A homeless man waits to cross the road on Auckland's Queen Street. Photo: RNZ / Bailey Brannon
Bracing for the relentless onslaught of wet winter days, people living on the streets of Auckland declare themselves warriors in an unyielding battle to stay warm.
In the last year, the number of residents notifying Auckland City Mission about the welfare of people sleeping rough has doubled.
The notifications sounded the alarm on the dire conditions faced by those huddled in flimsy cardboard shelters, seeking refuge at bus stops, or living in their vehicles.
Homeless for 11 years, 36-year-old Ricky said he had seen more and more new faces joining his street whānau every day and they were young.
"It's the younger generation now, it looks like they just dropped off school. And sometimes you can tell they are up to no good."
He said his street family was always very welcoming.
"We check on them, check if they are OK, if they need anything. It's a hard place to be and we know that."
Ricky said to face winter on the streets, you have to be strong.
"It's hard, it's not easy. It's the hardest thing in the whole life.
"You gotta be a soldier, you know. The hurtfullest [sic] feeling in someone's life is to be sit in here. Sometimes, I just can't do it."
He said the help of other was what kept him warm.
"I have a warm jacket someone gave to me. A warm hoodie we got from the Mission, some strong pants and another pant underneath this one," he said.
"People help us a lot. Everything I am wearing it was given to me. The socks, the shoes, everything."
Ricky said he spent the nights under a fried chicken shop at Queen Street.
"The shelter is already there, the cardboard that keep us warm. I just need a few cushions and my sleeping bag, and I'm sorted."
Number of notifications doubled - City Mission
Auckland City Mission said the number of welfare calls they receive had doubled since last year, as poverty forced more and more people to live rough.
The calls came from people worried about the situation of those without a roof, and could be related to health concerns, poor sheltering conditions or anything that could represent a hazard for people's health and safety.
City Mission's Māori general manager Joanne Reid welcomed the extra sets of eyes who were looking out for those doing it tough.
A cardboard shelter in the Auckland CBD. Photo: RNZ / Bailey Brannon
"The notifications from people concerned about those on the streets has had a jump in the last year, mostly after the incident where an elderly woman was found deceased in a vehicle in Remuera.
"We get a lot of people that come into our front-of-housing service, wanting to have a shower, looking for clothing, for bedding, food and housing support."
She said City Mission crews were visiting people on the streets to check on their welfare.
"It is getting colder and colder, and the rain has been incessant. To the whānau on the streets, all their clothing and their bedding is constantly getting soaked and there's nowhere for them to dry it.
"Our crews visit them during the week and check on their welfare. Some of them say they are safer on the streets, so we provide them with what they need to stay warm and dry."
Not enough support for youth - advocate
Youth advocate Aaron Hendry said the system was lacking a safe network for young people experiencing hardship.
"Young people, we often see [young people] develop really complex and addiction challenges due to experiencing homelessness, and we need to have a safety net for them to reach out."
Hendry said teenagers sleeping rough could become easy targets of abuse and sexual harassment.
"We don't have adequate services and support for young people when they end up in that situation.
"We need to do more to protect our children."
No data on homeless
Although there was no current data on how many people were living on the streets in Auckland, an analysis of 2018 Census data by the University of Otago found 18,417 Aucklanders met the definition of homeless.
Auckland Council said the number of homeless people in the city was likely to have been understated because of the unknown number of people living in uninhabitable dwellings, the complexities involved in reaching the homeless and a reluctance by households to reveal their true circumstances.
Meanwhile, as of March, more than 24,000 people around New Zealand were still waiting for social housing.