Homeless out of sight, not out of mind
There are fewer homeless people on the streets of central Christchurch/Ōtautahi, but an advocate says making homelessness invisible is not the same as eradicating it.
Nicola Fleming, manager of Housing First Ōtautahi – which represents the biggest community housing groups in the city – says 192 people who were once homeless in Christchurch were now in a permanent home, but more than 100 were still waiting.
On Wednesday, the Christchurch City Council agreed to give the City Mission $560,000 over three years towards a second homeless outreach worker – someone who could refer people onto housing providers and other support, and address anti-social behaviour as it arises.
City Missioner Corinne Haines, who heads the City Mission, says the value of a second full-time worker will mean the programme can cover more suburbs and more hours.
Outreach worker Josh Gardiner told the city council in December he met a new homeless person every day. By gaining their trust, he was able to refer them onto health services and other support.
At the Wednesday meeting, a city council staffer said visible homelessness had emerged in Addington and New Brighton.
Fleming believed the money would be better spent on permanent housing.
“There’s nowhere to put them [homeless people],” she said. “If they suffer from mental health and addiction, that’s a whole other issue as well.”
As of December, according to data from the Ministry of Social Development, 1998 people were on the wait list for a public house. More than $1 million a month was spent on emergency housing in Christchurch in 2023.
Haines said if there was funding available, the City Mission would be willing to discuss creating more emergency and transitional housing options, but as it stood they were at capacity.
Currently, the City Mission had space for 15 men and 12 women in their homeless shelter, but most nights were full and could only be accessed for a few days per person.
It had 14 beds in their one-year-old transitional housing apartments, where people could stay for up to three months and gain life skills. So far, 24 people had successfully transitioned from there to permanent housing.
According to Ministry of Social Development data, as of October last year the Government granted more than $1.1 million a month on emergency accommodation for Christchurch residents.
It was lower than the average of about $1.8m a month in 2022 – an unprecedented amount – but only slightly more than the $1m a month in 2021.
Emergency accommodation per night was also getting more expensive. In 2018, the cost per night on average was $94. In 2023, it was about $192.
The Airport Lodge Motel earned the most in emergency accommodation grants between January and October 2023, at about $958,000 or $229 per night on average.
Athena Motel and Apartments earned about $793,000 over the same time period, but charged about $246 per night on average.