Two Gisborne women with children in their care were almost left without a roof over their head this week after their emergency accommodation provider kicked them out for entertaining guests.
Antoinette Tiepa feared she would be living out of her car once again after being issued an eviction notice from the motel. She is living with another women and her family who was also ejected. Photo: LDR / Liam Clayton/Gisborne Herald
One has been provided a new home through Kāinga Ora, and has opened it up to the other because she couldn't bear to see her left on the street.
Although the women have somewhere to stay for now, housing advocate Tuta Ngarimu believes the incident highlights major issues with the current system.
"The reality of kicking people out onto the streets is, we all know that there is absolutely nothing out there," he said.
On Wednesday, Charlene Tumanako and Antoinette Tiepa contacted Ngarimu about their predicament after being issued eviction notices from Colonial on Gladstone Motel where they had been staying for five months and one month respectively.
Tumanako has four children in her care - one of whom is autistic - and Tiepa has three.
The pair said they had been ordered to leave because of visitors they had on site, with Tumanako also saying the motel took exception to her daughter being "too loud" when she walked down the driveway.
Tumanako was offered a place to live by Kāinga Ora on Thursday but Ngarimu said the situation was typical of a system that required already-struggling individuals to be proactive if they wanted to get anywhere.
"There's some really deep issues here with our whānau. They become so reliant on the system and they don't want to upset anybody, and upset their chances. They've worked their way up and now they're 120th on the list (housing register), and they're afraid that if they try and push things they're going to go back down to the bottom of the list.
"So there's all that tug of war stuff going on too."
Colonial on Gladstone Motel issued eviction notices to emergency accommodation recipients last week because they were allegedly breaking the rules. Photo: LDR / Liam Clayton/Gisborne Herald
Ngarimu said the issue showed a need for mediation between emergency housing recipients and the providers, who he believed should be held to higher account by the government.
The ever-worsening issue of homelessness in Tairāwhiti has been highlighted by numerous tales of hardship in the past few years.
In December, desperation forced a homeless family of seven to squat in an empty house managed by Kāinga Ora after being without a fixed abode for two years.
In January, Gisborne District Council ordered Tressa Ropiha to leave her temporary living arrangement under a bridge or face police action.
Ropiha, in her late 40s, had been sleeping rough for over four years.
Gisborne city councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown is a vocal advocate for homeless people in the city and agrees the need is only increasing.
Gisborne district councillor Meredith Akuhata-Brown is a strong advocate for homeless people in the city. She says children are the main victims of the housing crisis. Photo: LDR / Rebecca Grunwell/Gisborne Herald
"We do have this key issue of deciding what is the priority in our nation. And if it's not housing people, then what is it?" she said.
Akuhata-Brown said homelessness and transient housing was particularly hard on children, and one of the worst cases she'd seen was a child who'd attended 22 different schools by the time he was Year 7.
"These kids live in a highly anxious [environment]... 'Are we gonna be here for a long time?' 'Is it our house?' 'Am I allowed to put a picture on the wall?'
"You put a dynamic of nervous... anxious, angry, sad... in a little person who just has to suck it up and get over it."
Akuhata-Brown said she knew of two motels that were "totally chocker" with emergency housing recipients, and landlords were the only winners on the day.
"They [providers] are making considerable money from this, so they can be picky. Right now, the crisis means you will fill those two spaces with tenants because they're just in a merry-go-round of choice.
"They're making so much money from human need."
Ministry of Social Development regional commissioner Karen Bartlett said she understood the motelier gave verbal notice to Tumanako and Tiepa on Wednesday that no further accommodation would be offered due to several breaches of their rules of stay.
The news was also delivered by a letter which was given to the pair when they attended a case managers meeting the same day.
"We expect our clients to receive the same quality of service as any other paying guest staying at a motel. Likewise, we expect our clients to observe the rules and conditions of the accommodation supplier," Bartlett said.
"Moteliers may require a guest to acknowledge the rules of stay as a condition of accommodation."
Bartlett said the motel agreed to extend Tumanako and Tiepa's stay until alternative accommodation could be found, but the pair returned their keys and vacated.
Colonial on Gladstone Motel owners were approached for comment, but were unclear about whether they had issued an eviction notice or not.
They said their motel was not being used for emergency housing.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
