‘Heartbreak’ hotel for family of eight
The Rongokeas, with six kids under 10, have been moved five times since lockdown.
How can four walls filled with love be so depressing? Well, it’s a prolonged lockdown of sorts for the Rongokea family, who remain “hibernating” against more visible threats in the hallway than the coronavirus that indirectly led them here.
Gang members, domestic assault, and 4am fireworks are among the hazards they have to navigate beyond the electronically locked hotel door.
The family of eight have lived in a two-bedroom hotel room in the Quest on Eden in Auckland’s CBD for more than two weeks.
Giggling but stifled exuberance greets you inside, as the sisters — all 10 years and under — play with anything they can grasp: pram, pillow or kitchen utensil.
Along with parents Nikki and Kain, there’s a crew of siblings: Jaxeen, 10, Jayden, 9, Aroha, 8, Rahari, 2, Elieen, 1, and Mya-Leah, 8 months.
The three older daughters — whose father is not Kain — sleep in the same bed.
The two youngest sleep in portacots, and Rahari sleeps on a mattress — all on the floor of the parents’ bedroom.
The family of eight live off roughly $1000 a week in benefits.
Dim light filtering through thick hotel windows casts the distracted young mother in lifeless grey as she changes her 8-month-old’s nappy on the couch.
Contrastingly, colourful blankets drape the muted furniture as a precaution against any mishap that may escape the parents’ tired eyes.
“It’s really hard. Our kids are usually active, and we can’t even take them downstairs because there’s too much traffic,” 33-year-old Kain says.
“It’s too dangerous for us to be walking around. It’s really depressing.
“They’re bored. They want to go for walks. They want to go back to school but because we can’t settle down there’s nowhere we can put them in school.”
This is the fifth relocation the Rongokeas have made since March 24, just before national lockdown.
They occupy one of 1204 motel rooms the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Ka¯inga Ora — which manages Crown tenancies — urgently acquired to accommodate the influx of regular rough sleepers across New Zealand prior to the Covid-19 lockdown.
The Rongokeas filtered into that motel shuffle as Ka¯inga Ora tenants, but had been in correspondence with Work and Income (Winz) over their temporary Auckland residences.
The journey to Auckland has brought them from Flaxmere, Hawke’s Bay, where they had been living in a Ka¯inga Ora home for two years.
Life in Flaxmere had revolved around Kain “rekindling” his relationship with his six older children who live there.
He had worked at a sawmill but gave up the job to care for Nikki, who had complications during her pregnancy. After that it was difficult to find work, as the sawmill was a seasonal job.
They made the decision to uproot in March so the family could be close to Nikki’s Auckland relatives.
“Before lockdown, my depression was getting quite bad, so we had to just up and leave [Flaxmere] to come to my family support in West Auckland,” Nikki says. She didn’t want to spend lockdown alone.
On the way, the family stopped in
Hamilton with a plan to sleep in their car for a night or two, but they were taken in by Nikki’s sister, who lives there.
From there it’s been a quick succession of unsuitable homes and motels in Auckland, Nikki says. From a house in Sandringham to a house in Ranui, to a house in Henderson, to the Quest Hotel in Henderson. They moved into the Quest on Eden on July 3.
Nikki says the family asked to be moved a number of times because of the quality of the houses they were given, which she described as “filthy”.
To compound the Rongokeas’ dislocation and isolation, their car was taken off the road by police on the trip to Auckland because it was unregistered. The family do not have the $800 to get the necessary Warrant of Fitness.
“We moved from a six-bedroom house to a two-bedroom apartment. It’s really depressing. We haven’t got much room to move. We’re in each other’s faces every day,” Kain says.
“They want us to do house viewings [for permanent accommodation], but because our car is out of order we’ve got no way to get there.”
Ministry of Social Development (MSD) regional commissioner Lynda Smardon says they have been working with Nikki and Kain to find suitable long-term accommodation for their wha¯nau after leaving Hawke’s Bay in late March.
The family contacted MSD on March 27 from Hamilton and were provided with $300 for petrol and food and booked into stand-alone housing in Auckland until June 25.
MSD confirmed they transitioned to the Quest in Henderson until July 2, and then the Quest on Eden — but were not aware of the other movements to different Auckland houses the Rongokeas say they have made during June.
Smardon conceded MSD is struggling to provide housing for families as big as the Rongokeas.
“There is a shortage in supply of affordable accommodation for a family of this size.
“Our priority has been to ensure they have warm, dry and safe accommodation while a more permanent option can be found.
“We understand that they are currently looking at a four-bedroom property in the Auckland region and have offered help with bond, rent in advance, and accommodation supplement should they be successful.”
Finding accommodation for the
“Our priority has been to ensure they have warm, dry and safe accommodation while a more permanent option can be found. Lynda Smardon, Ministry of Social Development
thousand-plus rough sleepers on Auckland’s streets in a matter of days was an immense task to which the Government devoted $107.6 million.
“The Ministry has worked urgently to bring on more supply for all New Zealanders living in vulnerable accommodation and who are homeless,” HUD manager of engagement Dennis de Reus says.
“Finding safe accommodation for our most vulnerable people through the Covid-19 pandemic has been a key priority for the Government. This has meant agencies have needed to think innovatively and find different solutions for immediate housing.”
In Auckland, HUD has entered into arrangements with 26 motels to supply 464 residences. For privacy reasons, HUD will not specify which motels are being used.
But it has undeniably had problems in bringing together people — often with chaotic lives, dogged by substance abuse — into the confined space of a city high-rise hotel.
The number of police callouts to the Quest on Eden has more than doubled — from 14 callouts from January 1 to March 25, to 38 callouts from March 25 to July 7.
Groups of police cars have often descended on the motel late at night. On May 24, a group of police cars left the hotel looking for a person of interest relating to a possible assault.
Also that month, a resident at the
Statesman Apartments next door witnessed what they believed was a domestic incident.
“From the balcony I saw a car swerving with the passenger car door open, it sped up and took a turn into a side street,” the Statesman resident said.
“A few minutes later I heard shouting from the street and a woman was running topless crying back to the Quest Hotel, as many onlookers appeared to be calling the police.
“Five minutes after that, four to five police cars arrived at the Quest Hotel.”
On June 24, fireworks — or some form of explosives — were thrown beside the Quest on Eden and the Statesman Apartments at 4.30am.
Thudding bangs penetrated the insulated hotel walls and sparks rose to the 14th floor. A white car was then seen screeching away down Eden Crescent.
Police said they wouldn’t comment on a specific address.
The Rongokeas are concerned about similar issues, although they did not witness the above incidents.
“We’re sort of confined to our room because of the things that are going on around us,” Kain said.
“There’s gang members here. There’s all sorts of people here and we’re just not sure if we should go out there and if anything’s going to happen while we’re out there.
“We’re pretty much living on edge, every day while we’re here.”
One resident wanted to fight Kain because he was wearing a red scarf around his neck.
“This guy just thought I wanted to fight him. I’d just got back from fishing and I thought I’d take the lift with him and he just stood there and asked me if I wanted to fight him,” he said.
“We’ve had heaps of encounters but we’ve never had a genuine talk with anyone here because they’re just all stand-offish. You say ‘hi’ but they just look at you and walk away.
“There’s a few families here but I think we’re like the biggest family here.”
Nikki adds: “We basically have to hibernate in our own little room because we’re afraid to step out the door.”
Quest Apartment Hotels group general manager Adrian Turner says since lockdown, some of their 35 hotels have been used to house New Zealand’s most vulnerable community members after various Government ministries and DHBs approached them.
“During these difficult times, we have rolled up our sleeves to help and in our fortunate position we have offered much-needed accommodation facilities to take special care of lovely people who need a roof over their heads.
“Seventy-five per cent of the guests to Quest on Eden have included families and elderly patients waiting to be seen for medical treatments.
“We have closely monitored our relationships with guests who need emergency housing, which allowed those residents a moment to breathe and get back on their feet.”
Turner says when issues with their new residents arise they have taken “numerous proactive steps to ensure all of our guests’ safety”. But he did not go into detail of those steps.
Quest would not specifically address the events described above, but Turner says he is “immensely proud” of his staff who provide for guests “who may not all wear a suit and tie”.
Kain has had difficulty finding work, in part because he doesn’t know where the family will be living long-term in Auckland. He has been trying to find work as a security guard or a labourer.
Lack of transport means the family has had to buy essentials expensively, like $8 milk from convenience stores in the vicinity of the Quest.
Despite it all, the kids smile and laugh, and play with a vivacity that contrasts with their sterile surroundings.
They join in clapping games and push each other in the family’s one stroller.
Kain also worries that because the hotel has noise control, continually “shushing” his kids is taking a toll on them. “How are you supposed to put a mute on a child? It makes them grow up with anxiety, not being able to do what they want,” he says.
As Muslims, the Rongokeas have travelled once to a mosque to pray in Manukau but it is difficult for them to get there with no vehicle. At the moment the family simply pray from home.
The reality of their situation brings Nikki to tears.
She appreciates the efforts of the government departments helping them, but the claustrophobia of the four walls still can’t be ignored with so much nagging responsibility.
“It’s not a place for a family. It’s a place for holiday couples or singles. Especially if you have a big family. We are in a two-bedroom apartment with eight of us,” she says.
“We’ve been struggling every day since we’ve encountered this situation and it’s heartbreaking.
“I have anxiety attacks constantly, thinking I’m hopeless and can’t find my family a home.”
We moved from a six-bedroom house to a two-bedroom apartment. It’s depressing. We haven’t got much room to move. We’re in each other’s faces. Kain Rongokea