Reaching Out to the Most Marginalised - during lock-down

Last year, we invited you to join DCM’s Street Outreach team on a typical day, as they headed out to connect with people who were rough sleeping or street begging on Wellington’s streets (see story here).

This month, we checked back in with the team, to see how different a “typical day” has been during the COVID-19 lock-down.

The day begins bright and early with a Zoom catch-up for the Outreach team. Before and during the first few weeks of lock-down, their priority has been connecting with people rough sleeping, and sleeping in their cars, and getting them in to emergency accommodation.

“Government and other agencies worked together to rapidly increase the supply of emergency housing in response to the COVID crisis, and so we have been able to get rooms for many of these people, some of whom were not even prepared to consider such an option before the lockdown,” explains Outreach team leader, Natalia. “At DCM, we often talk about “Ki te hoe” or “pick up the paddle”. What is it that motivates someone to finally pick up the paddle and do what it takes to get off the streets and into housing? In this case, concerns about limited access to food and toilets during lock-down, seeing that there weren’t the same opportunities to supplement their income through street begging with the streets empty, and being offered appealing accommodation, including new facilities, some of which provide three meals a day. COVID-19 and the lock-down have offered us a unique opportunity in our work to end homelessness.”

Zoom meeting over, Natalia and Chris head in to the city to meet at the train station where there are two people rough sleeping. Carol is a woman who is new in town; the other is Brian who has worked with DCM in the past but has only recently returned to Wellington. Natalia calls through to another DCM team member who arranges for two units in emergency accommodation to be booked in their names. Because Carol does not know Wellington and has had trouble finding her way around, Brian agrees to go with her and to show her the way. Later in the day, Natalia hears from DCM kaimahi Regina that the two of them have checked in and are settled in the new accommodation.

Natalia and Chris continue to walk through town, touching base with a number of vulnerable people out on the otherwise largely empty streets. One man in Midland Park is known to them; he is now housed in a Wellington City Council tenancy. He tells them that he has no money after rent and expenses for power, and so comes in to the park to use the free wi-fi and power points. He has a cup of tea in a styrofoam cup and when Natalia asks him how he has managed to get a hot drink, he shows her the kettle which he has brought from home to use the public power. He is happy to have a chat, but refuses any offer of a food parcel – “I would rather die than accept charity". He says he would be happy to chat more if they see him in the park again.

Alan is on his way to the supermarket to do his shopping with his reusable bag on him. They hardly recognise him. He is one of the long-term rough sleepers with untreated mental health issues who DCM has recently got in to emergency housing and he just looks so well; he has put on some weight and is calm and friendly.

Next task for the Outreach team is to deliver phones to some of the men who are now in emergency housing. “One of our very first responses to the COVID-19 crisis at DCM was to purchase phones for our whānau so that they can keep in touch with us, and us with them,” explains Natalia. “Morten has been rough sleeping and we wanted to get him in to emergency housing but had no way of getting in contact with him. Robert and Chris went out and found him and arranged emergency accommodation for him, and Chris will be working with him to get him in to permanent social housing.” The team heads up to Mt Cook to drop off the phone they have purchased for Morten – handed over from a safe distance by Chris! They explain to Morten that DCM is operating an 0800 phone support service for whānau to call, seven days a week, during the lock-down. Today, Outreach team member Robert is manning the 0800 number from his home, another change the COVID crisis has brought in the work that the team is doing.

“Usually our team is kept busy responding to notifications where people are concerned for rough sleepers or street beggars,” says Natalia. “However over the last few weeks there have only been two or three notifications, and they have been about people who we already know. It’s not surprising that the notifications have dropped off - there are less people rough sleeping as we have got most of them into accommodation, fewer members of the public out on the street to notice the vulnerable community, and the regular street beggars themselves are not out on the street. It’s an indication that if we stop the supply (people giving money to street beggars) we may stop the demand (people choosing to beg). DCM and our partners are together able to provide vulnerable people with the wrap-around support they need, and the public do not need to feel that they should put money in a hat for people begging. It's also important to note that during the lock-down, benefit payments increased and in early May the power payment kicks in, giving people more discretionary income. A lot of positives have come out of this very challenging time.”

With a growing group of rough sleepers now in emergency housing, the Outreach team can begin to prioritise supporting them to take the next steps. This afternoon, Natalia and team member Janet, who is regularly based at the Wellington City Mission in Newtown to connect with rough sleepers and street beggars in that area, catch up by phone to talk about these next steps, and what they might be able to achieve next week when we move to Level 3. “The next step is to follow up with whānau, and to have more kōrero with them about housing,” agrees Janet. “There’s a window of opportunity while we know where they are, to talk about their situations and to do the groundwork to get them on the path to housing. With all of them having been given phones, perhaps during Level 3 we can set up a brief initial meeting outside the complex with individuals so we can put each other’s names to faces, then continue the kōrero remotely.”

Natalia reflects on what Janet has suggested, and on what success looks like for the people her team work with every day. One whānau, a rough sleeper who DCM has worked with for several years, has unmet addiction needs and challenges around cognitive functioning, but has now managed to sustain emergency accommodation throughout the lock-down period. He's having weekly visits and phone calls from the DCM team and although he continues to drink, there have been no concerns raised about him by the motel owners nor by the team who have been visiting him. “This is very different from past experience with this man - this time he has managed to stick to the rules, and we haven’t seen him begging during this time either, which is his usual pattern. This is a success for him, despite it being early days.”

“In other cases where rough sleepers were very reluctant to try emergency housing, even during the lock-down, they are now thriving in their new accommodation, and are even supporting other whānau in the same complex in many different ways.”

“DCM is totally committed to a Housing First approach; this means that we will work with those we have been able to get off the streets and in to emergency housing, to get their names on to the social housing register and to work together to access a permanent home for them. This is something that for many of them would have been inconceivable a few months ago; but now they have taken a giant step, and this has opened up a whole new world of possibilities to them. Who knew that a time like this could be the greatest support in achieving our goal of ending homelessness in our city?”