There's a open letter to @_chloeswarbrick @phil_goff doing the rounds on redit regarding some of the challenges we're exp in the inner city due to the extreme levels of poverty, social exclusion, and truama our whānau are exp-ing. I'm not going to link to the letter but...
... there are a couple of points I want to address.
1) more police and tougher punishment won't make our city safer. The root of these issues are truama and a lack of access to our ppls basic human rights. Punishment does not bring healing, it simply causes more harm
1) more police and tougher punishment won't make our city safer. The root of these issues are truama and a lack of access to our ppls basic human rights. Punishment does not bring healing, it simply causes more harm
2. If we're serious abt addressing the challenges our city is exp than we need 2 get serious about providing whānau w/housing, a liveable income, access to MH/health services, support tht meets their needs Poverty is the underlying issue, eradicate it, and we'll make some prgrss
3. Emergency Housing isn't housing. At best it's a shelter, but pple in E.H are still homeless, and still exp the truama and harm that comes as a result of this. We need to do more to ensure our whānau have access to this fundamental and basic human right
4. Our whānau are not the problem, our failure to care for them is. What disappointed me about the letter is the manner which it dehumanized our pple. Again, the issue here is truama and a lack of access to what all pple need to thrive.
5. The letter stokes fear and dehumanizes a diverse community. Today I spoke with a young wahine toa who has been homeless since she was 15. Still in E.H, she spends her time caring 4 the other rangatahi in her situation.
She's also in recovery, and is clean, despite the challenges she's facing. She does not fit the stereotype she's been portrayed as. Many don't. Our homeless whānau r sme of the most courageous and loving pple I know.
6. Let's set our sites higher. It's easy to jump to calls for "more punishment/police", but we know that won't solve our challenges. Why not envision an Auckland City Centre where all our pple are housed with dignity. Where everyone has access to Kai, health care, love and..
..support. What if Auckland Central got serious about eradicating poverty and homelessness. Not by kicking or shaming people out of our city, but by embracing each other, by seeing our joint humanity, by ensuring we all had what we need to thrive.
We could lead the world in how to respond to these challenges. We could create a city where people would love to work, live, play. We can achieve this, but we have to be willing to look past simplistic solutions to complex problems
And lastly, @nzherald @TheSpinoffTV @NewshubNZ @NZStuff @NewstalkZB I'm aware this letter has likely been sent to you and some of you may run it. I'd ask u to reflect on if and how you do so. This letter is not the full story....
...and is marginalizing an already marginalized community. The more airtime and space it gets, the more damage being done. If u do run it, I hope u will centre the stories of those actually being harmed here, and place it within its appropriate context.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
