Homeless family: We feel like nobody

AAlice Guy

n Auckland family who moved to Rotorua to make a new life are now part of the city’s “hidden homeless” and feel “like nobody” — not even able to enrol their son in school.

Edwell Mupfawi, his partner Keiko Hui and their children Jaiden, 8, and Jazmin, 1, are part of a growing problem in New Zealand, outlined in a new Government report.

Housing Minister Phil Twyford released the “sobering” stocktake on housing on Monday, which found homelessness was worse than thought and there was a growing “floating” population of people with no fixed address.

For Mupfawi having no permanent address made him feel “like nobody”.

The family moved to Rotorua when he was offered a job at restaurant Terrace Kitchen.

“We love Rotorua and wanted to move away from Auckland. We can save our money here and being in our own house one day would be the closest thing to heaven.

“We are a small family, we don’t smoke or do drugs, we didn’t think it would be this hard to get a [rental] house.

“At the first house we went to, I hadn’t seen anything like it in my life, there were just so many people there to see it.” Thankfully for the family they have been able to stay with friends from church.

“At the moment we’re just worried about whether we can get through this. We are trying to stay positive, but it has been difficult, it is scary.”

Without a fixed address, Jaiden can’t be enrolled in a school and that’s something the family have made a priority.

“I am super excited to start at a new school and make new friends,” Jaiden said. “Getting my own bedroom in Rotorua will be epic.” Rotorua Rentals owner Richard Evans said Mupfawi and his family were ideal tenants.

“We need to see more property being made available to renters, but we also need to make it easier for landlords to be landlords.

“It’s getting harder and harder for people, and housing is no longer being seen as an easy investment.” He said at the moment he was looking for homes for about 33 people.

“These are people who just want a nice, regular house, for mum, dad and the kids. People just want a nice house in a nice neighbourhood.”

Salvation Army Rotorua lieutenant Kylie Overbye said it was “notoriously difficult” to get a true picture of the homelessness situation.

“We regularly work with people who have accommodation issues, but it is difficult to say who would be considered homeless or displaced. For example 20 per cent of our clients indicate that they are living with family or friends, many of these may be classified as homeless, but others are sharing accommodation by choice.

“People’s lives are all different. It’s the underlying issues contributing to living situations that we need to consider and help address. High rents and low incomes are definitely an issue for some of the people we work with and make it harder for people, but other factors play a part such as family relationship issues, or mental health among other things.”

She said the organisation had five transitional houses for families needing emergency accommodation.

Elmer Peiffer from Love Soup Rotorua said Rotorua’s hidden homeless were often written off. “People believe because they have a car or someone else’s shelter to stay in, they aren’t homeless.”

He said the problem was increasing but it was a situation a lot of people didn’t want to admit they were in. — Rotorua Daily Post 1. Te Papa opened on this day in which year? 2. “Nobody shot me” gangster Frank Gusenberg told cops on this day in 1929 after Chicago’s Valentine’s Day Massacre. How many bullets helped kill him? 3. Where was a woman charged with drunk driving after she was found with nine children in her vehicle? 4. “To see what God thinks of money, just look at all the people he gave it to” was said by whom? 5. Which Kiwi singer had a hit with 6. Which Kiwi cricketer was seen after a test match win walking home in his whites, carrying a stump? 7. The TV ad (shot here) shown during the Super Bowl was for what drink? 8. Johannes Gutenberg was a pioneer what? 9. In American jargon “Binkers” is a name for what? 10. Where has an Aussie Lord Mayor resigned after sexual harassment allegations? Melbourne. 10. tickets. Fake 9. Printer. 8. Light. Bud 7. TomBlundell. 6. Smith. Hollie 5. Parker. Dorothy 4. Hamilton. 3. 14. 2. 1998. 1. Answers: