Reaching out to realise shelter dream

FINDING A WAY: Kiri and Kevin Swannell are still looking for money and other resources to relocate a building donated by Property Brokers.

Gary Roselli has seen the devastating impact of poverty up close - the veritable stench and sight of it.

He has witnessed "several" people bunking down in storage sheds, industrial buildings, cars, even a boat and trailer on the roadside. But not all tragic cases were homeless. Some, due to circumstances, lived on their own properties in squalid conditions.

It is in a work capacity he deals with these situations, but here, he speaks as an individual with a concern for those who appear to have lost their voice.

"The most significant and tragic situation was working with a lady who would probably rate as the worst hoarding and self-neglect case that New Zealand has seen," Mr Roselli says.

It's why, he adds, Hawke's Bay needs a facility to accommodate desperate cases short-term, helping them to a better position long-term. Something Kiri and Kevin Swannell are working toward, with Limitless Hope, the Emergency Shelter Appeal backed by Hawke's Bay Today.

He first met Anne* as she shuffled out to a locked gate at the front of her rural Napier property - wearing torn clothing, a beanie and feet wrapped in plastic bread bags beneath gumboots covered in holes. She was wary at first - it took three days for Mr Roselli to get past the gate and a further week to enter the house. Inside it was dark and unfinished after builders walked off the insurance job site following a house fire in which Anne lost "everything".

"She lived in ... a rat-infested house full of rubbish without power, heating, hot water, cooking facilities and furniture."

This is how she existed for 14 years - and how she died last July after succumbing to cancer in Hawke's Bay Hospital, aged 75.

As a teacher until retirement ten years earlier, Anne was well respected - but in other aspects of life she was largely shunned by society. Her pension went on feeding the animals - chickens, ducks and sheep. Her own health deteriorated, not helped by a diet of chocolate bars and yoghurt.

With no warmth she took to sleeping in a car, filling it up with just a little fuel to keep the heater on, though she couldn't drive.

In the ten months before her passing, Mr Roselli reached out and made inroads to turn her life around, helping sort the rubbish inside before organising volunteers to clean the property.

She was willing to change when a visit to the doctor with complaints of a persistent cough and lack of energy revealed advanced pancreatic cancer - her condition went downhill fast.

This is not the only sad tale he has seen, and it won't be the last.

"Currently I am working with an 80-year-old male found living in a house built in 1898. The house was rat-infested and full of rubbish and personal possessions. The house was extremely cold and draughty, no hot water, no flushing toilet and the shower had not been used for years."

His dwelling was being cleared of rubbish and upgraded to make it sanitary and comfortable. Mr Roselli vowed to donate $5000 to Limitless Hope in exchange for a chance to tell his story.

The Swannells are still looking for money and resources to relocate a building donated by Property Brokers and will be meeting to discuss avenues for land and removal. "We will be in a better position to know what's happening by the end of the week," Mrs Swannell said.

Plumber Mark Watkins from Advanced Plumbing HB has offered help with plumbing, drainage and gas, and hoped to work with local suppliers.

-*Anne's name has been changed to protect her identity.

A fundraiser for Limitless Hope will be held at the Thirsty Whale on July 8. Tickets are $50 with half donated to the Emergency Shelter Appeal. Mrs Swannell hoped businesses would come on board to provide goods and services for the raffle and auction evening. Contact Mrs Swannell on 027 3019 491 or to make a donation visit givealittle.co.nz/project/limitlesshope