"Moving a problem along, doesn't solve the problem." @_chloeswarbrick
About 4 yrs ago the business association in a community I was serving in decided that it wanted to do something about the rough sleeping whānau in our hood
About 4 yrs ago the business association in a community I was serving in decided that it wanted to do something about the rough sleeping whānau in our hood
There were some real challenges being exp, w/begging on the streets, pple suffering from complex MH/Addiction , extreme poverty and whānau who had no where else but the street to call home
The business association wanted us and the police to move the whānau on. Of course we knew this wouldn't solve the issue. We had whānau suffering from poverty and homelessness, that was the problem that needed addressing.
So, we pulled people together. We worked w/local housing providers, the police, msd, the business association, and our street whānau. We encouraged the community to ask the whānau what they needed, and than worked 2gthr to provide it.
We were a small service w/limited resources, and so weren't able to help everyone. But, working collectively as a community we did see several of our whānau housed and changed the conversation in our community.
The moment that sticks with me to this day is when one of our street whānau joined our community hui. Brah, he spoke truth. Sitting in a room w/police, community leaders, business ass, he shared his exp, he preached the desperate need 4 the #Right2Housing for his whānau.
A story that began with the dehumanization of him and his people, ended with the revelation of his humanity. The community saw him, they heard him, they could not ignore him anymore. They were driven to act.
We all see the world through a particular lens. The author of the reddit letter sees criminals and lay-abouts, and so naturally wants police and punishment, I see truama and the suffering of our most vulnerable whānau, and to that punishment will not do. What our whānau need...
...is healing, justice, housing and an end to the injustice they are expierencing. Focusing on the problems doesn't solve these issue. They exist because we've allowed inequality...
... and injustice to become the norm in our society. Instead of focusing on the challenges, we need to cast a grander vision of who we could be and the sort of society we want to create. A society where all pple have adequate housing, enough food to eat, and a caring community
... around them that can love and support them. We could create this in Auckland Central. But, more police and harsher punishments won't bring this vision about.
@BernardOrsman @nzherald if you want to write about how we can actually go about addressing...
@BernardOrsman @nzherald if you want to write about how we can actually go about addressing...
...the challenges our community is facing, hit us up.
I can't emphasis engh, our pple are not the problem. Homelessness, poverty, inequality, these are the issues we must adress. And fast.
I can't emphasis engh, our pple are not the problem. Homelessness, poverty, inequality, these are the issues we must adress. And fast.
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