Support for struggling families, our homeless whanau and those living in poverty has not been up to the task for decades says Bernie Smith, CEO of Auckland’s Catholic Monte Cecilia Housing Trust. He is adamant. We might want to blame COVID and the war in Ukraine for our economic woes, he says. But everyone (except Read more
Families locked in poverty will stay that way despite the 1 April benefit increases, a new study by the Fairer Future Collaboration discovered. Fairer Future Collaboration spokesperson Brooke Pao Stanley, of Auckland Action Against Poverty, says it’s time for the Government to “level up” income support so everyone can live with dignity. Poverty was forcing Read more
The Covid-19 virus pushed 4.7 million Southeast Asian people into extreme poverty in 2021. According to the an Asian Development Bank (ADB) report presented at the Southeast Asia Development Symposium, 9.3 million jobs have disappeared. The ADB’s “Southeast Asia Rising from the Pandemic” report says the Omicron variant could make matters worse. It predicts the Read more
An Auckland-based organisation is helping the city’s most vulnerable people in the most unlikely of ways – with empty potato chip packets. The Chip Packet Project (CPPNZ) was founded in September 2021 during lockdown, and was a spin-off of the UK-based organisation, Crisp Packet Project. The organisation collects freshly-washed chip packets, or any foil-wrapped food Read more
Ten years after the Auckland City Mission – Te Tāpui Atawhai – began working on finding a new home, it has finally opened its doors. Called HomeGround, Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson (pictured at the new facility) says its new one-stop health and social services space for the city’s most vulnerable people realises a long-held Read more
Those running the region’s foodbanks warn as the cost of living increases so too will financial hardship and the queues of people looking for assistance. According to Statistics New Zealand, food prices in New Zealand have increased 4.5 per cent in the year ending December 2021, pushed by an increase of 2.6 per cent in Read more
Aucklanders who rely on benefits say they are just “trying to survive”. Hardship support from Work and Income has amounted to a “pittance”, they say. Advocates for Auckland Action Against Poverty (AAAP) and beneficiaries using their services say the support offered this year did not match that of the first lockdown. Just surviving is a Read more
Outgoing Children’s Commissioner Judge Andrew Becroft has harsh words to describe children’s wellbeing in New Zealand. Aotearoa New Zealand is a great place to be a child if you are rich, white and able-bodied. The reality for at least 125,000 children, however, includes abuse, neglect, poverty and poor health and education outcomes. Over the last Read more
For Catholics who put their faith first, before anything else, there is one way – above all others – to view the life and death issues facing local communities, the nation and the world: and that is, through the lens of the Gospel and Catholic social teaching! But instead, it clearly appears that more often Read more
The Salvation Army is calling on the Government to impose rent freezes, among other measures, to help those most in need as demand for food and housing support skyrockets. Since lockdown began at 11:59pm on August 17, there has been an 84 percent increase in demand for emergency food parcels, with the rising need concentrated Read more