Human teeth, faeces, clumps of hair - the shocking state of Wellington's night shelter

Sunday, 7 June 2020

Undignified. Unhygienic. Uncaring.

That’s how the Wellington Night Shelter has been described in a damning report that found the refuge for the city’s most vulnerable in a state of squalor.

Staff at the Wellington City Mission, who compiled the report, were shocked by the state of the shelter when they took over on 16 April following Covid-19 lockdown.

The shelter has provided short-term accommodation for the city's homeless for fifty years and relies heavily on council and government funding to operate

**READ MORE:

* Homeless being housed quicker in lockdown

* Coronavirus: Lockdown causes Wellington Night Shelter to relook at how it operates

* How do the homeless handle the Covid-19 lockdown?

**

The report claimed clumps of hair, human teeth and faeces, urine soaked carpet and rat and mice droppings were discovered at the shelter.

The wretched conditions at the premises and the quality of the care was considered the worst any of the City Mission team had seen throughout their careers of clinical and operational practice, according to the report provided to the Night Shelter Board.

The state of neglect and treatment of guests made for ‘unpleasant reading,’ Board chairman John Kennedy-Good conceded when approached by Stuff.

The litany of failures detailed include a putrid smell permeating the whole downstairs area from soiled carpet was so revolting it had to be removed.

It seemed unlikely the carpet in the dormitory, which reeked of urine, had ever been cleaned, the report stated.

The small internal atrium beside the staff office and reception posed significant health hazards with human faeces, teeth, clumps of human hair, 500 cigarette butts, bird faeces on the windowsills and blocked drains, the report said.

Rat and mice droppings were found in food areas alongside rusty rodent traps.

A fridge in the kitchenette was filled with rotting food and was so riddled with rust and mould it had to be binned.

Some users of the downtown city facility were scathing of its staff, the report said.

Kainoho (residents) described a lack of communication and general disinterest by the shelter staff about them and their situations.

Staff had an institutionalised approach assuming they have little to offer and numerous deficits, residents told the report's authors.

Some described the cleanliness of the environment, particularly the kitchen area as ‘disgusting 'and ‘unhygienic’ with some saying they would not cook or eat in the kitchen as they did not want to get sick, according to the report.

Security guards described a number of disturbing incidents to the report's authors, including one where a kainoho was allegedly left outside the shelter at night for four hours because he was sick and was vomiting. The security guard was concerned for the wellbeing of the man but did not feel he could go against what the staff had decided.

Kennedy-Good said were parts of the report he disputed. He would not clarify what parts were in dispute.

['But] there is no denying the fact that the report makes for unpleasant reading and that there were severe underlying and ongoing issues that have been manifesting and perhaps were not dealt with in a timely manner.'

The board had been aware that there were issues needing to be addressed and had already started a review of the shelter, he said.

It has proposed that all operations of the Wellington Night Shelter Trust cease, and that the trust be dissolved. The staff of 16 will be advised of the board’s decision on June 12. He would not comment further.

The Wellington City Mission was planning to run the facility till the end of June but it now wants to take over permanent operations basing it on a Housing First model offering wrap around services to those in need and getting them into permanent accommodation.

Murray Edridge, the Wellington City Missioner was a representative on the Night Shelter Board from July 2018 till the end of 2019.

'I raised concerns about the shelter on more than one occasion,' he told Stuff. 'I can't comment on how those concerns were received.'

The report was a factual account of what he and his staff discovered, he added.

'It was unhygienic, unclean and unhealthy. We came away very angry and very saddened by what we found.'

Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons, chair of the Wellington City Council’s grants committee. said the report was deeply troubling and upsetting. Past and current kainoho and their families deserve an apology from the board and the council, she said.

“The report shows a fundamental lack of care for the welfare and safety of the residents and the physical environment of the night shelter.

“I am deeply sorry this occurred and will do everything I can within the council to make sure this never happens in a council-funded service again.'

Fitzsimons, who holds the social housing and housing partnerships portfolio, said she was not aware of the appalling conditions prior to reading the City Mission report.

She said the council was not required to inspect premises that deal with vulnerable people but this needed to change.

“The council must urgently complete a comprehensive review of council funding to all organisations that deliver services or support to vulnerable people and ensure that effective monitoring and enforcement systems are in place.

“This means regular visits for inspection purposes.

“The council review must be genuinely independent, fulsome and look for areas where Council can improve, not defend the status quo which has failed here.”

The night shelter received $95, 615 in annual funding from the WCC.

In the past two years it received an extra $129,385.

In 2016, council paid out a further $30,000 to cover staff salaries.

The shelter was also funded by the Ministry of Social Development and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.