Homeless ‘need a hub too’
Homeless people in Nelson need a base where they can shower and do their laundry, similar to the one rolled out for freedom campers in the central city, an advocate says.
Tama Manuel, who has been on and off Nelson’s streets for years, said a free daytime services area similar to the freedom camping hub would be useful. He was currently showering at an ex-girlfriend’s house, chipping in some money in return.
Manuel said there were services available, such as the ones at the Superloos in Montgomery Square, but they were scattered about the city and sometimes cost money. ‘‘But . . . there’s no excuse for not being clean.’’
The Male Room director Philip Chapman said more money and support were needed for New Zealand’s homeless. He said the government-funded, Nelson City Council-run freedom camping service hub that recently opened in Halifax St was ‘‘pretty close’’ to what local homeless people needed.
‘‘It was my first suggestion to the council when I made a submission last year.’’
At the hub, freedom campers can use free showers and toilets, and get advice about legal freedom camping sites from an attendant.
Chapman said the Male Room in St Vincent St had become a kind of day shelter due to a lack of other options, but it wasn’t equipped with everything a proper shelter should have, like laundry facilities or showers.
It also wasn’t ideal for men using confidential counselling services to have so many people coming and going during their sessions.
‘‘These men are the ones that the DHB, that everyone, calls ‘hard to reach’, and yet there’s nothing for them.’’
He said a lot of the existing funding and support was aimed at getting people into houses, which was good but was not the only answer.
One Male Room client said he had been on the emergency housing list for three years. Chapman said he was likely to be on it ‘‘for another three’’.
‘‘They’re not the priority for housing, single men in their 30s and 40s, but they’re the ones who are here every day.’’
There were community-based organisations like Kai Rescue, Giving Aroha, and the Angels Trio who were doing good on-theground work, he said, but ‘‘it’s all from the community, not from higher up’’.
Last year the Government announced more funding to go towards preventing people from becoming homeless, and almost $200 million to go towards Housing First, which launched in Nelson at the end of December.
However, Chapman said that while getting people into stable housing with wraparound services was a worthwhile goal, in the meantime they needed easier access to services that were more readily available for freedom campers and refugees.
‘‘It’s great that we have services for them . . . but we have don’t seem to have the same buyin [for the homeless].
‘‘People are afraid of them, or have the very middle-class response that it’s their choice. But . . . maybe if you had the same life, you would be on the streets, too.
‘‘A sensible idea would be to have a day services hub. It could be mobile, it could be a bus, or we could find somewhere in town . . . it could even be parked in the backyard here.’’