August 25, 2021
Casual workers running out of food in lockdown
The Auckland City Mission is experiencing a surge in demand as it helps people cope with no food or no home during lockdown.
City Missioner Helen Robinson says its outreach team continues to walk central Auckland talking to people on the streets and getting them indoors if they are willing.
She says there are heightened problems with food insecurity, with large numbers coming to its partners including Manurewa Marae and Ngā Whare Waatea, and a tripling of food packs going out from its Boston Rd centre on the city fringe.
"So the stories we are hearing is particularly people who may have been on casual shifts so have a casual contract or contractors generally. We're also conscious of what it means for families who can't send their children to school and can't access any of the food in school programmes," Ms Robinson says.
Many of the rough sleepers who were brought in during last year’s lockdowns have managed to remain in some sort of accommodation, but there are always new people on the streets.
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