Homelessness is solvable – I know this because I lived it

Friday, 19 September 2025

Dealing with homelessness requires resources for wraparound support so people are equipped to live and thrive, writes Dickie Humphries.

The Auckland Council says latest figures show a 90% increase in homelessness in Auckland since September last year. Dickie Humphries, the council’s head of community impact, explains why and what’s to be done.

OPINION: When I was 16, I left home. I spent nights under bridges and in bus stops. I washed in fast-food restaurant bathrooms. I left because I couldn’t reconcile being a young gay man in a deeply religious household.

At the time, it didn’t feel like a choice – I felt unsafe and leaving seemed like the only option.

Life on the streets was harsh. I was assaulted, and that was the turning point that led me back to my family. What I found was not rejection but love.

My mum and siblings showed me, in words and actions, that at our core is love without conditions – that I was accepted and celebrated exactly as I am. Alongside this, I had the care of social workers and mental health professionals.

Aucklanders gather in the central city on a Sunday evening to receive a warm meal and access shower and laundry facilities.

But what made all the difference was the unconditional support of family and friends. What got me through was not just services, but community, belonging and being valued.

It wasn’t until years later, when I began working in this field, that I realised what I had experienced was youth homelessness.

Today in Auckland, homelessness is increasing at an alarming rate. In September last year, 426 people were recorded as sleeping rough. By January 2025, the number had risen to 653. By May, it was 809 – a 90% increase in just eight months.

Behind each statistic is a person, a whānau, a story interrupted.

Homelessness is complex, rarely caused by one factor alone. Relationship breakdowns, job losses, domestic violence, the rising cost of living, mental health challenges, insecure housing, social isolation and poverty all play a role.

The experience of homelessness is not a reflection of personal failure, but of circumstances that have collided to take away stability.

A council staff member wakes up a group of sleepers outside the central city library.

At Auckland Council, we recognise that homelessness demands more than short-term or reactive responses. In 2017, we began shaping a more co-ordinated approach. In 2020, we adopted Kia Whai Kāinga Tātou Katoa – a regional plan that brings together central government, outreach providers and communities to ensure every Aucklander has the chance to thrive.

The council has committed $500,000 a year for the next three years to address homelessness. While modest compared with the scale of need, this funding signals our ongoing commitment.

Our staff are also on the ground every day – connecting with people, listening to their stories and linking them to the right support. We convene partnerships across government, outreach agencies and community organisations, because homelessness cannot be solved by one group alone.

We should also embed the voices of people with lived experience in the work. They know better than anyone what makes support meaningful, what barriers exist and what restores dignity.

My own story has taught me that services can only take someone so far – what makes the difference is being listened to, valued and supported into belonging.

Bedding belonging to a rough sleeper lies in a doorway on Grey Lynn’s Williamson Ave.

Even with these efforts, demand appears to be growing faster than our systems can cope. Social services are under enormous pressure, facing urgent and complex needs every day. They tell us immediate housing options are desperately needed so people aren’t left sleeping rough while waiting for longer-term pathways.

But we also need to be honest: homelessness is not only about sudden crises in people’s lives. Too often, people fall through the very structures that should provide security – housing, health, education and income. These systemic gaps make homelessness predictable, and therefore preventable.

That’s why prevention must be central to our response. For some, homelessness begins with a crisis – a job loss, a relationship breakdown, an illness. Without strong support networks, those shocks can tip people into homelessness. But if our systems are fair, inclusive and designed to catch people before they fall, homelessness can be stopped before it begins.

Changing perceptions is also vital. Aucklanders without homes are not “others”. They are Aucklanders, neighbours, whānau, friends. Our response reflects who we are as a city. Willingness to listen and simply acknowledging someone’s humanity can make a difference.

However, collective action matters most. Ending homelessness requires sustained investment, long-term planning and collaboration across government, council, service providers and communities. It requires resources for wraparound support so that people are not just housed but equipped to live and thrive.

And it requires us to hold onto hope – the knowledge that homelessness is not inevitable, but solvable. Other cities have shown this is possible. So can we.

I know this because I lived it. At 16, I needed more than a roof – I needed belonging, safety and love. That’s what made me whole again. And that’s what every Aucklander experiencing homelessness deserves.

It is about all of us. And when we act together, with empathy and determination, we can build a city where homelessness is rare, brief and never repeated.