One of those taking advantage of Te Whare o Tapatahi is Cedric who says he has been living 'humbly' for 70 months. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
A steady stream of rough sleepers is taking advantage of a recently-opened night shelter in New Plymouth where chronic homelessness is up 50 percent on five years ago.
Te Whare o Tapatahi, based at the inner-city YMCA, can sleep up to 20 men and offers a communal kitchen-dining area and bathroom, and laundry services.
Shannon breezed into Te Whare o Tapatahi chatting with staff as he checked in his personal belongings before catching up with mates.
He was first to offer to bless the kai.
In his mid-40s, Shannon had a history of living rough.
"My story is that I was placed on the streets due to family hurts and basically that has lead me to the streets again and this place actually came to me. This place found me."
He said the shelter was a godsend.
"This is perfect I mean this is beautiful. This is better than sleeping out on the streets or sleeping in a tent definitely, or having to sleep on the footpath like I see a lot of my brothers and sisters out there that are struggling and sleeping on the streets. Blessed are these people for helping us, you know, when no one else would help us."
Clad in a LA Lakers NBA top, Cedric was tucking into his kai.
"So I've had some macaroni, which was delicious, some rice and there was corn available, but I opted out of that, and there was some other delicious meat served up as well. I just had a medium serving tonight with a milo."
Shannon reckoned the YMCA night shelter was 'perfect'. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
He'd fallen on hard times.
"Unfortunately I've been living humbly, I would put this as living humbly, the last 70 months. That's correct, seven zero, 70 months now.
"I'd also like to mention the fact that, yes, I've been a beneficiary for quite some time, but I haven't acquired any additional debt through that."
Cedric appreciated the opportunity to shower, get his laundry done and have a proper night's rest.
Men staying overnight register and check-in their personal belongings. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Shelter senior social services manager Kylie Ewing said the shelter was open three nights a week, nights the men had chosen themselves.
"Monday night they identified as a night of high need for themselves because they've often run out of funds, so tensions are running high on the street.
"Friday and Saturday nights they identified as nights of risk for them because there's an increased amount of traffic, a lot of other people on the street, so they identified those as nights they would like to get off the streets."
The sleeping pods are similar to those found at Japanese capsule hotels and come with two power sockets, a personal light, USB and USC charging points, and a smoke and heat detector. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
Up to 10 men have been staying overnight while as many as 17 come for dinner.
The shelter's bedroom sleeps 20.
"A lot of people describe it when they walk into here as a nice calming but slightly masculine space. It also reminds them a lot of the Japanese airport hubs, so we have little pods, one below and one above.
"A shrimp like me can actually stand up in them, but all of our guys can quite comfortably sit up in them and move around."
The pods come with linen, a towel and have two power points, USB and USC charging ports, their own light, and smoke and heat detectors and a sprinkler.
Shannon was a fan.
"They're cosy, safe, comfortable too. Plus you've got those power chargers in there, you've got you're own light, you're not next to another bro going 'shush be quiet you're snoring too loud', right. So, it's perfect, it's beautiful."
Macaroni cheese and a ginger beef curry with vegetables were on the night shelter menu when RNZ visited. Photo: RNZ / Robin Martin
He rated the kai too.
"Ten out of 10. I give 10 out of 10 for the food definitely, and for the staff too."
The New Plymouth District Council contributed $350,000 towards establishing Te Whare o Tapatahi and a further $450,000 towards running costs over three years.
The Toi Foundation made a $300,000 grant and numerous businesses including had donated time and products towards the shelter's fit out.
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