Te Puea Marae chairman Hurimoana Dennis is supporting the call from Labour’s housing spokesperson Phil Twyford for the government to declare a state of emergency on housing.
Time is nearly up for the workers at Te Puea but chairman Hurimoana Dennis says the housing situation is still dire.
Dennis and his workers have been at the coalface of the homelessness situation for the past 3 months. They've helped 174 people during that time.
“Having the agencies back here meant we could deliver the same service here at the marae,” says Dennis, “The only difference is that that service was more reflective of the needs of the client.”
PM John Key told the Paul Henry show Labour should shoulder the blame for the housing issues.
“It was the usual 'there is no crisis' rhetoric from the Government,” says Dennis, “But after a while they came around to the fact that there was a crisis.”
Dennis says needy families are still knocking on their door for help, but their work here at Te Puea will finish on Wednesday, and its up to the government to fix the situation.