Homeless in the heartland

All it took was the old Empire Lodge closing and suddenly Masterton has a homeless problem.

Once a popular hotel in the central Wairarapa town, in its final years the Empire had become a place of last resort for those on the fringes struggling to hold down a tenancy.

Such was the tenuous nature of some its regular occupants’ lives that the hotel’s closure meant they were soon sleeping under bridges.

Not so long ago the idea of visible homelessness on provincial streets was a foreign concept. Long seen as a symptom of metropolitan malaise, high rents and gaps in the welfare and mental health systems mean homelessness is now hitting the New Zealand heartland.

‘‘Everyone should have someone looking after them. There’s only a handful, but these people are falling through the cracks,’’ says Masterton Foodbank co-ordinator Lyn Tankersley.

The closure of the Empire Lodge is a tipping point as it was one of the only temporary accommodation options.

‘‘In March and April this year homelessness started getting attention. People were starting to say ‘who’s doing anything about those people sleeping on the streets?’.’’

Shelter Masterton was opened in August.

Tankersley helped set up a day shelter for her town’s homeless population, but says they really need better accommodation alternatives.

As the most vulnerable don’t have any wraparound support from government agencies these individuals are left in homeless limbo, she says.

Shelter volunteer Kim Mckinley says she is relieved when the weather warms up because the situation will be less perilous for those sleeping outside.

‘‘Knowing they’re not out there trying to find shelter from a terrible frost or pouring rain.’’

A successful international model to help those at the

‘‘pointy end’’ of homelessness is being rolled out in many centres, and by all accounts, getting lots of homeless people out of doorways and off of park benches, but not every town is so lucky.

The Government hopes its Housing First programme will eliminate homelessness, not just manage it, but places like Masterton are missing out.

The Wellbeing Budget 2019 included $197 million to expand the Housing First programme in areas of high demand, and make sure existing Housing First programmes are sustainable and can continue to deliver services for more than 2700 people over the next few years.

‘‘It is a proven, internationally recognised approach to housing and supporting people who are experiencing homelessness and multiple, high and complex needs,’’ says a Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spokesman.

‘‘It’s much easier for people to address issues, such as poor mental or physical health, substance abuse and unemployment, once they are housed.’’

The programme is already in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington, Whanga¯ rei and Christchurch, with Hawke’s Bay, Blenheim and Nelson starting late this year or in early 2020.

Masterton Mayor Lyn Patterson says it would be great for other areas to have access to the programme.

‘‘I would be really keen to see the Housing First initiative stretched through the rest of New Zealand. It should be available to all areas where there is a need.’’

Blenheim was one of the provincial centres recently targeted for Housing First.

Christchurch Methodist Mission manages the contract and its director, Jill Hawkey, says Marlborough has been hard hit by the transition from sheep farming to vineyards, which requires a larger workforce and has put more pressure on housing in the region.

‘‘Blenheim has had a terrible homelessness situation, but it’s only happened in the last two or three years. Like Masterton, it’s a relatively new thing.’’

She says the Housing First criteria are for people at the ‘‘pointy end’’ of homelessness.

‘‘They’ve been living on the street or bouncing in and out of homelessness and just unable to sustain a tenancy.’’

Hawkey says single people who may have been living on their own, who may have alcohol problems or drug addiction issues or mental health issues, are now receiving the care that comes with the wraparound support the programme provides.

‘‘They’re now living in a permanent home that’s their home. They’re not in a shelter, they’re not in a halfway house or anywhere else.’’

The provider takes a lease for these people, guarantees the risk and manages the tenancy. The residents receive weekly visits by a key worker.

In Christchurch, over the past 18 months the programme has housed 70 people who were living on the street.

‘‘It’s extremely successful. It’s the model that has the highest evidence based [success] internationally and it works,’’ Hawkey says. About 85 per cent of those people who have been