Whangārei youth homelessness needs an 'immediate' solution

Ngaire Rae is among concerned individuals and agencies pushing for bespoke housing and wraparound services for homeless youths in Whangārei. Photo / Tania Whyte

At least 18 Northland youth have slept in a vehicle once or twice in the past 12 months because they did not have anywhere else to live.

Living out in the car, sleeping by Glassons, and couch surfing among other places have become alternatives to the family home for Whangārei youth.

"He was living in the car, staying at a couple of different places every now and then, but mainly in his car for a while," says an 18-year-old male in a survey for youth homelessness in Whangārei.

A 24-year-old female said she and other people slept outside Glassons because they did not want to be somewhere dark.

"We wanted it to be light, where there were lights, someone could see us or something. Or there were cameras that were watching us."

A project steering and youth advisory group including 155 Whare Āwhina, Whangārei Youth Space, Te Ora Hou, Northland Urban Rural Mission, Mahitahi Hauora, Ngāti Hine Health Trust, and Pehiaweri Marae are working to identify youth housing needs and solutions.

Ngaire Rae has compiled the views of 152 survey respondents from Whangārei and their recommendations on housing security in her research work 'Youth Experiencing homelessness/housing deprivation in Whangārei report'

Rae said while there was a range of emergency accommodations like motels or transitional housing providers, there was nothing in Whangārei that was youth-specific.

In her research, the author asked five questions to Whangārei youth aged between 16 and 24 addressing the factors contributing to taitamariki experiencing housing deprivation in Whangārei, experiences of homeless youth, the support they required, solutions as described by taitamariki, and the most effective or youth-centred response to support with housing deprivation.

Rae said young people needed more than just a roof, and a formulated way to approach the young people was missing.

"What we are saying is the specific needs of the young people needs to be addressed through specific youth housing models.

"There could be other adults in the emergency/transitional housing. A lot of young women end up in situations like this and there might be potentially some exploitative relationships.

"Young people just don't want to be alone in a room by themselves all the time. It is very lonely and they can be very vulnerable."

Youth advisory group Whare Finders, as part of Rae's research, interviewed 18 taitamariki between the ages of 16 and 25, Māori and non-Māori, in Whangārei between October and December last year to understand their experiences of housing deprivation and solutions.

For taitamariki who had left home the affordability of housing was one of the issues.

"How can you afford to live when you have to pay more than half your income on just your rent," said an 18-year-old Whangārei male in the interview.

Rae presented her findings in the Whangārei Child Poverty action group public hui on Wednesday.

From her survey, Rae found 35 per cent of respondents said they had slept at other places because they had nowhere else to stay in the past 12 months.

Professor at the University of Auckland's Whangārei nursing school Dr Terryann Clark was also a part of the hui.

Clark said it would be scary for anyone going into emergency housing, but for a young person who did not know what to expect, it could become very overwhelming.

"When a 16-year-old turns up and they have nowhere to live we have to provide them with an emergency housing solution right there and then.

"They are looking for an immediate response.

"But they also need to be supported ... we cannot shove someone in a hotel room and expect them to do okay. They are there for a bunch of reasons."

Dr Terryann Clark was part of the Whangārei Child Poverty Action Group hui on July 27. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Clark said now that there was enough research, it was time to act on it.

"We have got really good evidence that housing security is a really big issue for young people in Whangārei.

"It is really difficult for them to get housing, and they are often at the bottom of the heap; nobody wants to necessarily rent to a young Māori or a young person."

The research also highlighted solutions and recommendations identified by taitamariki: provision of emergency housing with active onsite support including referrals to specialist support as required; a safe accessible space to access information about housing along with housing support; a kaiwhakatere (navigator) to journey alongside the youth requiring housing as an immediate need; and transitional housing that was welcoming, comfortable, safe, secure and affordable and links young people to education, training, and employment solutions.

Clark said the young people were hidden away from statistics and were often not found on the list.

"They know they are not a high priority so they will go and sleep on a mate's couch until they get sick of them.

"They'll go and sleep in the car to figure out ways around things.

"It must feel very overwhelming when you are trying to figure it out as a young person.

"They are not technically homeless but they do not have anywhere to live right now."

The hui was a call to action, Clark said.

"We have people here who collectively want to do something about it, all we need is resources - helping whanau restore their natural forms of supporting and looking after each other when we have housing issues."

The whole intergenerational and whanau approaches had been lost and Clark said it was one of the pervasive harms of colonisation.

"... it [colonisation] has separated us from land, our traditional ways of supporting each other with housing, food, childcare and all those things that are difficult for young people here.

"First there has to be some healing around relations because often young people leave homes as they break down in relationships with family.

"Health supporters, whanau audit collectors, and groups like these can help begin this conversation."