People blaming high crime on those who live at a city mission apartment block have the wrong end of the stick, residents say.
Rupert D'Arth is among 80 residents of Auckland City Mission apartment block, Te Ao Mārama, on a side street in the city's red light district near Karangahape Road.
He was at a recent community hui where locals raised concerns about crime and pointed fingers at the place where he lives.
"There's always been violence, there's always been drugs, all that stuff on K' Road," D'Arth said.
"It's not Ponsonby Road, it's different, it has more flair and colour if you want to say it that way, instead of violence and crime."
He was the first resident to rent an apartment when the city mission took on the building's lease a year and a half ago, and is now part of the local business and safety associations.
Many of the apartment's residents struggled with addiction and mental health, and D'Arth said he understood the community's concerns but they had security and wrap-around support.
For D'Arth, having an apartment of his own was a second chance.
He had been homeless for over a year, staying in emergency accommodation during the pandemic, before being offered a city mission apartment.
"I always felt unsafe. I'd go out to get my groceries to come out and they could lift the door, slide it across, and everything I had was gone. Blankets, pillows, everything so it was like starting again every day."
D'Arth said his new place felt safe but it took about six months for people to settle in - many had been sleeping rough.
"I was scared of these people because they're street people, that's rude to say but I didn't know if they were violent or all about drugs so I was a little stand-offish at the start."
He said there had been an adjustment period for those who had not had a roof over their head beforehand.
Te Ao Marama resident Rupert D'Arth. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
"We've come from all these separate people thrown together ... it's changed to a beehive of a community of some sort and it's nicer," D'Arth said.
"Now that everyone knows that it's their space the respect has gotten a lot higher."
He lives on the top level, while the first eight floors are reserved for those with high needs.
"We all have some sort of mental issue at a certain level. Mine's basic anxiety, depression, which is very common....you've just got to adapt because we're all different."
A social worker visited D'Arth on Mondays and there were alcohol and drug recovery groups he could attend, he said.
"It feels like I've got support from every direction."
He said repeated calls for more police on the beat in the central city had made a difference.
"When they walk around, all the naughty boys, they scatter. They've learned the times that the police come and those are the times I feel safer."
Another resident, Rachel*, said those living in the apartments were not to blame for the neighbourhood problems.
"I don't think it's the fault of Day Street because the apartments are lovely, they are well catered for, we've got 24-hour security," she said.
"There's always going to be that margin that's rotters but you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. Being reactive all the time and jumping up and down when it's not the best solution and what do you do, where do people go?"
The former Haka Hotel on Day Street is now known as Te Ao Mārama. Photo: RNZ / Finn Blackwell
Rachel said it was a relief to rent a city mission apartment.
A combination of adversities left her homeless - she slept in her car for a few years and was placed in emergency housing.
She said she felt secure at the apartments, but was often mindful of her safety when walking in the area.
"Personally I think isn't it a policing thing, to do with what's going on in K' Road. You can't do a witch hunt on a certain building or demographic because they belong to the city mission or something."
Rachel said it was not an area for "primroses and whatnot" and people on the edge of society needed more support.
"At least people can be monitored more. If you put a big group out into suburbs you don't know who's going to fall through the cracks and what's going to happen," she said.
"Without Covid our normal would be different now. Your budget wouldn't be as tight, you'd have more resources at your fingertips."
There will be another community meeting this month about anti-social behaviour and crime around K' Road.
In March, mayor Wayne Brown wrote to Auckland Transport asking for CCTV to be installed in Day Street.
"The street, despite being small, is riddled with crime," Brown said.
"The police highlighted to me that they have responded to 113 requests for assistance within the Day Street area in the past 12 months."
Auckland City Mission's general manager of housing, Natasha Mackie. Photo: RNZ/Marika Khabazi
Auckland City Mission's general manager of housing, Natasha Mackie, said the apartments were part of the solution to anti-social behaviour, not the problem.
"K' Road is an edgy kind of place, it always has been.
"We have 80 residents who have come to us from a variety of backgrounds, some with complex needs, and we're working with them to address those needs. I think the alternative is a pretty stark situation where we would potentially be making people homeless."
As well as round-the-clock security, a support worker was based at the apartments and around half the tenants were supported by social workers.
Mackie said 51 tenants had been there for more than a year.
"What we've seen over time since we opened about 18 months ago, a real settling of a community and people being able to build neighbourly relationships between each other."
Mackie said the residents had tenancy agreements, there were body corporate rules and harmful criminal behaviour was not tolerated.
"We are really holding a space open for people to engage well as tenants however if we are seeing harmful criminal behaviour we do not tolerate that and we will work...to move people on to a more suitable housing solution."
Mackie said there was huge demand for such housing.
"We do not have enough housing places to provide homes for them. I can't give you the exact numbers but we could fill our building at Day Street twice, three times over."
D'Arth said it was a chance to have a fresh start.
"I felt like I'd won the lottery to start afresh in a place," he said.
"The city mission, Lifewise, Streets to Home all had my back and were like 'we'll get you somewhere safe so you can get back on track, get your life back together' and it is, it's all starting to fall back into place."
* name has been changed