Downtown Community Ministry encouraged Wellingtonians to look out for the street community tonight. Photo / 123rf
Downtown Community Ministry encouraged Wellingtonians to look out for the street community tonight. Photo / 123rf
Rough sleepers in Wellington are urged to seek shelter tonight, as the capital is expected to be hit with more wild weather.
Snow, sleet and wind, along with low temperatures greeted Wellingtonians this morning after a freak hail storm overnight.
More wild weather was predicted moving into the afternoon and evening, with Wellington Mayor Andy Foster declaring a local state of emergency from 3.30pm.
Downtown Community ministry (DCM) team leader Natalia Cleland said they had two outreach teams looking for rough sleepers on Tuesday morning.
Plenty of showers from the south, even some icy showers in elevated parts of Wellington
"We've had two teams of people around the city looking for people who are rough sleeping in their cars and up in the bush," she said.
"We do it every day anyway but obviously today with the weather being pretty bad we're out there making sure people have got plans and somewhere to be tonight."
She encouraged people sleeping rough to get in touch with DCM, or directly with Work and Income - who would be able to arrange emergency housing.
The usual food services would remain available, such as lunches available at the Soup Kitchen and the free store on Willis St.
"There's a lot of free food and access to food around - always has been, always will be – and in terms of accommodation it's probably going to be pretty similar to what it has been, the motels and backpackers and transitional housing."
Downtown Community Ministry encouraged people sleeping rough to seek shelter tonight. Photo / 123rf
She said severe weather conditions could sometimes act as a circuit breaker for people who had become accustomed to sleeping rough.
"In some ways we're trying to encourage people to come in and feel uncomfortable by the weather," she said.
"There are some people that are pretty hardened and they don't really want any support right now.
"But we'll just keep going back to those people because there will come a time where they go 'I've had enough of this', and maybe that will be tonight once the weather sets in."
The extreme weather could also make members of the public more inclined to consider the wellbeing of the street community.
"People might be more vigilant and might be taking note of people being out in the street whereas perhaps on a finer day they might not have worried so much," she said.
"If Wellingtonians notice someone rough sleeping or they're taking their dog for a walk in the horrendous weather and they notice a tent pitched in the bush, we're also saying let us know because we have an outreach service."
"We're definitely encouraging people if they see people out and about sleeping in a tent or in their cars to let the council know or let DCM know and we'll go out and see that person."
Wild swells are expected to continue on Wellington's South coast this evening. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Wellington City Mission Community services general manager Olivia Lange said all of their usual services were open, and would have increased capacity following the move to alert level 1 at midnight.
"We no longer have a night shelter but we do have transitional housing services. To access those housing services they do need to go to Work and Income, and we've got social workers that are available to help with that."
They also had a community lounge in Newtown which was open between 9.30am and 3.30pm each day. However they had not noticed an increase in demand due to the restrictions of level 2.
"Because of level 2 it's been quite quiet, we had social distancing in place … we've only had 30 people in there at a time," she said.
"It doesn't quite tell the full story. If the polar blast extends and we drop back down to level 1 we'll probably see a bit more activity over the next few days.
"It's a bit hard to tell right now what's really going on."
Despite the lower numbers at the community lounge, Lange said they knew rough sleepers in Wellington were mostly well connected to services, and knew where to find help.
Regional Commissioner for Social Development Gagau Annandale-Stone also encouraged people who needed help to get in touch with MSD.
"It is important people know that no-one needs to be living rough and we are here to help," Annandale-Stone said.
"Our role at MSD is to look at potential support available to help people stay in their current accommodation and ensure people with no other housing options are supported into suitable emergency accommodation.
"We encourage anyone who is in need to get in touch with us so we can discuss accommodation options available to them."
