Letters to the editor: Divergent views on homeless in Rotorua

Tiny Deane from Visions of a Helping Hand Trust outside the motels that are being used to house the homeless. Photo / Andrew Warner

It is interesting to note the divergent views of Tiny Deane, a supporter of Rotorua's homeless, and publican Reg Hennessey (News, May 13).

Whereas the latter complains of the Government spending "all that money" on accommodating homeless people and families in motels, hoping they ''won't wander back to town", Dean's stance is, in my opinion, far more positive.

He believes that now is the time to make changes in their lives, claiming that he is already seeing an increase in self-esteem.

This must go hand in hand with wraparound mental health and addiction services, as well as creative projects and parenting courses. (Abridged)

Jackie Evans
Rotorua

Fresh start

It is extremely rare to have the opportunity to start afresh.

There must be many times in a person's life when a desire to return, refresh or rebuild does not become desirable.

Well, for most of us, the chance has arrived.

We now have a golden opportunity to start all over again, correct a few mistakes, plug a few gaps and mend a few fences, and take another look at the way things were done - a whole clean sheet.

What a wonderful opportunity - at an awful cost.

However, regardless of the sacrifice, many have made, there is a hope that this time we can get it right. We have made mistakes and paid the price.

Like being born again, the onus is on all of, Government and people to get it right this time.

Jim Adams
Rotorua

Living on borrowed money

The Government and health officials have done a fine job in this crisis.

But don't you think it says a lot about our society that the vast majority of us can't last eight weeks without money coming in?

Pathetic really. Everybody is living on borrowed time or, more to the point, borrowed money.

And it was only a couple of months back the economy was going great guns - where has all the money gone?

I was brought up in the era of "if you didn't have the money you went without", not like this generation where it is borrow, borrow.

We are all just treading water and when a crisis like this happens we soon sink out of sight.

Gavin Muir
Springfield

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