COMMENT: People in crisis need help, not judgment made in ignorance, writes the mother of a family once homeless.

Boxing legend David Tua will sleep in his car for a night next week, joining a growing national movement calling for houses for homeless families.

New homes and sections created under the Auckland Housing Accord have dropped below target as the building industry struggles to find extra labour.

Homeless people who get a grant of up to $5000 to leave Auckland will now get cash payments of a further $2000 or $3000 on top of actual moving costs.

Marking World Refugee Day, the Herald spoke to a refugee family who escaped from Laos to New Zealand 33 years ago, risking their lives to do so.

Vulnerable youths were at risk in a youth justice residence, while other facilities have an institutional feel and "prison-like" secure care, says a report.

Mangere Town Centre carpark is packed with people this evening as they prepare to sleep in their cars for an event raising awareness on homelessness.

Hundreds spend night in cars in support of homeless families.

Mangere Town Centre carpark is packed with people this evening as they prepare to sleep in their cars for an event raising awareness on homelessness.

Foketi Purcell gave her longtime friend Brenda Sekona a car, a thank you for taking her and her family in when two years earlier they had nowhere else to go.

COMMENT: On average around 200 Americans are killed and wounded in mass shootings every month

Richard Edwards and Janet Hoek suggest the next targets in the campaign against smoking should be dairies and other outlets selling tobacco products.

COMMENT: New Zealand's annual refugee intake of 750 was disgracefully low. An intake of 1000 is not much better.

Housing New Zealand is being accused of causing homelessness by evicting people who can't get rehoused anywhere else.

Warriors star James Gavet has been through a lot in his 27 years, on and off the football field. Now he's using his life experiences to help those in need.

Homeless people sleeping rough pose a visible challenge to all of us. The poor who camp in public places and beg in streets make themselves very visible.

Hallee Sorenson from Maine in the US invited all her friends and classmates for some bowling to celebrate her birthday in July last year but no one came.

New Auckland City Missioner Chris Farrelly feels he is walking into the middle of a homeless crisis that no NZer would ever have expected.

At first, the baby looked as "if it were still alive".

Conservative lobby group blames "family malformation" - including parental breakups - as major culprit.

A drunken brawl that left Melissa Ansin's partner George Siaosi trapped in his own body highlights the battle to create a safe city at night.

COMMENT: There's been far too much hysterical hanky wringing over the so-called problems of homelessness and poverty lately.

Lizzie Marvelly is the musician who has finally found her voice. She talks to Kim Knight about being young, female and opinionated.

A man who spent 18 years in state care says he is "terrified" by the Budget changes to Child, Youth and Family.

Child poverty advocates say the Budget provides no relief for families struggling to cope with high rents and low incomes.

In 1993, New Zealand ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

More than 260 people have signed up so far to sleep in their cars on the night of June 16 to show solidarity with homeless families.

A young mother whose 2-year-old daughter died a violent death four years ago is now organising a group of residents to feed local families living in cars.