Pregnant woman among the homeless on cold Auckland streets

Thursday, 7 June 2018

Living on the streets of Manurewa and pregnant.

Sipping on a cup of hot chocolate, Jess snuggled into a blanket which would be her only source of warmth during one of Auckland's coldest nights.

'I'm two months pregnant and I'm homeless,' she said.

Jess*, 29, has been living on the streets of Manurewa for months.

She was one of nearly 24,000 homeless people in Auckland, according to Auckland Council.

According to council, nearly 24,000 people were homeless in Auckland in 2017.

* Forty rough sleepers housed in south Auckland over past 12 months

* [Housing First Auckland gets $3.7m to tackle chronic homelessless

Jess is two months pregnant and living on the streets in Manurewa.

](https://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/local-news/manukau-courier/91759162/Housing-First-Auckland-gets-3-7m-to-tackle-chronic-homelessless?rm=m)* Housing Minister asks Statistics NZ to measure homelessness more often**

Jess's shelter was outside a dairy shop, with blankets she scavenged from a clothing bin to keep her warm. The two others who slept next to Jess had been on the streets much longer.

Auckland City Mission say homelessness wasn't a choice - most suffered significant trauma, poverty and addiction.

On June 6, the temperature had dropped down to a cold 8 degrees – one of the coldest nights in Auckland yet.

'It's feels so much colder,' Jess said.

She continued to tug at her blanket, and pulled on the hood of her onesie to cover her head.

Jess admitted her situation was much different to the others around her.

She had a home to go back to but chose to be on the streets because her partner was in jail.

Jess said she also had five other children whom she left with her mum because she 'didn't want to break their normal routine'.

'I'm worried, I really want to keep this baby and I want to be a parent. I'm really scared for this child but I'll wait for my partner to come out so he can look after me.

'And I see my kids every week, my mum lets me see them. I know when they get older they will come back to me.'

She said she understood that living on the streets was not good for her unborn child and was determined to find a home before she reached full term.

'The streets are not going to make it work for me if I keep doing it like this. But I can prove myself and push myself that I can be better. I want to be a good mum.'

Auckland City Mission's Chris Farrelly said homelessness was not a choice.

Many homeless people often suffered from significant trauma, battling major mental health problems and addiction, and shared poverty, he said.

'We call it wicked problems – there is no one cause,' Farrelly said.

'Most of these people would love a home but they would require intense wrap around support too. It's not just about providing a roof over their head or a house.'

According to council's homelessness policy project, almost 24,000 homeless people in Auckland in 2017.

These included those sleeping on the streets, or in cars, in emergency housing, couch surfing or living in garages.

Sitting beside Jess, Maya*, a young woman in her 20s, never missed a chance to ask people walking by for change.

Some people reached into their pockets to give her money, but most didn't, she said. A rare few offered to buy her a meal instead which they all shared among themselves.

Comradeship was their only friend, keeping them warm and fed on the streets.

'The mornings are harder, it's so much colder,' Maya said.

'And trying to get breakfast is even harder because not a lot of people are around to ask change from.'

Maya had been on the street for almost a year. She said she used to have a great job in the city.

'Everybody's got their own stories. I'm here because my partner started using synthetics and he left me out here.

'My family is in the islands and I'm out here.'

Maya said she liked living on the streets – it was the only place she felt safe.

'My friends keep me company out here, even though it's dirty but I like it. We look after each other. There is a good side and there is a bad side.'

Housing Minister Phil Twyford said it was a wonder why New Zealand, a successful and prosperous country, still had people without shelter, sleeping outside.

He said the Government's extra $100m on emergency housing was their pledge to ensure everyone was housed this winter.

'The Prime Minister has instructed all frontline staff in WINZ and Housing New Zealand to do absolutely what they can possible to make sure that anybody that needs shelter gets it,' Twyford said.

'And I'm working as hard as I can to make sure that happens.'

*Names have been changed to protect the women's identities.