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    • Plimmerton Farm: getting greenfields right
      • If we’re hellbent on doing more residential development in greenfields, what does “decent” look like in Plimmerton, hilly land near an existing suburb – like most of our region’s greenfields? This post is basically a guide for anyone who cares about Plimmerton, good urban development, or healthy wetlands, streams and coast, but is time-poor and can’t face going through the truckloads of documents they’ve stuck up without any specific meta-guidance (some FAQ are here). Hopefully this will help you pop in a submission! PCC’s “information” pages they suggest you use for submitting. Every one of these is a large PDF document, 90% written in technical language… aargh! The background: what where and how For those who don’t know, Plimmerton Farm’s a big proposed subdivision of hilly farmland draining into the significant Taupō Wetland and to Plimmerton Beach, just over the train line and highway from Plimmerton village (original Ngāti Toa name: Taupō). It’s going through a Streamlined Planning Process, a pre-COVID government scheme for accelerating development. The key step is the requisite change of the land’s zoning in the Porirua District Plan (“rural” zone to “residential” and other “urban” zones) that sets out what kind of stuff can then be built, where. It’s mostly streamlined because there’s just one shot for the public to have input on the plan change. One shot. Why submit? I was born and raised in Plimmerton, live here now, and intend to for the rest of my days. I’d love to see it grow, well. I would love Plimmerton to get more wallets, more hearts and minds, more faces (more diverse ones too!). But not with more traffic, and pointless damage to our environment. Right now, the proposal has some serious flaws which need sorting. I say Sorting because the changes won’t make it crazy innovative, just good enough for a development in the spot it is, being kicked off in 2020. Time matters too: there’a a bunch of good things happening imminently (and some bad Porirua trends that need to be reversed). I cover these in Get it right, below. It’s worth submitting because given the situation, a 1990s-grade development just won’t cut it. So what about Plimmerton Farm needs to change? It boils down to two themes: dial down the driveability and dial up the liveabilitymake Local the logical and easy choice for daily needs I’ll outline what needs to change in each. NOTE: There’s a third – don’t stuff the wetlands and streams. This is really important as Taupō Wetland is regionally significant, and all our streams and harbours have suffered from frankly shameful mismanagement of sediment from earthworks-heavy subdivisions like Aotea and Duck Creek, and from the earthworks-a-rama of Transmission Gully. Friends of Taupo Swamp have an excellent submission guide for you – add in some of their suggested bits to your submission. I: Dial down the driveability, dial up the liveability There aren’t many truly black-and-white things in life, but there’s one for towns: If a street is nice to drive in, it’ll be a crappy place to do anything else in (walk / eat / hang out / have a conversation / play / scoot or cycle / shop / have a pint). If it’s nice to do anything else in, it’ll be a crappy place to drive in. Mostly this is because of the nature of the automobile: big solid things that smash into our soft bodies if someone makes a mistake (75% odds of death if that’s at 50km/hour, 10% odds of death if at 30km/hour) big objects that need lots of space for manoeuvering and especially parking – which offstreet can be crazy expensive and push up the cost of a home, and onstreet hoover up valuable public space. big solid things driven by us real humans (for a while at least) who respond to the environment but also get distracted, and generally aren’t good at wielding these big solid things safely. The transport setup proposed for Plimmerton Farm makes for a much too driveable and poorly liveable place. 1. Narrow down all the roads. The current proposal’s roading setup has roads and streets that are too big, and there’s too much of them. Right sized roads for a liveable community The cross-sections for the roads include on-street parking and really wide lane widths. This is really gobsmacking for a consortium that talked a big talk about good practice. For all the reasons that Low Traffic Neighbourhoods are good, this is bad. (And it’s especially nuts when you realise that the excessively wide “arterial” roads (11 metres!) will need earthworked platforms built for them where they’re drawn running up the sharp ridges and across the tops of gullies. Expensive, damaging for the environment, and … what were they thinking?) So recommended changes: NARROW DOWN THE ROADS. Seriously. Design all the living-area streets and roads, and the centre, to be self-explaining for an operating traffic speed of 30km or less – that’s the speed where mistakes are rarely fatal. What does that look like? The designers will know and if they don’t they should be fired. Narrower crossing distances; chicanes (great way to incorporate green infrastructure and trees and seating!); narrowed sight-lines (trees! sculpture!) so no-one driving feels inclined to zoom. Reduced trafficked lanes (rori iti on the larger roads!), with properly wide and friendly footpaths. Threshold treatments, humps, modal filters, all the things we know very well are the natural ways to slow us down when driving, and make streets nicer for people. The beauty of all this “restriction” on driving is how much it frees us up for making everything else appealing. Streets become hospitable for kids to walk, scoot, bike to school safely, using the road not the footpath. Older people and those with impairments can walk and wheelchair safely. Teens coming home from town of an evening can scoot or bike home, safely. Popping down to the shops or for a coffee or to the train becomes a pleasure to do on foot, or on a scooter or bike. And you’re moving in a legitimate way – seeing and being seen, not stuck off in the bush on a “recreational” track like what they’ve described. The ordinary streets and roads are walkable, bikeable, scootable, mobility-scootable, and perfectly driveable, equally safe and useable in all weathers and anytime of day or night. Used to be a big, fast road. Now, kids bike to school and old people can chill out on it. (Mark Kerrison) (And in case you’re worried about firetrucks / rubbish trucks / buses, recall that on even Wellington City’s far more winding, narrower hilly streets everyone gets their rubbish collected and fires fought just fine. On public transport, smaller buses, like those that community transport operators use, are the way of the future for less densely-populated areas like this). Don’t build the through and loop roads. You don’t need signs like this when the only people who bother to drive in are those who live there, or who are visiting friends, because you just have to drive out again the way you came. When it’s the place you live, you’re invested in not being a dick far more than if you’re just out for a drive – or worse, out for a bit of a boyrace hoon on a massive loop route through a whole place. So just don’t build those big connector roads that enable people to drive easily from one residential area to the next, especially the ones up in the hilltops (section C) that just say “come for a hoon!” Instead, connect the living spaces heavily with bikeable, walkable, scootable, disability-friendly streets and lanes, and as much as possible, only one way in and out for cars from each living area. II: Make local logical and easy Plimmerton is a true village, with a great little centre (including a train station!) but Plimmerton Farm is ultimately a damn big area. The way to go is to enable people to get the basics of life – like school, groceries, a coffee – with a little local trip on foot, bike or scooter – it’s more of a bother to get in the car. Right now though, it needs two changes: 1. Provide for a second centre “Bumping into” spaces are known to be crucial to a feeling of neighbourhood, and in the (initial) absence of third places (worship places, community hall, sports club, cafe/pub, a supermarket is a vital social centre. Yet the north end of Plimmerton Farm is currently a deadzone for anything except residential. What things will probably look like under current layout. Like in Edwards Scissorhands without the interest of a castle. There’s no provision for a place to do your household groceries, so people will drive to Mana New World – more car trips – and less opportunity to bump into people who live nearby. (There’ll be no school in Plimmerton Farm for a while, because Ministry of Education isn’t allowed by the Education Act to build a school somewhere until there’s a certain population density of kids to fill it. A shitty Catch-22 for developments which is hopefully going to be fixed … sometime. Just another reason to make walking, biking and scooting really kid-friendly, as extra dropoff traffic for kids going to St Theresa’s, Plimmerton School, Paremata and Pukerua Bay schools will be a nightmare.) So they should provide for an additional centre in the north, including a groceries place of some kind. 2. Intensify within walking distance of Plimmerton proper. We should intensify properly, with lots of medium and even some high density (6 storeys of nicely laid-out density done well!) in the area that’s within a 5-minute walk of Plimmerton Village. The more people can live and work with access to all its many amenities, and its rail station (10 min to Porirua, 30 min to Wellington), the better. But there’s not enough density provided for there. Plimmerton Railway station: buzzing in 1916 and has only got bigger. (Photo: Pātaka Porirua Museum) So they should add another zone – E – of higher density in that 5-minute walking catchment of Plimmerton Village. What could it look like? A good example is 3333 Main, Vancouver . Submission tips On the site they ask you to fill in a Word or PDF form, saying which specific bit of the gazillion proposals you are talking about and the specific changes you want. This is a BS way to treat the vast majority of people submitting: normal non-professionals, just regular people who care about good development and liveable places. So just don’t worry about that. In those question 6 column boxes just put “Transport” and “Layout”. It’s the professional planners’ job to figure out specifically how to change a planning document. Just be specific enough that they know what you want to see. The text above is worth copying and pasting – it’ll be enough. And don’t forget the Friends of Taupo Swamp and Catchment advice is essential – definitely go read and use. That’s all you really need – just go submit! But if you’re keen to know more reasons why they should be doing this better, here’s some… Get it right, now Once this plan change is through, traditional developers like Gillies like to whack in all the infrastructure – hello, massive earthworks. And yet the place will take decades to fill with actual people – those hearts and minds and wallets. (Note even before COVID, Porirua’s growth rate was 0.1% per year. Yep, one tenth of one percent.) And extra pressure’s on to do this better because all these things are features of the next one to three years: the One Network Road Classification (sets the design specs for roads of different types) is being updated right now to be more people-friendly in the specs for roads in residential and centre areas, so designs like Plimmerton Farm’s will soon be Officially Bad Practice Sales and riding of e-bikes and e-scooters are going through the roof, continuing through and beyond COVID – this shows no signs of slowing, and prices are dropping. E-power flattens the hills of Plimmerton Farm and makes wheely active travel a breeze for the middle-class people who’ll be living here, if the streets and roads are hospitablePlimmerton Railway Station (on the most popular Wellington train line) is being upgraded to be a terminus station – i.e. better servicesThe Wellington Regional Growth Framework is setting a bunch of directions for councils on how to grow well, including well-known but often well-ignored issues like intensifying around public transport hubs Councils will soon be required to do to a bunch of a bunch of international good practice including get rid of many minimum parking requirements (in the news lately), and to upzone (enable intensification) of landuse in the walking catchment of public transport hubs. (5 min walk = approx 400 metres, 10 min = 800m).Bad trends we need to stop: Porirua’s really high car-dependency (we own cars a lot and drive a lot) is continuing, due to car-dependent urban form [PDF]– despite nice words in council’s strategic intentions.People living outside Wellington City are mostly to blame for our region’s 14% increase in emissions from transport in just 10 years. OK go submit now – and share with anyone who you think might care!
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      • Wellington Zoological Gardens, Manchester Street, Melrose, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6021, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • Metlink to boost electric buses from 2 to 22 per cent of its fleet to meet climate change goals and passenger growth
      • From left to right: Cr Daran Ponter – Chair, Greater Wellington Keven Snelgrove – Tranzit Brendan Prince  – NZBus James Howard – Tranzit Cr David Lee – Greater Wellington Cr Roger Blakeley – Greater Wellington The ink has dried on contracts for 98 new electric buses, which will take Metlink’s fleet of electric buses to 108, significantly reducing its carbon footprint and taking Greater Wellington a step closer on its target of carbon neutrality by 2030. Metlink currently has 450 buses in its active fleet in the Wellington region 10 of which are EVs, making up two percent of the fleet.  Once the 98 buses are added to the fleet the proportion of EVs will rise to 22 per cent which, excluding market leader China, is high by international standards. Seventy-three of the buses will be used on current scheduled services with a further 25 to be progressively added to routes to meet future network growth. The new electric buses will eventually take 61 diesel buses off the roads, leading to a 17 per cent drop in carbon emissions and a similar reduction in harmful emissions. Greater Wellington is delivering on its promise of a building a modern low emission bus network according to Chair Daran Ponter. “I’m sure that people across the region will be pleased to see another 61 diesel buses taken off the road and this will drive real climate benefits by deploying the new electric buses on high use areas of the network. “Just like our plans for rail, this is also about ensuring we have a fleet in place that can cope with rising population trends and demand for public transport over the next few years.  That’s why 25 buses will be used to accommodate forecast passenger growth without an increase in emissions,” added Chair Ponter. Climate Committee chair Cr Thomas Nash said we have to provide attractive alternatives to our current 20th century car culture if we’re serious about responding to climate change. “Over the last two decades transport emissions rose by 14 per cent across the region, mainly from fossil fuel burning cars and trucks. “We need a real step change here and we know we can move far more people with far fewer vehicles if we provide high quality public transport. A modern, comfortable low emission fleet will play a key role in attracting new passengers, encouraging them to embrace public transport. We’ve got an opportunity to break free from the car-dominated landscape that’s been driving pollution in our cities - let’s take it,” added Cr Nash. Roger Blakeley, chair of Greater Wellington’s Transport Committee, said that the new fleet will also attract more bus drivers to the region. “This new fleet shows our intentions for growing the network and obviously more buses means more drivers.  We want buses that drivers can be proud of and these state of the art buses, many fitted out right here in New Zealand, will help us attract drivers that want to be at the forefront of the public transport industry in New Zealand and internationally.” As part of the deal, NZ Bus will source 67 ready-to-go large single decker EVs from China and Tranzurban will build 31 double decker EVs at Kiwi Bus Builders in Tauranga, with parts sourced from world leading Chinese bus manufacturers. NZ Bus CEO Barry Hinkley said he was delighted that NZ Bus was making a significant contribution to NZ’s environmental performance, commenting that growing the number of EVs in its fleet is the right way forward as NZ Bus looks to a future of reduced fossil fuel usage. "With these 67 new electric buses, NZ Bus is proud to be having the largest EV bus fleet in New Zealand. With these new orders, we will see our EV fleet grow to at least 85 buses in the short term. "Obviously, we all should try and do as much as we can to look after our environment; taking public transport is a great way of reducing emissions, and electric public transport is an even better way. “We’re committed to doing our bit to help reduce emissions in New Zealand and at the same time provide people with a safe and easy way to get around,” said Mr Hinkley. Tranzurban Director Keven Snelgrove said today’s announcement is a clear demonstration of the company’s commitment to partnering with Greater Wellington and pioneering and investing in electric bus technology and infrastructure in New Zealand. He says the 31 new double deck EVs add to the company’s fleet of 10 New Zealand-built double deck EVs successfully in operation in Wellington already. “This new fleet will deliver multiple benefits of being New Zealand built, adding to our modern and reliable electric bus fleet and help reduce carbon emissions and air pollution for Wellingtonians.” The buses will be delivered between mid-2021 and early 2023. 
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    • April update from DCM - together we can end homelessness
      • 96 April update from DCM - together we can end homelessness p{ margin:10px 0; padding:0; } table{ border-collapse:collapse; } h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6{ display:block; margin:0; padding:0; } img,a img{ border:0; height:auto; outline:none; text-decoration:none; } body,#bodyTable,#bodyCell{ height:100%; margin:0; padding:0; width:100%; } .mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important; } #outlook a{ padding:0; } img{ -ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic; } table{ mso-table-lspace:0pt; mso-table-rspace:0pt; } .ReadMsgBody{ width:100%; } .ExternalClass{ width:100%; } p,a,li,td,blockquote{ mso-line-height-rule:exactly; } a[href^=tel],a[href^=sms]{ color:inherit; cursor:default; text-decoration:none; } p,a,li,td,body,table,blockquote{ -ms-text-size-adjust:100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%; } .ExternalClass,.ExternalClass p,.ExternalClass td,.ExternalClass div,.ExternalClass span,.ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%; } a[x-apple-data-detectors]{ color:inherit !important; text-decoration:none !important; 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} } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnImageCardLeftImageContent,.mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-bottom:0 !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important; width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h1{ font-size:30px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h2{ font-size:26px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h3{ font-size:20px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h4{ font-size:18px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .headerContainer .mcnTextContent,.headerContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .bodyContainer .mcnTextContent,.bodyContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .footerContainer .mcnTextContent,.footerContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } Reaching out to the most marginalised – during lock-down Reaching out to the most marginalised – during lock-down Natalia and Chris catch up with Mark in Te Aro Park During the COVID crisis, the priority for DCM’s Street Outreach team has been connecting with people rough sleeping or who are sleeping in their cars, and getting them in to emergency accommodation. “Government and other agencies worked together to rapidly increase the supply of emergency housing in response to the pandemic, and so we have been able to get rooms for many of these people, some of whom were not even prepared to consider such an option before the lock-down,” explains Outreach team leader, Natalia. “At DCM we often talk about 'Ki te hoe' or 'pick up the paddle'. What is it that motivates someone to finally pick up the paddle and do what it takes to get off the streets and into housing? In this case, concerns about limited access to food and toilets during lock-down, seeing that there weren’t the same opportunities to supplement their income through street begging with the streets empty, and being offered appealing accommodation, including new facilities, some of which also provide three meals a day. COVID-19 and the lock-down have offered us a unique opportunity in our work to end homelessness.” With a growing group of rough sleepers in emergency housing, the Outreach team can now prioritise supporting them to take the next steps. “We are seeing rough sleepers who were very reluctant to try emergency housing, even during the lock-down, now thriving in their new accommodation. The next step is to follow up with these taumai, and to have more kōrero with them about housing. There’s a window of opportunity while we know where they are, to talk about their situations and to do the groundwork to get them on the path to housing.” DCM is totally committed to a Housing First approach; this means that we will work with those we have been able to get off the streets and in to emergency housing, to get their names on to the social housing register and to work together to access a permanent home for them. This is something that for many of them would have been inconceivable a few months ago; but now they have taken a giant step, and this has opened up a whole new world of possibilities to them. Who knew that a time like this could be the greatest support in achieving our goal of ending homelessness in our city? This is part of a longer story about the mahi which DCM’s Street Outreach team is doing during lock-down: read the full story on our website. <!-- --> “Together we can” – find innovative solutions during lock-down Natalia out on outreach during Level 3, speaks to a man outside Westpac on Lambton Quay Some of the most marginalised people in our city have no home, no income and no ID. When these people are unable to access a bank account of their own, DCM provides them with a money management service, accesses a benefit for them and pays their bills; they then receive the remainder of their money by cheque. These cheques have to be cashed at a bank branch. This not only presented a significant problem during lock-down, but was potentially no longer a viable long-term option. DCM approached MSD and Westpac, and together came up with a solution which will make a difference in the lives of the poorest people during the current crisis and well beyond. Instead of receiving a weekly cheque, these people are now able to use a payment card supplied by Westpac. “Usually this would take a couple of months to organise, but we expedited it within two weeks so that these people could have their money,” Transactional Solutions Manager at Westpac, Julia Hopkins, says. It works like a debit card but is called a ‘prepaid card’ so DCM can put the amount of discretionary income which would have previously been paid out as a cash cheque onto the card, and the person can spend up to that limit. This is a fantastic step change, as we have grappled for some time with the problem of how to continue to deliver our money management service when cheques are ultimately phased out. The new initiatives which have enabled us to continue to support the most marginalised people in our city during the COVID-19 pandemic, also offer long-term benefits and solutions for our taumai.   Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini – Success is not the work of one, but the work of many. <!-- --> “Together we can” – an important conversation and shared commitment This morning the entire DCM team was thrilled to have the opportunity to meet with our local MP and New Zealand’s Minister of Finance, Grant Robertson – that’s 32 of us participating in a Zoom hui! We were able to share with him some of our learnings from recent weeks - the positive things and the challenges - and we were all uplifted by his responses. We updated Grant on the practical and innovative ways that DCM has responded to the crisis, and shared some of the positives, including: the speed at which a whole new stock of emergency housing has been made available, and  the excellent way in which the partnership between DCM, government, MSD and HUD, and other community agencies, has been working. Everyone has had a can-do attitude. Amongst the concerns we were able to raise:  The need to increase the stock of permanent housing, for people to move from emergency housing into their own homes During lock-down it has become clear that the level of substance misuse is larger than even we knew, and we will need more specialist drug and alcohol support in the future There are gaps around the integration of people exiting prison. During lock-down, we have had a significant number of taumai come to us direct from prison, including people who have served long prison terms sent to us to house in emergency housing. Grant acknowledged the courage and compassion that DCM has showed as we have kept working with vulnerable people. He spoke about a commitment to “Build Back Better” across a range of domains – from inequality and income support to a low carbon future.  And he invited DCM to be a part of this: “In the midst of this crisis, there is also a chance to look out to the horizon. We get to re-set things a bit; there is an opportunity here, and we need your help to co-design this new future.” Stephanie thanked him, accepted his challenge and issued another on behalf of DCM: “Thank you for the leadership you and the Prime Minister have shown to us as a nation. You have made bold decisions for us and you have shown the world this can be done with compassion and kindness” ... “Grant, we don’t want anyone to go backwards from here. Your government has often spoken about going hard, going fast. We have seen rapid decision-making and the benefits of this; let’s continue to go hard and go fast to end homelessness.” <!-- --> Please help us get the message out there! Forward this email on to everyone you can think of who may be interested in how to respond to homelessness, and just generally people who are passionate about Wellington. <!-- --> Read More Success Stories Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi With your basket and my basket, the people will thrive <!-- --> Copyright © 2020 DCM. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: DCMPO Box 6133Marion SqWellington, Wellington 6011 New ZealandAdd us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
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      • Wellington Zoological Gardens, Manchester Street, Melrose, Wellington, Wellington Region, 6021, New Zealand (OpenStreetMap)


    • September Update from DCM - Together We Can End Homelessness
      • 96 September Update from DCM - Together We Can End Homelessness p{ margin:10px 0; padding:0; } table{ border-collapse:collapse; } h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6{ display:block; margin:0; padding:0; } img,a img{ border:0; height:auto; outline:none; text-decoration:none; } body,#bodyTable,#bodyCell{ height:100%; margin:0; padding:0; width:100%; } .mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important; } #outlook a{ padding:0; } img{ -ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic; } table{ mso-table-lspace:0pt; mso-table-rspace:0pt; } .ReadMsgBody{ width:100%; } .ExternalClass{ width:100%; } p,a,li,td,blockquote{ mso-line-height-rule:exactly; } a[href^=tel],a[href^=sms]{ color:inherit; cursor:default; text-decoration:none; } p,a,li,td,body,table,blockquote{ -ms-text-size-adjust:100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%; } .ExternalClass,.ExternalClass p,.ExternalClass td,.ExternalClass div,.ExternalClass span,.ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%; } a[x-apple-data-detectors]{ color:inherit !important; text-decoration:none !important; 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} } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnImageCardLeftImageContent,.mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-bottom:0 !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important; width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h1{ font-size:30px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h2{ font-size:26px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h3{ font-size:20px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h4{ font-size:18px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .headerContainer .mcnTextContent,.headerContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .bodyContainer .mcnTextContent,.bodyContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .footerContainer .mcnTextContent,.footerContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } September Update from DCM - Together We Can End Homelessness Happy birthday to us! 50 years...50 photos - this month we celebrated DCM’s 50th birthday with a special photographic exhibition entitled “Together we can end homelessness”.   The exhibition featured 50 different images, reflecting the part that many individuals, groups and businesses play in supporting our work. This is why our by-line is “TOGETHER we can end homelessness”. We experience Wellington as a caring place, a place where people want to be part of the solution to homelessness and welcome an opportunity to become involved in any way they can. The exhibition included images representing the contributions of: our medical supports - dentists, dental assistants, eye doctor, audiologist and physiotherapist who share their time and their skills here at DCM the local faith communities who have been part of our work for 50 years, in all sorts of different ways the food businesses which make it possible for us to provide kai and hospitality while we build relationships with people – like Pandoro, Kaibosh, Mojo Coffee the many groups involved in delivering our annual DCM Bookfair the volunteers who support our work at Te Hāpai, such as the barber who offers haircuts and John who runs our weekly poetry sessions  chefs and others who support our seasonal kai events writers, journalists, designers, printers, businesses which donate time, expertise and product those who support our work financially and in other ways and our taumai themselves – their commitment to picking up the paddle and doing what it takes to become well, and then going on to support others on a journey to housing and wellbeing. In our 50th birthday year, we want to lift up the many Wellingtonians who are part of the solution to homelessness. We also wanted to prompt those who visited the exhibition to think about ways in which they may be able to become involved. Thank you to all of you who made it along to Photospace to enjoy the exhibition. And a special thank you to the creative forces who made it possible. Though the exhibition has come to an end you can see all 50 photos on our website. <!-- --> Here’s another way for you to be part of the solution to homelessness DCM has joined a collaboration of organisations dedicated to ending homelessness in Wellington under a new government-funded Housing First initiative. We move people from homelessness into housing then provide wrap around support and regular home visits to ensure they sustain their tenancy.  One of the new kaimahi who have joined our team to take on this important mahi is Peni Fiti, who will be focused on procuring suitable houses for people who have been homeless for a long period of time. Do you own any rental properties or know any landlords who would like to learn more about becoming part of the solution to homelessness? If so, do talk to Peni. There are so many reasons to get in touch. Our Housing First team can offer landlords a “no hassles” service – guaranteed rent, no fees, maintenance sorted and your property managed for you. Even better, you will be providing a whare for a person who is experiencing homelessness. Peni would love to hear from you or any of your networks and contacts who own rental properties. Because together, we can end homelessness in Wellington. <!-- --> DCM welcomes spring Day to day life goes on at DCM as we prepare for what is traditionally a busy time of year. This month, DCM kaimahi joined together with taumai at our Seasonal Kai celebration for spring (kōanga). Our Seasonal Kai events are an important way for us to come together as a community, and enjoy some kai. DCM sits on the site of Te Aro Pā and just as the original inhabitants of the pā did, we mark the changing of the seasons by coming together this way. Our taumai also enjoyed the chance to give back and some took part in preparing the kai. As we often find at DCM, our taumai possess great knowledge and talents which were fully on display at the Seasonal Kai celebration! <!-- --> Please help us get the message out there! Forward this email on to everyone you can think of who may be interested in how to respond to homelessness, and just generally people who are passionate about Wellington. <!-- --> Read More Success Stories Nāku te rourou, nāu te rourou, ka ora ai te iwi With your basket and my basket, the people will thrive <!-- --> Copyright © 2019 DCM. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: DCMPO Box 6133Marion SqWellington, Wellington 6011 New ZealandAdd us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.
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    • WBG ON A BOAT!
      • WBG ON A BOAT - CELEBRATING OUR MEMBERS AND TRAINERS This year WBG decided not to have a Christmas party in the busiest time of year, but instead decided to do something different and have a late party. Of course a party, to celebrating the members that make the gym, the trainers that put the hard work in and of course another successful year of business. So Friday 6th of April, 61 WBG members, trainers and friends set sail on the Sweet Georgia for a night of epic madness.  Hurricanes played on the boat, many delish starters, BBQ dinner, pirates, jelly fish, sea man haha, mermaids, captains, selfies galore and many striped tops later the boat was buzzing! Amazing thing too was Quincy wasn't late, he 'didn't miss the boat' lol #NameShame From WBG, we hope you enjoyed the night. Asher and myself cannot thank you enough for choosing us as your fitness/boxing home, building the welcoming and no ego culture that every hypes over, supporting the charities events we are part of and for giving back to the smallest but coolest little gym in Wellies. WBG is truly built by the members that create the space :) To the trainers Thomas, Haile, Ice, Akeyla and Dave, we cannot thank you enough either. We appreciate all the hard work you put in and for bringing your own unique flavours to the space.  We look forward to celebrating with all again as we approach our 2 year anniversary - How can we top this though?  
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    • In the census, did the homeless count?
      • 96 In the census, did the homeless count? p{ margin:10px 0; padding:0; } table{ border-collapse:collapse; } h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6{ display:block; margin:0; padding:0; } img,a img{ border:0; height:auto; outline:none; text-decoration:none; } body,#bodyTable,#bodyCell{ height:100%; margin:0; padding:0; width:100%; } .mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important; } #outlook a{ padding:0; } img{ -ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic; } table{ mso-table-lspace:0pt; mso-table-rspace:0pt; } .ReadMsgBody{ width:100%; } .ExternalClass{ width:100%; } p,a,li,td,blockquote{ mso-line-height-rule:exactly; } a[href^=tel],a[href^=sms]{ color:inherit; cursor:default; text-decoration:none; } p,a,li,td,body,table,blockquote{ -ms-text-size-adjust:100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%; } .ExternalClass,.ExternalClass p,.ExternalClass td,.ExternalClass div,.ExternalClass span,.ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%; } a[x-apple-data-detectors]{ color:inherit !important; text-decoration:none !important; font-size:inherit !important; 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text-align:center; } #templateFooter .mcnTextContent a,#templateFooter .mcnTextContent p a{ color:#656565; font-weight:normal; text-decoration:underline; } @media only screen and (min-width:768px){ .templateContainer{ width:600px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ body,table,td,p,a,li,blockquote{ -webkit-text-size-adjust:none !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ body{ width:100% !important; min-width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #bodyCell{ padding-top:10px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnRetinaImage{ max-width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnImage{ width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnCartContainer,.mcnCaptionTopContent,.mcnRecContentContainer,.mcnCaptionBottomContent,.mcnTextContentContainer,.mcnBoxedTextContentContainer,.mcnImageGroupContentContainer,.mcnCaptionLeftTextContentContainer,.mcnCaptionRightTextContentContainer,.mcnCaptionLeftImageContentContainer,.mcnCaptionRightImageContentContainer,.mcnImageCardLeftTextContentContainer,.mcnImageCardRightTextContentContainer,.mcnImageCardLeftImageContentContainer,.mcnImageCardRightImageContentContainer{ max-width:100% !important; 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} } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnImageCardLeftImageContent,.mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-bottom:0 !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important; width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h1{ font-size:22px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h2{ font-size:20px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h3{ font-size:18px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h4{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templatePreheader{ display:block !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templatePreheader .mcnTextContent,#templatePreheader .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templateHeader .mcnTextContent,#templateHeader .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templateBody .mcnTextContent,#templateBody .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templateFooter .mcnTextContent,#templateFooter .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } With the 2018 census pushed online there’s been much discussion about reaching those without computer access. Lee-Anne Duncan visits Wellington’s DCM. In the census, did the homeless count? View this email in your browser   Ngā mihi mahana, In this month's census, DCM was determined to ensure that our taumai were counted. We wanted to share this story from The Spinoff with you at the end of this tax year, and invite you to make a donation to the on-going work of DCM in Wellington. Remember that for every dollar you donate, you can claim one-third back as a tax deduction.  In the census, did the homeless count? With the 2018 census pushed online there’s been much discussion about reaching those without computer access, who still need someone to knock on their door. But what about those without even a door to knock upon? Lee-Anne Duncan visited DCM. The southerly marks a sharp turn from a stunner summer to chilly autumn. At the start of each season, DCM marks the change with “Seasonal Kai”, a lunch they put on for their “taumai” – which is what DCM calls the people it supports, Wellington’s vulnerably housed or homeless. Some 30 taumai – meaning “to settle” – have come to the lunch. About half are Māori and there’s only one woman, a fair representation of DCM’s clientele. They’re very welcome. With the food waiting, a karakia is given and everyone is asked to consider what the change to the colder months means for those sleeping rough, those without a home. It’s happenstance the quarterly kai has fallen on that day, one of three in early March that hi-vis-clad Statistics New Zealand’s field officers are at DCM to guide taumai through filling out the census forms. But it likely means a few more have turned up and will agree to add their details to the national count – something DCM encourages those assembled to do. “This is a really important time for taumai to have a voice and tell the government we need to build more houses and feed more support and resources back to you. Filling out the census helps you add your voice,” the group is told. Situated on the site of Wellington’s Te Aro Pā, DCM’s kaupapa follows what would have happened at the pā all those years ago. “This is where people came for food, for shelter, for community, to have a voice, to speak, to be heard, to be lifted up, to be counted,” says DCM’s Michelle Scott. “So for us, supporting our people to be included in the census reinforces the kaupapa of this place. “It’s been a great opportunity for our community to get together, to chew the fat about what’s important, what’s necessary for them to move forward, and what society should be prioritising.” That’s exactly what Statistics NZ’s Dr John Mitchell set out to record when refocusing on how to count the hard-to-reach. “Many of them have high needs in terms of government services. Since government spending decisions are made on the basis of census data it’s even more important they are counted.”   Without needing as many people to go door-to-door this time, John says they could dedicate field officers to target people who couldn’t be reached with an internet code. “That includes groups who are low responding and need more encouragement and assistance to be enabled to do the census. We had a community engagement team out talking to many communities – Māori, Pacific, culturally and linguistically diverse communities – getting the message across why it’s important to do the census, and looking at ways to enable them. A subset of that was obviously the rough sleeping homeless.” As John’s team was out engaging, Michelle was also looking for ways to enable taumai to take part in the census. The organisation had worked hard to encourage them to vote in last year’s election, and many did. The feeling of empowerment, of having a say and being heard, remained. John and Michelle came up with the idea of having census officers at DCM – and other similar organisations around the country – to help marginalised people fill in the census. “Usually that’s done by a street count,” says John. “Where field officers walk along looking for people sleeping rough, and try to persuade them to give enough information to complete at least some of the individual form. “This census we’ve taken a multi-faceted approach. We’ve done a street count, but in eight cities we’ve worked with organisations who engaged directly using different approaches depending on what would suit their clients.” “It seems to have gone well, with lots of buy-in by letting the people the rough sleepers know and trust recommend doing the census.” Trust is certainly a major issue for  taumai and others like them. While voting is just ticking a box, filling out the census means handing over personal information. “But they trust DCM and trust us not to get them into trouble,” says Natalia Cleland, one of DCM’s social workers. “We’ve been talking about the census for weeks. We put up notices covering what the census is about, why it’s useful and what happens with the information. Our taumai also had the chance to tell us their concerns, then we could get the right information to give them confidence.” “It also gave them time to gather the information they needed,” says Michelle. “We could say, ‘If you’re Māori and you aren’t sure about your iwi, go away and find out so you can include it in the census’. “We wanted them to come with that rich part of who they are and what’s gone before them. It really appealed to them as a topic of conversation and it was fascinating to see them connecting and discussing their various backgrounds. So lots of other positive things have come out of doing the census here.” But for the country the main benefit of having three days of census filling at DCM, and like organisations, is that many people have registered their existence who otherwise wouldn’t have. “Some of our people don’t have any ID and may not even be recorded on any databases. If they’ve filled out the census they are recorded somewhere as a human being and as a New Zealander,” says Michelle. While not having an address is one barrier to filling out the census, low-to-no literacy is another. Even taumai who DCM has supported into housing came in for support, with one knocking at DCM’s door at 8:55am on census day morning, waving his census form. Yes, Statistics NZ offered to send field officers to people’s homes if they needed help, but that wouldn’t have worked for all of DCM’s taumai, says Michelle. “This is where their whānau is. Here, some of them have sat in our marae atea and discussed their answers with each other. They had kōrero with others who had already done it, and they’d say, ‘Well, I did that, I ticked that box’, so they got a huge resource from one another.” Robert is one who wouldn’t have completed the census without DCM’s help. Released from prison in 2016, he slept for a while in his van. He’s housed now, but came to DCM to do this census – his first ever. “If someone hadn’t helped me, I would have just got pissed off with trying. We were told the story of why you should fill it out, and then it made sense to me so I did it. “I encourage people who have been in prison all their lives to do this. It’s a piece of the puzzle that is missing. When we include ourselves in things like this, it helps us to feel part of the bigger picture and you want to do it more and more. It feels pretty cool to fill it out.” Jason sleeps anywhere that’s (hopefully) warm and dry. Along with homelessness, literacy issues would have prevented him filling out the census. “I understand we’re not counted but they’re trying to make a change, the government. I wanted to fill it out because it adds to the big picture. But without someone helping me, I couldn’t. I appreciate DCM giving us the opportunity to have a voice.” The staff at DCM are happy to play their part in drawing that big picture. “It’s not giving an accurate picture of New Zealand society if we count only people who are willing and able to fill out their census forms,” says Natalia. “We’re helping provide New Zealand build an accurate picture of who we are, and who are the ones with the highest needs. That feels really valuable.” Statistics NZ can’t pinpoint when this year’s data will be available, but be sure everyone at DCM will be watching to see how that data is used. “We’ve reinforced that this is about reciprocity – ‘tuki atu, tuku mai’, another of our kaupapa,” says Michelle. “We told our taumai that they give their information so, in turn, the government can support them – with enough houses, hospitals, doctors, etc. “They now feel like they have a voice, that they count. Now they are watching to see if they’ve been heard.” Freelance journalist Lee-Anne Duncan contributed this piece as a volunteer for The Community Comms Collective, whose pro bono clients include DCM. Thank you for your ongoing support, From everyone at DCM.   Click Here to Donate Now! <!-- --> Copyright © 2018 DCM, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list
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    • In the census, did the homeless count?
      • 96 In the census, did the homeless count? p{ margin:10px 0; padding:0; } table{ border-collapse:collapse; } h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6{ display:block; margin:0; padding:0; } img,a img{ border:0; height:auto; outline:none; text-decoration:none; } body,#bodyTable,#bodyCell{ height:100%; margin:0; padding:0; width:100%; } .mcnPreviewText{ display:none !important; } #outlook a{ padding:0; } img{ -ms-interpolation-mode:bicubic; } table{ mso-table-lspace:0pt; mso-table-rspace:0pt; } .ReadMsgBody{ width:100%; } .ExternalClass{ width:100%; } p,a,li,td,blockquote{ mso-line-height-rule:exactly; } a[href^=tel],a[href^=sms]{ color:inherit; cursor:default; text-decoration:none; } p,a,li,td,body,table,blockquote{ -ms-text-size-adjust:100%; -webkit-text-size-adjust:100%; } .ExternalClass,.ExternalClass p,.ExternalClass td,.ExternalClass div,.ExternalClass span,.ExternalClass font{ line-height:100%; } a[x-apple-data-detectors]{ color:inherit !important; text-decoration:none !important; font-size:inherit !important; 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} } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentColumn{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnImageCardLeftImageContent,.mcnImageCardRightImageContent{ padding-right:18px !important; padding-bottom:0 !important; padding-left:18px !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcpreview-image-uploader{ display:none !important; width:100% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h1{ font-size:22px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h2{ font-size:20px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h3{ font-size:18px !important; line-height:125% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ h4{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ .mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent,.mcnBoxedTextContentContainer .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templatePreheader{ display:block !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templatePreheader .mcnTextContent,#templatePreheader .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templateHeader .mcnTextContent,#templateHeader .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templateBody .mcnTextContent,#templateBody .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:16px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } @media only screen and (max-width: 480px){ #templateFooter .mcnTextContent,#templateFooter .mcnTextContent p{ font-size:14px !important; line-height:150% !important; } } With the 2018 census pushed online there’s been much discussion about reaching those without computer access. Lee-Anne Duncan visits Wellington’s DCM. In the census, did the homeless count? View this email in your browser   Ngā mihi mahana, In this month's census, DCM was determined to ensure that our taumai were counted. We wanted to share this story from The Spinoff with you at the end of this tax year, and invite you to make a donation to the on-going work of DCM in Wellington. Remember that for every dollar you donate, you can claim one-third back as a tax deduction.  In the census, did the homeless count? With the 2018 census pushed online there’s been much discussion about reaching those without computer access, who still need someone to knock on their door. But what about those without even a door to knock upon? Lee-Anne Duncan visited DCM. The southerly marks a sharp turn from a stunner summer to chilly autumn. At the start of each season, DCM marks the change with “Seasonal Kai”, a lunch they put on for their “taumai” – which is what DCM calls the people it supports, Wellington’s vulnerably housed or homeless. Some 30 taumai – meaning “to settle” – have come to the lunch. About half are Māori and there’s only one woman, a fair representation of DCM’s clientele. They’re very welcome. With the food waiting, a karakia is given and everyone is asked to consider what the change to the colder months means for those sleeping rough, those without a home. It’s happenstance the quarterly kai has fallen on that day, one of three in early March that hi-vis-clad Statistics New Zealand’s field officers are at DCM to guide taumai through filling out the census forms. But it likely means a few more have turned up and will agree to add their details to the national count – something DCM encourages those assembled to do. “This is a really important time for taumai to have a voice and tell the government we need to build more houses and feed more support and resources back to you. Filling out the census helps you add your voice,” the group is told. Situated on the site of Wellington’s Te Aro Pā, DCM’s kaupapa follows what would have happened at the pā all those years ago. “This is where people came for food, for shelter, for community, to have a voice, to speak, to be heard, to be lifted up, to be counted,” says DCM’s Michelle Scott. “So for us, supporting our people to be included in the census reinforces the kaupapa of this place. “It’s been a great opportunity for our community to get together, to chew the fat about what’s important, what’s necessary for them to move forward, and what society should be prioritising.” That’s exactly what Statistics NZ’s Dr John Mitchell set out to record when refocusing on how to count the hard-to-reach. “Many of them have high needs in terms of government services. Since government spending decisions are made on the basis of census data it’s even more important they are counted.”   Without needing as many people to go door-to-door this time, John says they could dedicate field officers to target people who couldn’t be reached with an internet code. “That includes groups who are low responding and need more encouragement and assistance to be enabled to do the census. We had a community engagement team out talking to many communities – Māori, Pacific, culturally and linguistically diverse communities – getting the message across why it’s important to do the census, and looking at ways to enable them. A subset of that was obviously the rough sleeping homeless.” As John’s team was out engaging, Michelle was also looking for ways to enable taumai to take part in the census. The organisation had worked hard to encourage them to vote in last year’s election, and many did. The feeling of empowerment, of having a say and being heard, remained. John and Michelle came up with the idea of having census officers at DCM – and other similar organisations around the country – to help marginalised people fill in the census. “Usually that’s done by a street count,” says John. “Where field officers walk along looking for people sleeping rough, and try to persuade them to give enough information to complete at least some of the individual form. “This census we’ve taken a multi-faceted approach. We’ve done a street count, but in eight cities we’ve worked with organisations who engaged directly using different approaches depending on what would suit their clients.” “It seems to have gone well, with lots of buy-in by letting the people the rough sleepers know and trust recommend doing the census.” Trust is certainly a major issue for  taumai and others like them. While voting is just ticking a box, filling out the census means handing over personal information. “But they trust DCM and trust us not to get them into trouble,” says Natalia Cleland, one of DCM’s social workers. “We’ve been talking about the census for weeks. We put up notices covering what the census is about, why it’s useful and what happens with the information. Our taumai also had the chance to tell us their concerns, then we could get the right information to give them confidence.” “It also gave them time to gather the information they needed,” says Michelle. “We could say, ‘If you’re Māori and you aren’t sure about your iwi, go away and find out so you can include it in the census’. “We wanted them to come with that rich part of who they are and what’s gone before them. It really appealed to them as a topic of conversation and it was fascinating to see them connecting and discussing their various backgrounds. So lots of other positive things have come out of doing the census here.” But for the country the main benefit of having three days of census filling at DCM, and like organisations, is that many people have registered their existence who otherwise wouldn’t have. “Some of our people don’t have any ID and may not even be recorded on any databases. If they’ve filled out the census they are recorded somewhere as a human being and as a New Zealander,” says Michelle. While not having an address is one barrier to filling out the census, low-to-no literacy is another. Even taumai who DCM has supported into housing came in for support, with one knocking at DCM’s door at 8:55am on census day morning, waving his census form. Yes, Statistics NZ offered to send field officers to people’s homes if they needed help, but that wouldn’t have worked for all of DCM’s taumai, says Michelle. “This is where their whānau is. Here, some of them have sat in our marae atea and discussed their answers with each other. They had kōrero with others who had already done it, and they’d say, ‘Well, I did that, I ticked that box’, so they got a huge resource from one another.” Robert is one who wouldn’t have completed the census without DCM’s help. Released from prison in 2016, he slept for a while in his van. He’s housed now, but came to DCM to do this census – his first ever. “If someone hadn’t helped me, I would have just got pissed off with trying. We were told the story of why you should fill it out, and then it made sense to me so I did it. “I encourage people who have been in prison all their lives to do this. It’s a piece of the puzzle that is missing. When we include ourselves in things like this, it helps us to feel part of the bigger picture and you want to do it more and more. It feels pretty cool to fill it out.” Jason sleeps anywhere that’s (hopefully) warm and dry. Along with homelessness, literacy issues would have prevented him filling out the census. “I understand we’re not counted but they’re trying to make a change, the government. I wanted to fill it out because it adds to the big picture. But without someone helping me, I couldn’t. I appreciate DCM giving us the opportunity to have a voice.” The staff at DCM are happy to play their part in drawing that big picture. “It’s not giving an accurate picture of New Zealand society if we count only people who are willing and able to fill out their census forms,” says Natalia. “We’re helping provide New Zealand build an accurate picture of who we are, and who are the ones with the highest needs. That feels really valuable.” Statistics NZ can’t pinpoint when this year’s data will be available, but be sure everyone at DCM will be watching to see how that data is used. “We’ve reinforced that this is about reciprocity – ‘tuki atu, tuku mai’, another of our kaupapa,” says Michelle. “We told our taumai that they give their information so, in turn, the government can support them – with enough houses, hospitals, doctors, etc. “They now feel like they have a voice, that they count. Now they are watching to see if they’ve been heard.” Freelance journalist Lee-Anne Duncan contributed this piece as a volunteer for The Community Comms Collective, whose pro bono clients include DCM. Thank you for your ongoing support, From everyone at DCM.   Click Here to Donate Now! <!-- --> Copyright © 2018 DCM, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list
      • Accepted from DCM alerts archive by feedreader
      • Tagged as:
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      • media
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      • freelance
      • wellington
      • art
      • housing
      • hospital
      • people

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