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A Tauranga pre-school teacher says homelessness is growing in the Bay of Plenty, and people need to get over their privilege and do something.
Vanessa Kururangi gave evidence yesterday to the cross party inquiry into homelessness.
She got involved with the State Housing Action Network because she could see the effects of precarious housing on the community where she lives and works.
That has become even more critical because of the Government’s plans to sell off more than 1000 state houses in the city as an experiment in social housing provision.
"It’s about the children allowing them to stay where they are and not be transient. To be able to have a sense of community. All those things that build our kids up and give them a sense of pride of where they come from, but you can't do that if you don't have a stable home, if you don't know where you're going to sleep that night or if you're coming to school or to daycare in a car that you slept in the night before," she says.
Vanessa Kururangi says homelessness is the end of a long road, involving not just housing but justice policy, minimum wages, precarious working conditions, poor education and health.
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