A woman’s story of homelessness

"The assumption that none of them are ever going to make it, that's a flat lie." Regina Tito

For some people, sleeping on the streets is safer than being at home.

Wellington woman Regina Tito can still recall the night that family violence forced her out of her house at age 11.

That night she made the roof of Epuni railway station in Lower Hutt her home.

‘‘It would have been more comfortable to sleep on the actual railway station bench ... but it would have been very unsafe,’’ she said.

Tito, who is 42 and now works for Downtown Community Ministry (DCM), spent her teenage years sleeping rough on Wellington’s streets.

Her experiences are the subject of short film Street Smart, part of Loading Doc’s films that will be available for viewing through TVNZ On Demand next month.

Tito spent her childhood in the Child, Youth and Family system before being reunited with her mother.

Extreme levels of domestic violence, abuse and alcoholism at home made her take to the streets.

‘‘I saw a lot of violence; my mum was beaten to a pulp many many times so I saw a lot of abuse towards her.’’

She remembers a cycle of sleeping rough, being on the run from police or in prison. ‘‘At the beginning, it was very scary.’’ Her thoughts were dominated by fear, hunger, cold and uncertainty.

‘‘Really just not knowing tomorrow was going to bring.’’

The toilets at Oriental Bay parade, Pigeon Park and Lukes Lane are some of the places she grew to know well.

Many are still spots for the homeless to shelter today.

Tito said sleeping on the floor of the toilets, hugging the bowl was preferable what city’s to sleeping in stairwells of old buildings.

‘‘If you had a high end of rough sleeping, stairwells wouldn’t be at the top.’’

In the toilet, ‘‘it is warm, and you can lock the doors, so that’s safety’’.

Tito is careful to point out that homelessness is not limited to sleeping on the streets; it includes a larger group of people sleeping on couches, in cars and garages or constantly facing evictions or prison time.

Even after she escaped the cycle of street living in her teens, Tito still faced a decade of housing insecurity, being evicted from homes, this time with children in tow.

Through her work at DCM, Tito now works with the Wellington homeless community and has a unique insight into what they are experiencing. ‘‘I always believe there is hope. ‘‘The assumption that none of them are ever going to make it, that’s a flat lie ... there is me and many others who have come through homelessness.’’

Street Smart – A Loading Doc Film, will be released on TVNZ On Demand on August 4 at 9pm.