Saints of Auckland: Heroic work to help homeless in coronavirus lockdown

Friday, 1 May 2020

Owen Pomana, of Humanity NZ, helps unload meals prepared by Sue Doherty.

On the third day of alert level 3 in Auckland, a Jaguar sports car pulled up outside a church drop-in centre in Grey Lynn.

The flash white coupé's front seat and pokey boot were jam packed with dozens of boxes of hot meals.

The car belongs to Sue Doherty, who had laboured all morning preparing the meals for the city's most vulnerable residents.

Her efforts are part of the quiet work of a group of mostly Christian Aucklanders from all walks of life called Humanity NZ, who organise their efforts via a Facebook group.

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The team prepares food on Thursday morning at the Grey Lynn drop-in centre.

Evangelist and preacher Owen Pomana has been undertaking similar work with the city's vulnerable for four years.

But since coronavirus descended on New Zealand and the lockdown came into force, their efforts to feed those in need ramped up from once a week to twice per day.

People from across Auckland, and from all walks of life, are donating food, blankets, clothes and their time and skills, while businesses and a rotary club had also come to the party.

'I have the rich feeding the poor,'' Pomana said.

Each day, a team of people works tirelessly at Central Vineyard Church's drop-in centre on Great North Rd preparing food and gathering donated items.

At lunchtime on Thursday, shortly after Doherty delivered her meals, the donations were driven down to a spot at the top of Queen St near Karangahape Rd, near the Auckland Baptist Tabernacle.

Owen Pomana and volunteers in central Auckland on Thursday at lunchtime.

Dozens of people were gathered there waiting.

They were given hot drinks and meals and offered clothes.

Warm jackets for the coming winter proved popular.

Homeless people throughout the country were put up in accommodation for the lockdown.

Some of the hot meals served up by the team.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development confirmed they would remain there and be supported for the foreseeable future.

In central Auckland, some homeless people were put up in serviced apartments deserted after tourism ground to a halt.

But Pomana said it had been far from plain sailing for them during lockdown.

People line up for food and hot drinks on Thursday.

People who had been begging on the street were used to passersby giving them food and thereby surviving on one or two meals per day.

'When the streets were shut down there's no kind people giving them a sandwich or something to eat.''

Some had resorted to scouring rubbish bins, but they were as empty as the city.

People who had lived on the streets for years were also having trouble adjusting to sharing a confined space with several others, Pomana said.

'They don't know how to live in them. Rules and regulations to them don't mean anything.'

In his view, their daily efforts to support the vulnerable would be required for at least three months as lockdown restrictions slowly eased.

He paid tribute to the army of loyal volunteers who had donated their time, food or goods.

'The real heroes are the ones that don't want their names to be mentioned.'

However, the volunteers continued to require contributions of all sorts from the community, he said.

'The real work is after the feeding.''