She sleeps in a bus shelter
In the future, Anna Bongers wants to rent a place where she can have a garden and live with others.
But for now she has been sleeping in a central Wellington bus shelter. Bongers leaves as the sun comes up and returns as night falls.
‘‘I’m happy being here ... people might say ‘that woman’s lost her marbles’. But no, I’ve got plenty of marbles left,’’ she said.
The 63-year-old is one of 41,000 people in New Zealand that are homeless. This figure included people who are living out of cars and garages.
Researchers have found that members of the homeless population, especially those from communities that were marginalised, often had ‘‘low institutional trust’’ in
governmental services due to their encounters.
Bongers’ experience with social housing in Blenheim was no different and that was what led her to Wellington.
Following a brief stint in Picton, Bongers arrived in Wellington three weeks ago.
Along the way, she got herself a bike, clothes, a thermos and a hot water bottle.
Locals have chipped in too with some visiting her in the evenings, dropping off food and filling her hot water bottle with warm water.
Stuff has decided not to include the location of the bus shelter for safety reasons.
When she leaves the bus shelter, Bongers said she spent time at DCM (Downtown Community Ministry), the Wellington City Mission or hung around the city.
Bongers said she had been approached by the Mission, but did not want to go into housing at this time.
‘‘Wellington is a big environment. I’m meeting and seeing a lot of things. Before, I didn’t have a lot of social [interaction] . . . it’s like I made a new family.
‘‘It might wear off, but I’m happy.’’ Counting herself as one of the lucky ones, Bongers said the Government needed to do more to protect those who were vulnerable and without accommodation.
‘‘Their ideas are OK, but they don’t fit everyone’s immediate needs.’’
Brodie Fraser, research fellow at the University of Otago, said there was a small group of people that preferred living on the streets.
‘‘I think a lot of narratives can focus on that, so it can be quite easy for others to say we should let them be, but that’s not a good enough reason. There are still other forms of support they need,’’ Fraser said.
It was quite common for people with marginalised identities to have ‘‘low institutional trust’’ of governmental services when it came to housing, they said.
‘‘The bureaucracy has been too much, or they have bad experiences, and they decide not to go back. I mean, why would you?
‘‘How we think and address homelessness through those [governmental] services needs to be inclusive of different identities and experiences,’’ Fraser said.
However, many services were in high demand.