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This summer on Radio Waatea 603AM – Te Reo o tō Tātou Iwi, we bring you voices from the frontline of a growing social crisis in Aotearoa – homelessness and its impacts on our whānau, especially our rangatahi and Māori communities.
From policy debates and street-level kōrero to rangatahi advocates, our coverage this year has shown that homelessness is not a distant issue – it’s here, it’s real, and it’s hurting whānau across the motu.
Listen to the full Waatea News kōrero with Aaron Hendry:
https://waateanews.com/2025/07/28/aaron-hendry-youth-development-worker/
In this interview, Aaron Hendry, a youth development worker and co-founder of community organisation Kick Back, raises urgent concerns about youth homelessness and how current systems are failing rangatahi and tamariki. He’s clear that more must be done to protect young people who are at risk of losing safe shelter and stable homes – and he calls for compassionate, whānau-centred solutions rather than punitive approaches.
Throughout 2025, Radio Waatea and Waatea News have documented how homelessness has surged across Aotearoa – especially in major centres like Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland):
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In Auckland alone, visible homelessness jumped 53% in four months, with more than 800 people now sleeping rough on the streets – many of them Māori – as frontline agencies issue urgent calls for action on World Homeless Day.
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Community groups and iwi-aligned advocates delivered an open letter to government demanding housing justice rather than criminalisation of homeless whānau, urging expansion of emergency housing, social housing and wrap-around support rooted in aroha and whanaungatanga.
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Earlier in the year, Radio Waatea’s “Kāinga Kore” special investigation told the stories of those who walk with homeless whānau – volunteers, advocates and kaitiaki who see the faces behind the statistics and refuse to look away.
Across the motu, homelessness has extended beyond city centres into suburbs and regional areas, revealing systemic barriers to housing access, rising rents, limited emergency accommodation, and stretched social services that are failing the people who need them most. These trends reflect broader inequities deeply rooted in Aotearoa’s housing and economic systems.
Māori continue to be disproportionately represented among those experiencing homelessness – a reflection of entrenched issues like unaffordable housing, income inequality, and barriers to secure accommodation. Homelessness for Māori is not only about shelter – it’s about mana, whanaungatanga, wellbeing and equity.
From rangatahi living without safe homes to kaumātua sleeping in cars or parks, the stories our coverage has shared this year remind us that these are not statistics – these are people with whakapapa, lives, aspirations, and whānau.
As we head into summer – a season when many expect rest and celebration – it’s critical to remember that for too many whānau, the struggle for shelter continues. Community advocates and frontline organisations are calling for:
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Permanent, affordable housing solutions, not temporary fixes;
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Emergency accommodation and rapid rehousing pathways;
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Holistic, wrap-around support services that address health, trauma, employment and tenancy stability;
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Kaupapa Māori and iwi-led housing initiatives built around aroha and manaakitanga.
Aaron Hendry’s kōrero – and the voices of rangatahi, kaitiaki and homelessness advocates across the station’s coverage – remind us that homelessness is everyone’s issue. It touches whānau, disrupts lives and challenges our collective values as a nation. But it also opens a space for compassion, action and community-driven change.
This summer, as we gather with whānau and mokopuna, let’s see the humanity in homelessness, listen deeply to those on the frontlines, and kōrero about how we can build a future where every whānau has a safe place to call home.
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