March 31, 2026 • 14 mins
Nick is joined in the studio by Dwell Housing CEO Elizabeth Lester to chat about their new campaign 'It Starts With Home' and how the move on orders are effecting their community.
Dwell Housing is a registered charity that provides housing through safe, affordable homes to individuals and families across the Wellington region. Their current campaign focuses on housing for local families.
With the new move on orders coming into effect - and forcing rough sleepers out of certain areas - Lester shares how this is effecting the homeless community
Lester shares how the public can help the charity, what Dwell have done so far, and what they want to accomplish this year.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks B Right, let's.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Talk to a very special guest, because be honest, a
growing number of people in the city. Housing isn't about
getting ahead, it's about not falling behind. Because homelessness doesn't
always look like what you think. It's not just rough sleeping.
It's families and cars, people's CouchSurfing, people one bad week
away from losing everything. And that's where dwell Housing comes in.
(00:38):
They provide long term affordable housing, not just for emergency fixes,
but stable homes so people can actually rebuild their lives
right now, like much of the sect that they are
under real pressure. How bad is it and how about
how about us actually helping and giving something? CEO of
(00:58):
dwell Housing is Elizabeth Lester, and she joins me now,
good morning and welcome. Can you get a bit closer
to that microphone please? Good morning, good morning. How bad
is it out there?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It's pretty tough. There's about between two and three thousand
households in the Wellington area that have been classed as
needing urgent housing. So that's tough, and you know, we're
doing our best, but there's a lot more need than
we can provide.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Now, this could be that number again.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Between two and three thousand households in the Wellington.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Region that are doing it really tough, that have.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Been classed as needing urgent housing.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So where are they staying?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
They are in cars, they are on couches, they are
in emergency housing, they're rough sleeping, overcrowded households, you name it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So how can dwell fix that?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's a large number. We can't do it alone. So
we need really government to help, charities, community housing providers.
But we need a really good plan, you know, a
long term strategy on how we can fix this problem.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
How many people are you helping right now? How many
people you got on your books and helping right now?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Right now we're housing about two hundred and fifty people
in Wellington City and in the Hut, but we'd like
to do a lot more.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
How can you How can you afford to do that?
How does it.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Work with governments help? So our tenants pay twenty five
percent of their income and the government tops that up
to market rent, which sounds expensive, but you know, when
you think about what we're paying in other areas health
justice corrections, when we don't invest in that then you
know that stacks up to it.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So how do you differ from conger or housing council housing.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
We don't. We're very similar, same sort of offering, but
we like to think that we take a bit more
of a local focus. You know, we know the agencies
that we need to pair with these people, you know
DCM Women's Refuge. It goes just beyond the four walls
of a home. You really have to connect people with
the services they need for long term success.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So how can people that are listening to this show
help Dwell?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Well, right now, we need properties. We're leasing from the
private rental market and so we are in need of properties.
We also just want community support. You know, we really
want people to acknowledge that this is not a quick fix.
We are not interested in this move on strategy which
(03:26):
is a you know, election year band aid.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Really I want to get to that as a separate
As we get to that, we'll get to that because
obviously that's big for you.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, yeah, but so we need support. We're also fundraising.
You know, we can't do everything with government support. We
need to come up with the deposit when we build
a village ourselves right now. We've got a campaign running
called it Starts with Home, which is really focusing on
key we kids and what housing offers to them, you know,
the pathway for success. You know, home is really the
(03:57):
foundation for everything else. Children who grow up in stable housing,
they do better at school, you know, they have opportunities.
You know, when we talk about a running race. If
there's a running race, my kids are at the starting
line with their shoes on because they have a home
over the heads. These kids aren't even at the starting line,
they're way back. So we want to focus on what
housing does for our key Wee kids and so if
(04:19):
you are interested in that campaign, it Starts with Home
dot com. We're also running a fundraiser. You can text
two two seven to two.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Can you give us a little bit more on what
you're going to do.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
What we're going to do is provide homes. That's our specialty.
We partner with organizations like DCM, Wellington City Mission, other
organizations that provide the social services. But what we're interested
in is the long term solutions.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So how do people find you guys? Apart from on
the next A lot of these people don't even have
internet and stuff like that. How does somebody do other
agencies give people to you as well? Do they say, look,
we can't take this guy, can you look after them?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yes, so they refer them to us. We have a
group of housing providers in Wellington Replacement Group. If you're
on the Social Housing Register and a vacancy comes up,
that group will hear about it, and you're third on.
You know, we're not alone. There are other amazing organizations
in the city, Teto, Mahana, Wesley, you know, hair Heading Accorda.
There's a group of us doing the same thing.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
So if I was really really down on my luck
and I needed somewhere today, how do I is there?
Would I be looked afterward? I have to stay in
my car?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Unfortunately, it's very tough to get into emergency housing now,
so you know that how does that work? You'd go
into it, you'd go into an MSD office, you would
apply for housing. You know that temporary solution was emergency housing.
It's now very hard to access. You know, a lot
of those people are deemed to have contributed to their
(05:46):
own homelessness, which is pretty tough, pretty tough criteria. You know,
if you're suffering from trauma, if you've come out of
you know, abuse in state care, you know you've had
the system has let you down, then there are a
number of ways that you can be declined emergency housing,
and right now there is no temporary solution.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So what's your biggest obstacle? Any houses or red tape money?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Really, you know, if government funding, if that was, if
the floodgates were opened and we could build as much
as we needed, we happily go out and build two
thousand homes for all of those people on the register.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
How close are you to even I don't know getting
past first base.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
We're doing what we can and we focus on the positives.
You know, sometimes it feels like a mountain and we're
not doing enough. But look, tell me. Let me tell
you about Housing First, which is the program that specifically
takes rough sleepers off the streets. We've taken sixteen people
off the streets since January. That is noticeable in Wellington.
If we do another twenty before June, which is our goal,
(06:49):
you will notice that on Courtney Place, outside a bar,
or outside a shop, you will notice that. And so
we feel that we're making a difference, and that's why
we're a little bit disappointed about this new move on policy,
which he said will come to but we know that
there are solutions that work, and we really want to
keep on with those.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Do you think it's and I'm obviously curious about this,
do you think it's possible possible to get rid of
all the people that are living on the streets because
a lot of them, I feel, want to live there.
That's how they want to live.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I disagree.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Tell me why, because you're dealing with them a lot
more than I. I'm just asking them to move away
from the front door of my show.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I'm not saying it's easy, because if you've had a
lifetime of trauma and you find a community of people
on the street who have experienced the same kind of
disadvantages that you have, then suddenly you've got a community
and it's really hard to break away from that. So
I'm not saying it's easy. However, those people do not
choose to be there. They don't wake up one morning
from a connected life and go, hey, I'm going to
(07:51):
go live down on Courtney Place. They have been let
down by the system and so they need our support.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
What do you say to people that say they've let
the system down.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, I would have some choice words. I guess I
don't think that's true. Think many people think that people
are I.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Think there's a few people, because I talked to them
every day, that think that there's enough safety nets out
there for people in the society that we live in
that they shouldn't have to live on the street. You argue,
I'm wrong. All the facts are wrong. Those facts are wrong.
I would right, well, tell us why. You know.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Let's talk about pensioners. For example, we're seeing an increased
number of pensioners. So in the next twenty years, forty
percent of people over sixty five one time in their
own home. So let's just think about the money involved
in that. If you receive what five hundred bucks a
week on the pension and the average one bedroom home
in Wellington is between five hundred and six hundred dollars,
doesn't work. It doesn't work. So is that a choice?
(08:50):
Is that something you've done wrong in your life or
is that the system working against you?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Can I just say, if anyone's listening that wants to
call up and ask Elizabeth Lester a question about dwell
housing and it starts from home, you can oh eight
hundred eighty ten eighty got any suggestions that might help
the situation. I'm sure that Elizabeth years are open and
she wants to do the be very very best from that.
(09:15):
So going back to these elderly people, you said forty
percent of people over sixty five are not going to own.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Their own home by twenty forty eight.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, that's still a while away. I missed that number,
So I'm okay.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
By thirty years, but it's still within our you know,
there's soon enough that it's going to be still our problem.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
All right, someone's just text and say do they actually
help people with addictions? Yes?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yes, we provide the housing. We partner with somebody like
Downtown Community Ministries who who looks after the people and
we look after the property. And that's a partnership that's
working really well. Housing first. The premise of it is
that you put someone in a house first and then
you deal with all the other issues like addiction or
whatever else is going on.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It works. If you could get the government to make
one decision, not financial, but one decision, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I think a reef aiming of housing as infrastructure, not welfare.
So if we just look at this as an investment
that's going to save us money in all the other areas.
And I'll give you one example. Health. A report came
out this week's there there are sixty thousand children in
hospital every year with preventable illnesses. Most of those attributed
(10:25):
attributable to poor housing. So we're spending the money anyway.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
So okay, so you want to go back to the
fifty state houses nineteen fifty where they just government just
built state house after state.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Our state house not necessarily state, but state a combination
of state and community. And you know there are other leavers,
other ways of working with EWE organizations, lots of other
organizations where it's progressive home ownership. For example, we are
far behind other OECD nations in terms of our percentage
(10:57):
of public housing that we provide.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Do you believe that, I know it's a difficult question
for you to answer. Do you believe that with EWE,
with all their money, and they've got a lot, Lowsis
have got a lot of money, do you think they
do enough for housing and for society?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
They are doing such an amazing amount of work in
the housing space. It's actually incredible. And when I look at,
for example, what way Cut or TAYNOI are doing. Some
of their housing projects are actually visionary and they're doing it,
you know, despite government, they're taking a really long term view,
which is super impressive.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Do you get like people that have had jobs that
have been made redundant and you know, government employees. Do
you get those sort of people coming to you as well?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You'd be surprised who comes to us. You know, there'll
be people who've had really great jobs or businesses and
often women, you know, who have the man in their
life has passed away, or they've separated or experienced violence
and they are left in a really vulnerable position. You
know that just so many people. You put a group
(11:58):
of them in a room and you wouldn't know which
of them are our tenants.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Do you think we as a community understand it or
do we say, look, with someone sleeping down in Courtney Place,
that's the pain in the backside. The Government's going to
move them on and it's the end of problem.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
I think Wellingtonians are amazing. You know, most people I
meet are really sympathetic to this issue. They know that
those people sleeping rough people, not just numbers. And you know,
I think that was evidence recently when a group of
Wellingtonians said we're not going to stand up. You know,
people slept out overnight on Sunday night in support of
(12:33):
the homeless community. I think we've got some amazing people here.
We've got some amazing business leaders, local government leaders, and
everyone I talk to is supportive.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Okay, we've got to talk about the moving on law change.
I know that that's something that you're passionate about, something
that I'm passionate about too, because it's out of side,
out of mind for me, which is exactly the wrong,
wrong thing. And I know that, and I'm probably going
to get a kick under the table from you for
even this is suggesting it. What should be? What should
that law be?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Well, I totally understand that we need to move on
antisocial behavior. People are behaving violently on the streets, that
is one thing. If they are surviving on the streets
sleeping because that's the safest place for them to be,
that is totally another thing, and that shouldn't be illegal.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Right, So but that do do you say you believe
that they should be able to sleep on the streets
if they are just sitting about doing their own businesses.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
For of course, We don't want people sleeping on the streets,
but we want them to move into somewhere, not move on,
move into long term housing. That's the ideal. Likewise, we
didn't love the idea of Keewe kids growing up in motels,
but it was a temporary solution. As long as we've
got something long term, we need somewhere for them to go.
We can't just move them into Mount Victoria or Oriental Parade.
(13:47):
You know that's not a good option.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Tell us how people can help Dwell.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
People can text two two seven to two to donate.
They can go onto our website. It starts with home
dot com. They can support you know, community housing in
their neighborhood. It's not something to be afraid of. People
don't even know where our villages are in Wellington because
we design amazing communities that blend in and you know,
(14:17):
just get behind us.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And you want people that own property that want to
rent them out to take the charts with you because
you guarantee it and look after it. We do.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
We've got some very happy landlords on our box.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
There you go, Elizabeth Leicester there, thank you very much
for coming in and good luck with Dwell and good
luck with it starts from home. Thanks great initiative and
good on you for doing something
Speaker 1 (14:38):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, Listen live
to news talks There'd Be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Wellington Mornings podcast with Nick Mills
from News Talks B Right, let's.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
Talk to a very special guest, because be honest, a
growing number of people in the city. Housing isn't about
getting ahead, it's about not falling behind. Because homelessness doesn't
always look like what you think. It's not just rough sleeping.
It's families and cars, people's CouchSurfing, people one bad week
away from losing everything. And that's where dwell Housing comes in.
(00:38):
They provide long term affordable housing, not just for emergency fixes,
but stable homes so people can actually rebuild their lives
right now, like much of the sect that they are
under real pressure. How bad is it and how about
how about us actually helping and giving something? CEO of
(00:58):
dwell Housing is Elizabeth Lester, and she joins me now,
good morning and welcome. Can you get a bit closer
to that microphone please? Good morning, good morning. How bad
is it out there?
Speaker 3 (01:08):
It's pretty tough. There's about between two and three thousand
households in the Wellington area that have been classed as
needing urgent housing. So that's tough, and you know, we're
doing our best, but there's a lot more need than
we can provide.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
Now, this could be that number again.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Between two and three thousand households in the Wellington.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Region that are doing it really tough, that have.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Been classed as needing urgent housing.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
So where are they staying?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
They are in cars, they are on couches, they are
in emergency housing, they're rough sleeping, overcrowded households, you name it.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
So how can dwell fix that?
Speaker 3 (01:48):
It's a large number. We can't do it alone. So
we need really government to help, charities, community housing providers.
But we need a really good plan, you know, a
long term strategy on how we can fix this problem.
Speaker 2 (02:02):
How many people are you helping right now? How many
people you got on your books and helping right now?
Speaker 3 (02:07):
Right now we're housing about two hundred and fifty people
in Wellington City and in the Hut, but we'd like
to do a lot more.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
How can you How can you afford to do that?
How does it.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Work with governments help? So our tenants pay twenty five
percent of their income and the government tops that up
to market rent, which sounds expensive, but you know, when
you think about what we're paying in other areas health
justice corrections, when we don't invest in that then you
know that stacks up to it.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
So how do you differ from conger or housing council housing.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
We don't. We're very similar, same sort of offering, but
we like to think that we take a bit more
of a local focus. You know, we know the agencies
that we need to pair with these people, you know
DCM Women's Refuge. It goes just beyond the four walls
of a home. You really have to connect people with
the services they need for long term success.
Speaker 2 (03:01):
So how can people that are listening to this show
help Dwell?
Speaker 3 (03:06):
Well, right now, we need properties. We're leasing from the
private rental market and so we are in need of properties.
We also just want community support. You know, we really
want people to acknowledge that this is not a quick fix.
We are not interested in this move on strategy which
(03:26):
is a you know, election year band aid.
Speaker 2 (03:28):
Really I want to get to that as a separate
As we get to that, we'll get to that because
obviously that's big for you.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Yeah, yeah, but so we need support. We're also fundraising.
You know, we can't do everything with government support. We
need to come up with the deposit when we build
a village ourselves right now. We've got a campaign running
called it Starts with Home, which is really focusing on
key we kids and what housing offers to them, you know,
the pathway for success. You know, home is really the
(03:57):
foundation for everything else. Children who grow up in stable housing,
they do better at school, you know, they have opportunities.
You know, when we talk about a running race. If
there's a running race, my kids are at the starting
line with their shoes on because they have a home
over the heads. These kids aren't even at the starting line,
they're way back. So we want to focus on what
housing does for our key Wee kids and so if
(04:19):
you are interested in that campaign, it Starts with Home
dot com. We're also running a fundraiser. You can text
two two seven to two.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
Can you give us a little bit more on what
you're going to do.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
What we're going to do is provide homes. That's our specialty.
We partner with organizations like DCM, Wellington City Mission, other
organizations that provide the social services. But what we're interested
in is the long term solutions.
Speaker 2 (04:44):
So how do people find you guys? Apart from on
the next A lot of these people don't even have
internet and stuff like that. How does somebody do other
agencies give people to you as well? Do they say, look,
we can't take this guy, can you look after them?
Speaker 3 (04:55):
Yes, so they refer them to us. We have a
group of housing providers in Wellington Replacement Group. If you're
on the Social Housing Register and a vacancy comes up,
that group will hear about it, and you're third on.
You know, we're not alone. There are other amazing organizations
in the city, Teto, Mahana, Wesley, you know, hair Heading Accorda.
There's a group of us doing the same thing.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
So if I was really really down on my luck
and I needed somewhere today, how do I is there?
Would I be looked afterward? I have to stay in
my car?
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Unfortunately, it's very tough to get into emergency housing now,
so you know that how does that work? You'd go
into it, you'd go into an MSD office, you would
apply for housing. You know that temporary solution was emergency housing.
It's now very hard to access. You know, a lot
of those people are deemed to have contributed to their
(05:46):
own homelessness, which is pretty tough, pretty tough criteria. You know,
if you're suffering from trauma, if you've come out of
you know, abuse in state care, you know you've had
the system has let you down, then there are a
number of ways that you can be declined emergency housing,
and right now there is no temporary solution.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
So what's your biggest obstacle? Any houses or red tape money?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
Really, you know, if government funding, if that was, if
the floodgates were opened and we could build as much
as we needed, we happily go out and build two
thousand homes for all of those people on the register.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
How close are you to even I don't know getting
past first base.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
We're doing what we can and we focus on the positives.
You know, sometimes it feels like a mountain and we're
not doing enough. But look, tell me. Let me tell
you about Housing First, which is the program that specifically
takes rough sleepers off the streets. We've taken sixteen people
off the streets since January. That is noticeable in Wellington.
If we do another twenty before June, which is our goal,
(06:49):
you will notice that on Courtney Place, outside a bar,
or outside a shop, you will notice that. And so
we feel that we're making a difference, and that's why
we're a little bit disappointed about this new move on policy,
which he said will come to but we know that
there are solutions that work, and we really want to
keep on with those.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Do you think it's and I'm obviously curious about this,
do you think it's possible possible to get rid of
all the people that are living on the streets because
a lot of them, I feel, want to live there.
That's how they want to live.
Speaker 3 (07:22):
I disagree.
Speaker 2 (07:24):
Tell me why, because you're dealing with them a lot
more than I. I'm just asking them to move away
from the front door of my show.
Speaker 3 (07:28):
I'm not saying it's easy, because if you've had a
lifetime of trauma and you find a community of people
on the street who have experienced the same kind of
disadvantages that you have, then suddenly you've got a community
and it's really hard to break away from that. So
I'm not saying it's easy. However, those people do not
choose to be there. They don't wake up one morning
from a connected life and go, hey, I'm going to
(07:51):
go live down on Courtney Place. They have been let
down by the system and so they need our support.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
What do you say to people that say they've let
the system down.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
Well, I would have some choice words. I guess I
don't think that's true. Think many people think that people
are I.
Speaker 2 (08:10):
Think there's a few people, because I talked to them
every day, that think that there's enough safety nets out
there for people in the society that we live in
that they shouldn't have to live on the street. You argue,
I'm wrong. All the facts are wrong. Those facts are wrong.
I would right, well, tell us why. You know.
Speaker 3 (08:28):
Let's talk about pensioners. For example, we're seeing an increased
number of pensioners. So in the next twenty years, forty
percent of people over sixty five one time in their
own home. So let's just think about the money involved
in that. If you receive what five hundred bucks a
week on the pension and the average one bedroom home
in Wellington is between five hundred and six hundred dollars,
doesn't work. It doesn't work. So is that a choice?
(08:50):
Is that something you've done wrong in your life or
is that the system working against you?
Speaker 2 (08:55):
Can I just say, if anyone's listening that wants to
call up and ask Elizabeth Lester a question about dwell
housing and it starts from home, you can oh eight
hundred eighty ten eighty got any suggestions that might help
the situation. I'm sure that Elizabeth years are open and
she wants to do the be very very best from that.
(09:15):
So going back to these elderly people, you said forty
percent of people over sixty five are not going to own.
Speaker 3 (09:22):
Their own home by twenty forty eight.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
Yeah, that's still a while away. I missed that number,
So I'm okay.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
By thirty years, but it's still within our you know,
there's soon enough that it's going to be still our problem.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
All right, someone's just text and say do they actually
help people with addictions? Yes?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
Yes, we provide the housing. We partner with somebody like
Downtown Community Ministries who who looks after the people and
we look after the property. And that's a partnership that's
working really well. Housing first. The premise of it is
that you put someone in a house first and then
you deal with all the other issues like addiction or
whatever else is going on.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
It works. If you could get the government to make
one decision, not financial, but one decision, what would it be?
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I think a reef aiming of housing as infrastructure, not welfare.
So if we just look at this as an investment
that's going to save us money in all the other areas.
And I'll give you one example. Health. A report came
out this week's there there are sixty thousand children in
hospital every year with preventable illnesses. Most of those attributed
(10:25):
attributable to poor housing. So we're spending the money anyway.
Speaker 2 (10:30):
So okay, so you want to go back to the
fifty state houses nineteen fifty where they just government just
built state house after state.
Speaker 3 (10:37):
Our state house not necessarily state, but state a combination
of state and community. And you know there are other leavers,
other ways of working with EWE organizations, lots of other
organizations where it's progressive home ownership. For example, we are
far behind other OECD nations in terms of our percentage
(10:57):
of public housing that we provide.
Speaker 2 (10:59):
Do you believe that, I know it's a difficult question
for you to answer. Do you believe that with EWE,
with all their money, and they've got a lot, Lowsis
have got a lot of money, do you think they
do enough for housing and for society?
Speaker 3 (11:12):
They are doing such an amazing amount of work in
the housing space. It's actually incredible. And when I look at,
for example, what way Cut or TAYNOI are doing. Some
of their housing projects are actually visionary and they're doing it,
you know, despite government, they're taking a really long term view,
which is super impressive.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
Do you get like people that have had jobs that
have been made redundant and you know, government employees. Do
you get those sort of people coming to you as well?
Speaker 3 (11:38):
You'd be surprised who comes to us. You know, there'll
be people who've had really great jobs or businesses and
often women, you know, who have the man in their
life has passed away, or they've separated or experienced violence
and they are left in a really vulnerable position. You
know that just so many people. You put a group
(11:58):
of them in a room and you wouldn't know which
of them are our tenants.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Do you think we as a community understand it or
do we say, look, with someone sleeping down in Courtney Place,
that's the pain in the backside. The Government's going to
move them on and it's the end of problem.
Speaker 3 (12:13):
I think Wellingtonians are amazing. You know, most people I
meet are really sympathetic to this issue. They know that
those people sleeping rough people, not just numbers. And you know,
I think that was evidence recently when a group of
Wellingtonians said we're not going to stand up. You know,
people slept out overnight on Sunday night in support of
(12:33):
the homeless community. I think we've got some amazing people here.
We've got some amazing business leaders, local government leaders, and
everyone I talk to is supportive.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
Okay, we've got to talk about the moving on law change.
I know that that's something that you're passionate about, something
that I'm passionate about too, because it's out of side,
out of mind for me, which is exactly the wrong,
wrong thing. And I know that, and I'm probably going
to get a kick under the table from you for
even this is suggesting it. What should be? What should
that law be?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
Well, I totally understand that we need to move on
antisocial behavior. People are behaving violently on the streets, that
is one thing. If they are surviving on the streets
sleeping because that's the safest place for them to be,
that is totally another thing, and that shouldn't be illegal.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Right, So but that do do you say you believe
that they should be able to sleep on the streets
if they are just sitting about doing their own businesses.
Speaker 3 (13:26):
For of course, We don't want people sleeping on the streets,
but we want them to move into somewhere, not move on,
move into long term housing. That's the ideal. Likewise, we
didn't love the idea of Keewe kids growing up in motels,
but it was a temporary solution. As long as we've
got something long term, we need somewhere for them to go.
We can't just move them into Mount Victoria or Oriental Parade.
(13:47):
You know that's not a good option.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Tell us how people can help Dwell.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
People can text two two seven to two to donate.
They can go onto our website. It starts with home
dot com. They can support you know, community housing in
their neighborhood. It's not something to be afraid of. People
don't even know where our villages are in Wellington because
we design amazing communities that blend in and you know,
(14:17):
just get behind us.
Speaker 2 (14:18):
And you want people that own property that want to
rent them out to take the charts with you because
you guarantee it and look after it. We do.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
We've got some very happy landlords on our box.
Speaker 2 (14:29):
There you go, Elizabeth Leicester there, thank you very much
for coming in and good luck with Dwell and good
luck with it starts from home. Thanks great initiative and
good on you for doing something
Speaker 1 (14:38):
For more from Wellington Mornings with Nick Mills, Listen live
to news talks There'd Be Wellington from nine am weekdays,
or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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