SHELTERING THE HOMELESS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19838, 10 July 1926, Page 2

SHELTERING THE HOMELESS.

NEW INSTITUTION FOR CITY.

SALVATION ARMY’S PURCHASE PREMISES IN MAOLAGGAN STREET. There frequently come before the court on charges of vagrancy unfortunates who have been found sleeping in all sorts of out of the way places. Not infrequently (ns the magistrate recognises) the_ fault does not lie with them. Force of circumstances has compelled them to find a bed somewhere, and in many cases, some ol these homeless orfes would be willing to work for the privilege of sleeping under a roof, if work were offering. Plow to deal with these persons is a problem which has, in Dunedin at all events, become increasingly difficult to handle. Night after night, particularly iu the winter time, tha Salvation Army, charitable institutions, the clergy, and even the police are besieged with applications tor shelter, and find it difficult to comply with every request. So acute has the situation become of late, that a deputation, headed by the Rev. Dr Herrington and including the Rev. W. Walker, of the Central Mission, Mr H. H. Driver, Mr F. G. Gumming, secretary of the Patients’ and Prisoners’ Aid Society and Mrs Inglis, of the Sailors’ Rest, waited on Commissioner Hoggard, tho Salvation Army territorial commander for the Dominion and urged the necessity in Dunedin of a shelter for men. It was pointed out that whilst all the other centres possessed shelters, such an institution was lacking in this city, where the need of it was particularly pressing. The deputation also stated that at present an application for relief was usually met by an order for bed and breakfast which cost bs fid, with the result that a constant drain was being made on the funds set aside for other charitable purposes. The Sailors’ Rest was one of tha few places where shelter could be given, but only till 10 o’clock, when the rooms closed. Tlion, tha custodian was reluctantly compelled to turn the occupants out and it nud become common knowledge that those who had no homo to go to, were forced to sleep under trucks in tbo railway goods yard. In view of those circumstances, the deputation requested that the Salvation Army should move in the matter as it considered that the Army was most qualified to understand the position and deal with it. Spoken to by a Daily Times reporter, Ensign Coombs, through wh hands most of these unfortunates pass, stated that for many winters past she had boon faced with the problem of providing shelter for men who had been temporarily stranded. Many of them came to the city in search of employment, through slackness of work in the t country. Many were sailors who had on in the Old Country and taken their discharge here in the hope of getting work, and this year, the seriousness of the position had been augmented by the fact that numbers of men who came here during the Exhibition period and took jobs, were now out of employment. Some had obtained situations, some had returned whence they came, but a number,_ who were completely stranded, still remained. Brigadier Burton told the reporter that ho had considered many propositions with a view to obtaining a suitable building for a shelter, among them being the purchase of the quick-lunch building at the Exhibition. Although this was offered cheaply, however, the obtaining of a suitable site was difficult, and the cost of removing the building would have boon prohibitive. , .... • After a long search suitable premises had at last been acquired and another few weeks will see the building m Maclaggan street, next door to th Catholic Apostolic Church, fitted up as a sheltwith accommodation for 60 men. _ With a frontage of 66ft and a dep of 60ft, it is a solid two-storeyed brick structure in excellent condition, which, with a little alteration, will be admirably suited to the purpose for which it will be required. To meet the requirements of the present winter, these alterations are already being pushed ahead, and it is anticipated that tho shelter will be fully occupied as soon as they are completed. Although tho price of the property was £IOSO onlv. Brigadier Burton estimates that another £7OO will be required before the shelter is in proper running order, and as these amounts have not been provided tor in the Army’s yearly financial budget, ho stated that he is looking to the public to provide the money. , , , Support has already been promised from several mercantile and financial houses m the city, and in addition the Mayor (Mr H L Tapley (C.M.G., M.P.), and the Town Clerk (Mr G. A. Lewm), have promised to consider favourably, and to bring before the City Council any request which may be made for tho reduction ol rates and licensing fees. A tentative promise has also been made that so long as the promises are safe and sanitary 1 lie usual regulations governing boardinghouses will not be enforced too * Regarding tho upkeep of the shelter, Brigadier Burton stated that it was proposed to provide two classes of accommodations —one for those who could not pay and one for those who could. In this way the profits from the latter would go a long way to balancing the expenditure on the other.