Help the Homeless!

How is it possible that there are so many homeless people and families in New Zealand? Families who used to live in a house but had to move out because the prices just got too high? Families who’s parents still go to work full time but do just not earn enough money to buy food and afford some place to live?

When they’re lucky, you could say, they live in other famillies garages. Many just ‘live’ in their cars with their little children! That is no good place for a kid to ‘live’ and grow up in!! Whithout proper bathrooms, toilets and washing facilities these kids will get sick!

I think you should always be able to afford some kind of roof over your head either a house, or a flat or whatever but definitely something where everyone has a bed, a bathroom, kitchen and just a warm shelter. It’s defintitely one of the tasks of the government to make sure of that!

In Germany, even when you’re unemployed, you get money from the government and can live in an appartment. Of course there are restrictions as to the size of it and so on but still you don’t become homeless!

There are initiatives and programmes like ‘Manaaki Tangata’ who try to help these homeless by giving them shelter, food and warm clothes for the winter. One Auckland marae appeals to the public and tries to get more help from as many people as possible so they can provide the homeless with all the things they need as soon as possible and to get them through the cold winter months. This is a great way to give the poor families immediate help and there should be many many more of these initiatives to make sure the homeless people are ok.

Another problem in New Zealand is the fact that most of the people living there are used to living in their own house with a garden attached to it and so on. They don’t like living in apartments or flats unless they’re students. I think this is an idea you have to leave alone if you want to give all those poor homeless families a home.

For long term support I think that the government should build new homes for them. They could continue the idea of state housing but instead of many little houses build big appartment buildings where many many people will be able to live in. The appartments will of course not be too big and the buildings may not be too pretty but at least lots of them could have a roof over their heads and there would be more space to put up more of these buildings.