Download the 2015 Hard Times Report (PDF, 2.60MB)
The Salvation Army is a faith-based Christian organisation motivated by values that include equality, inclusion, and human rights. From a Salvation Army perspective every human being deserves the right to shelter.
The impetus for this report came from the staff at the West Auckland branch of The Salvation Army, The Faith Factory. Frontline workers there became concerned about a perceived increase in the numbers of rough sleepers in West Auckland and wanted to better understand the issue. A recent City Mission report showed an overwhelming increase of rough sleepers in Auckland Central. Their count in 2014 recorded 147 rough sleepers, an amount that is just over double the count in 2013 of 69 people .
Over the past ten years the average number of rough sleepers identified on each count equated to 71 persons . The count in 2014 is double the average yearly number over the past ten years. During 2014 staff at the Faith Factory, alongside a number of other agencies who regularly engaged with people who sleep rough in and around Henderson noted an increased prevalence of street homelessness in the commercial areas of West Auckland, in particular around central Henderson. The increase was thought to be a spill-on effect of the increase in rough sleepers in Auckland Central and elsewhere in Auckland.