Voluntary 'Mum' to Auckland's homeless

Claire Adams-Adamiak offers soup and sandwiches to Wiremu Phillips and homeless friends in Queen St. Photo / Greg Bowker

Some call her the "Mother Teresa of Queen St" after the Mother Teresa medallion that she wears around her neck.

Others still remember her as the "Weet-Bix lady" because she used to give out helpings of the cereal.

But Claire Adams-Adamiak's favourites among Auckland's homeless just call her "Mum".

At 71, she's twice the age of many of the "streeties".

She comes in by train from her home in Papatoetoe one day a week, completely independent of any of the organised missions that already help the homeless.

Yesterday, her cavernous shopping bag included a change of clothes for one man, as well as home-made sandwiches and hot soup for anyone else she found on the streets.

Her good works began on the streets of London 30 years ago, after seeing the city's homeless at close hand.

"I went back to where I was staying. I sat on my bed and said, 'What do you want me to do, God?'

"He said, 'Go and feed as many as you can.' So I bought bread rolls and fruit juice, and I've been going ever since."

Mrs Adams-Adamiak has volunteered with Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity in London and in Albania.

She has fed whole families on the streets in Israel, offered fruit juice in Sydney and handed out bananas to children in Rome.

Finally, she has found time for the homeless in her hometown after stopping full-time work as a nurse and midwife and moving to a three-day week.

"People say [the homeless] make their own problems," Mrs Adams-Adamiak says, but she believes it is not her place to judge.

"Thirty years ago, I made a pact with God: you judge, I feed. It's worked out quite well. You don't know what's going on in their lives."

Some turn Mrs Adams-Adamiak away. "One old guy of about 80 walked in front of a tour bus. He said, 'That bus got in my way.' I said, 'Are you hungry?' He said, 'No, I'm a Presbyterian."'

But the occasional success makes it all worthwhile.

"One of the ladies with glue, I said, 'If you keep on like this, Brenda, you will die'," Mrs Adams-Adamiak said.

"She said, 'I don't care.' I said, 'Well, I care.'

"And do you know, about six months ago this lady was sitting in Queen St all nicely dressed.

"She said, 'Claire, thanks to you I pulled myself up and I got a job.'"

How you can help:

* Claire Adams-Adamiak needs winter beanies, blankets and sleeping bags for the homeless. Phone (09) 278-4006.