for the weekend as the motel had existing bookings. She emailed Salvation Army on Tuesday evening as a reminder.

"We've basically been vilified for providing emergency temporary accommodation. There's a dozen people from China who've booked to stay the weekend and I very much doubt they will go to the concert," she said.

Whangarei grandmother Katarina Linton, her 20-year-old daughter Kororia Clendon and 7-week-old grandson Tamehana, will sleep in a garage owned by a family member in Raumanga this weekend before deciding next week where to move next.

Ms Linton said she and other homeless families received a text on Wednesday from a social worker employed by the Salvation Army which said they needed to move out of the motel by 10am yesterday. She claimed the hotel management informed the social worker that Work and Income clients had to free up rooms for music fans of Six60 playing at Toll Stadium tonight."We were under the illusion the motel was safe, it was our home for now. It's stressful already and being told on Wednesday afternoon that we had to move out ... is sad."

Salvation Army's welfare support services head, Major Pam Waugh, said its social worker was informed by the hotel management on Wednesday that rooms homeless families have been occupying would be unavailable this weekend.

"At that point our social worker spoke to each family to inform them and to make sure they had somewhere they could go and any other support they needed around that, or to help them find somewhere.

Ministry's acting regional director, Kiriwai Jones, said all families affected by pre-existing accommodation bookings have been supported with alternative options for the weekend.