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Um my name is Cassie. I, um, come from and I'm a youth worker with Evolve Wellington Youth Service. Um, and [00:00:30] I'm here just discussing homelessness. Um, and the I, I guess in the wake of, um being asked by my organisation that I'm a part of to make a submission for the cross party inquiry into the issue around homelessness. Um, and I'm Sandra Dixon, and I'm part of this conversation because the organisation I work for, um, which is a national youth development. Um, peak body has an interest [00:01:00] in this area because of specific vulnerabilities for young people around homelessness. And I think some more context of that is that we were asked to We were told that there weren't any submissions on homelessness from a rainbow perspective. So we within a couple of weeks, um, organised, um, to come together, as was it two different organisations to be able to, uh, present and submit on the actual nature of homelessness [00:01:30] from an LGBTI Q perspective. Um, so yeah, that's kind of how we came to be in this conversation. Yeah, we, um I think the the importance of having rainbow experiences described in a public forum felt huge to me. And I think to you, too, without speaking for you. Um, basically, if we're not at the table describing those vulnerabilities, then they get left out of strategic thinking of planning of resourcing. [00:02:00] Um and that feels unacceptable to me, given the things that we know from the work we do and from the lives we lead. Actually. And my experience has also been that, um when these kinds of conversations have come up in the past, because there's not many funded or resourced organisations around the health and well-being of rainbow people within aotearoa, um either from a youth perspective or from a general perspective, it means that there's often not people [00:02:30] around who are able to speak to our experiences in these forums. And so they go on and they go ahead and you get an idea and a capturing of, um, the the general state of Homelessness. But you you aren't able to hone into what the specific nature of what our communities might be experiencing. So it was really exciting to be able to actually have people who we who are in networks to be able to just come forward and just put something together, even if it was in a short amount of time. Yeah, yeah, definitely. I [00:03:00] wonder if we should start by defining homelessness in terms of how we understand it. Um, so I guess for me, I think the general public thinks about homelessness as street homelessness. And while that's horrific and awful, um, for me, homelessness is about much, much more than that. It's about having access. Having a home is about having access to a safe, secure space that you have some control over, Um, how people enter and leave that is free from all kinds of violence. [00:03:30] Um, and that you have some kind of control over being warm enough, being secure all of those kinds of things. If you don't have access to that, then I think we're you're in a situation where your housing is insufficient, and actually, you can be defined as homeless, as far as I'm concerned. Hm. I'm trying to think of the exact definition from the mahanna strategy from the Wellington City Council, and I think it talks about yeah, includes rough sleeping, but it also includes uninhabitable housing. [00:04:00] Um, and I guess when we come from this, we're talking about? Yeah, what it means to be in spaces that are actually, um, safe, you know, ideally physically, emotionally and spiritually as well. And that can sometimes added an extra layer in terms of what we're talking about, because, you know, to us, it's a big deal. If one you know, your gender that is assigned at birth is allowed back home. But the gender that you actually are is not allowed [00:04:30] back home, and that might not be picked up and more general kind of definitions of homelessness, I think. I guess the, um like many of the definitions that the state uses in New Zealand, that definition of street homeless is, um, really skewed towards a particular demographic which is basically men, um, so defining homelessness more broadly lets us look at how precarious and unsafe housing is for lots of groups, including rainbow people. Yeah, first, just thinking [00:05:00] about how big a problem is homelessness for rainbow people. Um, are you aware of any studies or data that currently exist? Uh, you know, as usual, the state isn't very good at counting the experiences of marginalised people. I don't think, um and particularly not very good at counting the experiences of sex, sexuality and gender diverse people. Um, so no, we've got rubbish data around this in New Zealand. We've got some indications from overseas [00:05:30] that higher proportions of rainbow young people than other young people are homeless. Um, and we've got some data that he has collected, um, which I think is really useful for this conversation. Um, so in terms of what what, um does really is we support people working with young people to do that work well and safely, and, um, and to enhance young people's opportunities to thrive. Really, And part of that work over the last four [00:06:00] years has been working with groups that are supporting rainbow young people, um, and and helping them do exciting, fantastic things. Um, and part of that has been discovering that there were 57 groups around the country working with rainbow young people at the moment in New Zealand. Um, those are the groups we've engaged with over the last two years, which was extraordinary. Obviously, I don't know that anyone had any idea that we had quite that many groups working to keep our rainbow young people safe, and it kind [00:06:30] of reflects how unsafe our communities are. I think, um so I guess that's the first bit. And the the second bit of work around that is really to ensure that the mainstream youth sector, um, has the supports. It needs to do that work well, because we're a mainstream organisation, we're not a Rabo specific organisation. Um, so part of our work over the last two or three years has been to ask the organisation supporting rainbow young people, what kinds of stuff they're doing and why that's mattering to the rainbow young people they're working [00:07:00] with. And our concern around homelessness came out of those, um, surveys and forums and and funding streams that we've had there. Um and I guess the figures I want to throw around. Um, So the 57 organisations around the country supporting rainbow young people the survey that we put out to those groups out of the groups that responded we had 59% So quite a lot more than half, saying that they'd helped a rainbow young person find emergency accommodation. [00:07:30] So someone in their groups had come and said, Home isn't safe for me. I've got nowhere to go. Um and that figure is awful. But the figure that I feel personally, even more disturbed by is that just over half of the groups that answered our survey had actually had to take someone home themselves, had had to have a volunteer who's always a Rambo young person as well take someone home because there was nowhere safe for that young person to go. So the existing homelessness services were not [00:08:00] appropriate, not safe, not available to Rainbow young people, perhaps as well. Um, and I think that's a pretty shocking state of affairs. To be honest, when we've got our volunteer groups having to hold that level of, um, vulnerability, really? You know, half our groups around the country that's for me. That's shocking. Yeah, it definitely reflects my experience within those groups as well. Yeah, yeah, I think. And again, coming back to [00:08:30] In general, homelessness is a really hard thing to track, like, as you say, any marginalised group, but in particular homelessness. Because a lot of the ways in which people gather data are usually from people having a having a stable home, and with those different layers of homelessness, it becomes really difficult. So a lot of people who may be couchsurfing or in transitional housing would not necessarily identify with the term homeless because it does carry a stigma. So in general, [00:09:00] homelessness is hard to track, and it becomes even more hard to track when it's for different marginalised groups. So I guess what I would be saying is, you know, it would be really useful to have more data. I think at present there is some work that is being taken is that at the University of Otago that is looking specifically into rainbow experiences of homelessness. So it's fantastic that that work is being done, you know, Back in 2008, the Human Rights Commission, um, went through an inquiry into Trans people's experiences in New [00:09:30] Zealand, and they found that Trans people were describing discrimination experiences in housing that were making their housing environments unsafe so we might not have, um we might not have the number data, but we've certainly got the stories that have been told for quite some time now about problems in accessing safe housing for rainbow people. I think, Yeah, absolutely. And I think it also goes to show that these these issues have been raised. However, [00:10:00] it doesn't mean that there's been any motivation for those in power to be able to follow up on that. So even, you know, there's this tendency that we need to have data and research to back everything up and albeit that helps. And it is important. But actually, you know, even if we did have that, it doesn't necessarily mean that that would translate into into more comprehensive support. And And you kind of have to know where to look for the information, too. Uh, you know, like if I think about the [00:10:30] the recent work that did that, that around, um, partner and sexual violence The people that answered our survey were not going to domestic violence services even when they needed them, because they knew those services were for them. So we've got there another place where you know, if we're leaving a relationship that's abusive, we've got nowhere to go except to our mates, probably. So there's all these these little indications of a problem existing. I guess so, I. [00:11:00] I think that it's you know there's lots of different causes of homelessness and we can talk about them in a bit But I definitely think that, you know, there is still a stigma around sexuality and gender, which can mean a higher risk of family rejection. Quite simply, um, family are not always equipped to be able to be able to support young people when they come out, and and even if they did want to, it doesn't mean that it's necessarily always going to happen for a whole variety of reasons. Um, [00:11:30] and that family rejection still does happen. Um, and this can be even harder if there's more marginalisation on top of this. I guess as well as this. It can be harder for people who are adults and having left home and being aged to live on their own. Um, within the current structure that we have, we currently depend on getting housing by usually, um, a landlord or property development or property management company. Being in charge of [00:12:00] that interaction and what I found from talking to young people is that generally, already being young can disadvantage them. And on top of that, if they do not have what is read or seen or presented as normative bodies, normative lifestyles, then it can mean that they are just driven further down the list of of being, you know, priority clients or tenants. Yeah, absolutely. [00:12:30] So, yeah, I think that that that is a concern that can affect people who might be particularly transgender and unable to so called pass. Yeah, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree with all of that. And, um, I guess I'd say, too, that I think there's other structural issues that come into play here in terms of discrimination that sex, sexuality and gender diverse people experience around, um, employment and health care, meaning that we [00:13:00] sometimes have costs that other people don't have. And actually, disposable income matters when it comes to housing. So I think we've got, um we don't have any anything to prove that we're more at risk of homelessness, But we've got a whole bunch of kind of quite obvious, um, social norms and values and experiences of discrimination. I mean, I don't know that I would know anyone my age, and I'm in my forties who hasn't experienced rejection from landlords based on [00:13:30] sexuality or gender identity. And I imagine that's true across ages. And I think just linking into I mean the general causes of homelessness is talked about by local councils and services say that it's usually linked to poverty, mental health experiences, disabilities, addiction issues, emotional health and trauma, sexuality and gender convictions and imprisonment, unemployment and low wages [00:14:00] and a lack of affordable housing. So that's how they perceive of general homelessness. And it's also not hard to conceive how a lot of those different layers can affect, uh, sexuality and gender diverse people at the same rates, if not higher rates as well. And so you're already talking about people. I mean, for example, if you've had family rejection that could, you know, lead to emotional health and trauma. Um, there's plenty [00:14:30] of people who are sexuality and gender diverse who also have experiences with a lot of those different areas. So are they more at risk of being homeless? I would probably say that they are one of those really high risk populations, most certainly, and I think also wanting to add as well that, um, the how I say the housing crisis because there is a term that is currently being used within the media to describe what's taking place within [00:15:00] home ownership and home buying, and so on. I would say that the housing crisis has been in existence for a really, really long time. But this is just, you know, the current way that it's been talked about. And I think the way that our society is organised in terms of housing really, really exacerbates this issue. So in particular the majority of young people that I work with are always in transient housing situations and in low quality housing. My own house [00:15:30] has four leaks in it. At present, we're pretty much all queer or trans people who live there, um, with little power or ability to be able to negotiate, having a warmer, healthier, safer place to be able to live. And we consider our ourselves lucky that we even have a house and this is being, you know, a 27 year old. So I guess thinking about the general environment and market in terms of housing. It is not one that is geared towards human and social [00:16:00] need to begin with. And so then when you have any added marginalisation or experience beyond that, it's only going to make that harder and harder from there. Yeah, totally. I could not agree more with all of that. I think, um when I was thinking about the the question of what causes homeless homelessness, all of that stuff you talked about. Although I'm quite fascinated that the City Council doesn't think racism might be an issue there, that's interesting. Um, and and I guess for me, the fundamental driver [00:16:30] is that our housing situation in New Zealand has been set up as a site of profit, not as a site of need, Which means that everything that drives how our housing market operates and even the fact I'm using housing market, you know, um, is about building money for people who have enough money to be buying a house in the first place. Um, and when that's how your whole situation around providing housing for people is set up, needs are [00:17:00] invisible, you know? And I think I think that's what we see in terms of discrimination. I don't think we talk about discrimination very well in a whole bunch of ways around housing, but certainly not around those experiences for Rainbow people. And I guess the other part of that in terms of the the more at risk question, is that, um, if if we're more likely to be homeless anyway, and we think we probably are. And if we're in this kind of situation, where greed is, what's driving housing not need? We're also in a situation where the social services that [00:17:30] are set up to respond to homelessness in New Zealand they are under the cosh because that's how social services are at the moment they're set up for, um, people, they're set up for heterosexual people. Finding emergency housing for us is more complicated, because sometimes the gender of services is not appropriate for us. Sometimes the vocation of faith based settings is not appropriate for us. Sometimes there's been, um, no consideration around how we might make those [00:18:00] spaces safer for us. In fact, I'd say, almost always there's been no consideration about how we make those those spaces safer. So we've got this, um, world where housing is a problem for Stop. We've got the discrimination that the Rainbow Communities experience, and then we've got these social services that don't fit for us, so that whole picture adds up to a real mess. I think around homelessness for us. There's a quote here as well. Um, from an article that I wrote possibly a couple of years back, which is based on the fight back website. [00:18:30] And the quote here says the link between colonisation, poverty and homelessness runs strong, and I guess just wanting to ask and talk about what we've already touched on here. But if there's any further comments around the further layers that can add comple complexity, um, to the issue around housing, yeah, I feel like you said in what said about eight words what I just said about 900 [00:19:00] because that's I mean, that sums it up. Actually, the problem is that we've got a, um, a system that it's a white system. It's a colonial system. It's a capitalist system, and it's been set up in a neoliberal world to, um, not prioritise housing for everybody in New Zealand. Absolutely. I think the other thing as well is that, um, the data, at least what is being seen, for example, just on, um, street [00:19:30] homelessness in Wellington is that and this is general homelessness is that the majority of those people on the streets are Maori. Um, and I don't think that that can be ignored. Um, and I absolutely think that that's linked back to our history of colonisation, particularly a lot of people who are really disconnected from the places where they've been, whether or not there's broken relationships, trauma, violence, addictions and so on. Um [00:20:00] and I think that just adds an extra layer, um, to what we're kind of grappling with here at the same time. Um And so I would say that particularly if you are Maori or and, um, within the rainbow community questioning your sexuality or gender, it is likely from just looking at what we've already got, that it's going to be even more difficult for you to be able to provide housing, which [00:20:30] is just this really twisted, awful, but also sadly commonplace occurrence that takes place within colonised countries. So, um so yeah, I guess that's just one of one of the things that has been seen quite generally. Yeah. The next question here is is homelessness just affecting youth? Um, and you know, the the focus of being involved in the submission was young people, because that's our core business. [00:21:00] Um, but we can you know, a lot of the issues that we've talked to here today. Discrimination, access to employment and so on might not improve as we age. Actually, as rainbow people, Um, I think the the stuff that is a little bit different for older rainbow people is that we're not, um, necessarily as dependent on our family of origin, um, around safe housing. Although I know it can also be true that that that kind of [00:21:30] that shift over time creates isolation in quite an ongoing way. And that's sort of some of the stuff that you were just speaking to. I think, um, there's certainly the question of how appropriate our aged care facilities are. I think for older rainbow people, and you know, I don't I don't feel like I know enough about that to comment. But it's something that would be interesting to look at more closely. Probably. I mean, homelessness as a whole is definitely not just affecting youth. Um, and [00:22:00] from my experience, most of the mainstream services are more generally dealing with adults. Um, tracking adults supporting adults. They're quite I think they're usually more visible in some cases as well. Um, and I know that there's been a move to addressing more youth homelessness in particular. Um, that has been happening from a more general level. Um, but again, [00:22:30] when it comes back to being in that highly competitive market, I think a lot of it often comes down to whether or not you're able to pass, which is a really big thing. So, for example, you know an older trans man who has been on hormone therapy for a number of years, Um may have a different experience to an older Trans woman who is, has had the same experience and is not, but is not able to pass or has transitioned at a later age. Um [00:23:00] and yeah, I think it's really while a lot of the kind of focus gets put on young people, often within Rainbow communities. And because I think young people have fought for that to be the case. Um, I really do think that, like, I wouldn't want to see an invisible of what happens particularly to older trans people when it comes to housing and homelessness. And I think the difference the only difference that often comes back is again [00:23:30] not as dependent on family of origin and possibly having more disposable income, Possibly, but not always. So yeah, um whereas young people If you're living with your family, it's You're in a really different situation. If you are kicked out or need to leave home. I wonder if there's some differences, too, around, um, capacity for support within the community, which is still completely unacceptable, actually, that we're having to house one another because housing [00:24:00] is so hard to get into. But I know myself, You know, I'm in a position now where I can put my friends up or people I know up or people that other people ask me to put up. Um, because I have a lot more control over my housing situation than I did when I was younger. So I can do that. Um, and I do do that, and I wonder if that's a little bit more accessible when you've been out for a bit longer and you're a bit older, Maybe, yeah, definitely. There is a question here [00:24:30] just about the difference in experiences and responses to homelessness between rural and urban settings. Um, and I'm wondering if we want to talk about that. I think earlier we both talked about that. Our majority of our experiences, if I'm right, is from an urban setting um, but did want to mention that it seems kind of common that there are less least clear services, often in [00:25:00] rural settings. They are able to provide that support that you're referring to before Sandra. But also we talked about how it is quite common for people questioning their sexuality or gender to, um, or identifying as non straight or non heterosexual to wait until they move away from their family of origin or their town of origin before they come out. I think that's a really unfortunately common [00:25:30] narrative, not for everyone. Um, and in doing so, I would say that we could possibly infer that it means that people are usually just waiting out and staying with staying in the closet, so to speak, while they're in rural environments. But this is this is just us kind of making guesses rather than speaking from direct experience, shooting the breeze a bit and I, I guess I think, too, in terms of the work that [00:26:00] he has been doing those 57 youth groups around the country, they're not all in Wellington, Christchurch and Auckland. You know they are all over the place. There are all kinds of little groups springing up because the situation for young people where they are is not OK for rainbow young people. So I'd say, um, if rainbow homelessness is hidden in the broader sense, it's pro, possibly even more hidden in the rural sense. Hm. So have we seen [00:26:30] a support within Rainbow Communities for Rainbow homelessness? Or does it feel like there's been a lack of that? Uh, I think we've seen some groups, and some people consistently try and talk about this issue. I think that for me personally, there's been a fear at times that when, um, things like marriage equality have happened, that we haven't always kept our eye on some of the ways that some people in our community [00:27:00] are still really vulnerable and really marginalised. So I'd say that, um, it's not always as bigger priority for Rainbow Communities as personally. I think it should be, Um, I think sometimes the support inside the rainbow community comes more pragmatically than that, though you know, So it might not necessarily be people talking about it, um, or agitating for it or or organising activist stuff about it. It might [00:27:30] come from, actually, people sleep on my sofa when they need to, and I think that happens all the time. You know, I know, I know that's something that happens in my household. And I know lots and lots and lots of people who make that happen when there's housing need for us. So there's that kind of practical, beautiful stuff that Rainbow community members do for one another. So in that way, yes, I think it's it's still live for us. I agree 100%. I think that our communities have had to take each other in and look after each other, as you say, [00:28:00] and there has been some really beautiful UM, support that has come come from that. And in fact we often know that if we don't take someone in, we don't know if anyone else is, um so I think that, yes, that that definitely does happen in terms of the broader question around kind of agitating around around homelessness. I think it's hard. I honestly think that a lot of forms of homelessness, um, are really normalised within our society, [00:28:30] and this is my experience of within an urban setting, but it's it's quite normalised that you will be out of a home or out of a flat for a degree of time while you're trying to find another place to live, because there's not that many houses that seem available. And so I think in some I I would make a guess to say that maybe it doesn't feel like it's a need to be really, um, fought for because [00:29:00] yeah is often quite quite normalised, Um, but again, I think that, you know, we're not often thinking about this real specific nature of of how we deal with this around sexuality and gender and calling it for what it is as well. I mean, homelessness isn't always again, as I said, a word that people will use, but it's essentially what's happening. I completely agree with that, and it's a really interesting way of thinking about it. Actually, we are so used [00:29:30] to, you know, headlines about baby boomers, Children not being able to buy housing, but buy houses that they want to. And that being the way we talk about housing A rather than actually there's a hell of a lot of New Zealanders living in substandard accommodation and that's not OK. Um, yeah, I think that's definitely true. So we as we mentioned, we made a submission on behalf of a couple of organisations. If we could just take some time to explain, [00:30:00] um, what they are and you've already talked about, but maybe what they're doing in this area at the moment, if anything Yeah, yeah. Um So I did talk about a I'll just put it all together in one place though. So, um, I do contract work for around rainbow young people. Um, and the the They're a peak body for youth development in a New Zealand. They're an umbrella organisation with 900 members. And those members include, [00:30:30] um, individuals working with young people like youth workers or health clinicians or teachers. They include organisations like schools or youth health services or faith based, um youth support groups and they include national organisations. So the, um the ability for to have a, um a kind of really well rounded view of what's happening for young people is quite high, which makes it a really good place to work. Actually, um and and the is around supporting [00:31:00] people working with young people to be more connected, effective and accountable. Um and I I guess the the reason he is active in this space is some very ethical and full of integrity. Um, leaders, really, over the last couple of years, who've looked at the consistent feedback the youth sector is giving of feeling like they don't yet have the tools to best support sex, sexuality and gender diverse young people and wanting help with that. So [00:31:30] our role really has been around, um, lifting the voices and supporting the voices of people working with rainbow young people and being a bridge between the mainstream sector, including providing and and creating tools for the mainstream sector to be, um, to be safer, really, to be safe places to be a young person, um, and and and in terms of ongoing work for a in this area, um, we'll continue to We will definitely continue to be talking [00:32:00] about the the information that we have and that we hold, and we'll continue to be creating resources to help those mainstream environments shift their practise. And I guess around now, if we think about that in terms of homelessness, having housing facilities for young people that are inappropriate for rainbow young people, for example, that would be an area that we would see as being something that we could help with, Um, in terms of increasing competencies with working with rainbow young [00:32:30] people, which might mean things like changing the physical set out of a place so that we don't have gender separate spaces. We have spaces that are that are more mixed. Or it might mean having, um, policies that aren't discriminating around the gender that someone's been assigned at birth. Or it might mean having, um, challenges to services that are operating for young women, making sure that they're including trans young women, too. There's a whole bunch of ways that we would do that work, I think, yeah. [00:33:00] Do you want to speak to the queer and trends Grant? You know, um, they weren't specific to this, but I think they were a really important and key part of the community capacity in many different areas. Um, I guess the I see that his work here he goes back four or five years now. Um, and probably three years ago now, we, um, began distributing queer and trends grants, which were small grants for organisations [00:33:30] with a focus or groups with a focus on rainbow young people, and they were basically grants for those groups to be able to do whatever they thought they wanted to do. Um And so there was something really beautiful about not having, you know, stuff tied to it. That was about what funders wanted. It was totally about what community wanted. Um, and the person who facilitated that was from the rain Bay community. It was the wonderful cable with extensive experience in in youth work. Um, and [00:34:00] one of the pieces of feedback we got consistently from from that work was that it was wonderful for those groups not to have to explain why they needed money to do this or that because actually, cable got it and was able to hold that to hold that knowledge inside. And I guess the stuff that came out of that well, firstly, the survey results that I talked about earlier that came out of that. But we also, um we've done some specific things to answer some of the queries we got at the time. So one of the [00:34:30] things the 57 groups around the country said to us was we can't access funding because whenever we try. We get told that actually, the things that we're saying are made up and unless we can trot out a young person to tell a horror story about suicidality that actually our funders in our local places don't believe us. And actually, it's not OK for us to be trotting out young people to tell horror stories about their lives. Um, so we put together some, um, some infographics [00:35:00] actually to to help people tell those stories and help them access funding where they were. Um, and I guess that's kind of been part of the response from the Queer Insurance grants process. Was listening to those 57 groups around the country helping them create tools that help them do their work better, as well as providing the small grants of funding. And unfortunately, the, um, that small grants funding wasn't offered to us in the in 2016. Um, [00:35:30] we're hopeful it will be reoffered again, but at the moment that that that stream of funding has dried up despite our needs not having dried up, and I want to acknowledge as well the way that that was done, because I think that, um, it was giving communities, the agency and the ability and the resources to be able to decide what was best for them and just go and roll that out. So what you found that there were, I would say, quite a lot of groups of, of queer or trans people that otherwise would [00:36:00] have usually been quite marginalised. Um, whether it's different ethnic groups, whether or not it's just different backgrounds, um, cultural spaces and so on. We're now able to just be given the resources to run with what they wanted to do. And I think that was really about self determination in a way as well. So I just really want to acknowledge that we some work from and and overseeing that in terms of evolved Wellington youth Um service, Um, so our service is A is a part of the one [00:36:30] youth, one stop shop model. We operate from a wraparound model of care, and the idea is that we want to be able to break down barriers for young people being able to access health care and support. So we're based in inner city Wellington. But there's many different services, such as our own, that operate across the country um, to name a few yachts in Palmerston North, um, and Vibe in the heart and youth service. And And And I would say [00:37:00] that a lot of these services are often at the forefront of engaging with around sexuality and gender, and probably because that is what we're seeing. And so therefore, we are responding to that. So we are about one of kind of a broader a broader model. Um, and what we do is we offer free health care and support for young people aged 10 to 25 and that can look like, uh, GPS for free. It can look like sexual health nurses, general, nursing youth [00:37:30] workers, um, counsellors, mental health support. So there's a whole range of different places in this one building. Essentially, um, now, part of my role as mentioned, is that I'm a youth worker here. The majority of my work is one on one mentoring and support to young people, um, and occasionally running groups as well. Um, the majority of the work that I currently do is in supporting sexuality and gender diverse young people, and [00:38:00] that's been quite a specific thing that has come from my own particular background, and I'm really lucky to be able to do that work. Um, I'm very thankful to our manager because she is the only reason I would say that we're in a position to even be able to do this work. Otherwise, it's seen as this this luxury. Um, but yes, there's a lot that is able to be done within this. Um, a lot of my work is supporting young trans people through their transition, whether or not [00:38:30] it's giving them the latest info on where they need to go to, um, get hormone therapy, finding a trans friendly place or, um, linking them in with other groups, or even just a place to explore their gender or sexuality in terms of uh so I guess what we're able to We actually have quite a high number of, uh, particularly gender diverse young people that access our service. Um, and this has taken a while of building up a relationship. And [00:39:00] what that means is we're already seeing a lot of young, transgender people, and we are also seeing young homeless people as well. And often these two can overlap. Um, one of the appeal of our services is that because we're free, we're able to really provide a service to people who are on low incomes on benefits or, for example, of trans young people who need multiple, um, visits for health care. Um, they're able to access us for free. [00:39:30] So that's really, really handy now in terms of their homeless homelessness stuff. Specifically, we are a member of the street outreach team that, um, that monitors the numbers of homeless people or, um, beggars or rough sleepers who are on the Wellington streets. So, um, so I'm a member of that group. Um, during this winter, we noticed an increase in general homelessness among young people. So we [00:40:00] started up a collaborative, a project with three other organisations BG I, zeal and services. And we started putting on a free meal for young people who may not be able to afford meals so easily. So we did that this winter. We also offer just ongoing support in general for people who are struggling with homelessness. And we have free showers available as well, which is often a bit of a magnet, particularly to people who are on the streets, um, [00:40:30] and with myself and with other people who have experienced around sexuality and gender diversity at this At this service, that means that we're really able to hone in and provide 1 to 1 support for young people within the situation. So that's the majority of work that we're doing and we'll hopefully be continuing to do What would you like to see? Change both immediately in the longer term. And this is always the million dollar question, isn't it? Do you have any thoughts on this? And oh, many, [00:41:00] many, many thoughts? Um, I mean the first thing. And this is an issue in every single kind of area of of social life, really. And health. Life for rainbow people, I think, is that we need to be included in the strategic planning and resourcing of what's happening out there. Because if we're not, then we're always having to try and make services that haven't been set up for us or responses that haven't been set up for us. We're trying to make them fit, and they just don't so that visibility. [00:41:30] And this is the reason that we went to the homelessness inquiry that visibility of our needs needs to be built into strategic planning from the very beginning. Um, that means that we should There shouldn't be a homelessness strategy written in New Zealand That doesn't talk about how to respond to rainbow young people or rainbow people in general. Um, that means that we need to have way better systems of collecting information than we have now. Um, I think our data collection in New Zealand is horrific. In many [00:42:00] ways, it needs to be more accurate, because otherwise the resourcing that we need won't happen. Um, so that's my first rant. And that would be my rant about almost any issue you can come across, actually, um, so that's not actually probably that specific to homelessness. Then I've got two more kind of rent things I want to say. Would you like to go? OK, so the first thing is, I think we need some specific services here. You know, I think that, um, that the ability to kind of even explore what it would look like [00:42:30] for rainbow young people to have everything that they need around housing isn't going to happen in mainstream services. I think we need some, um, some emergency hostel accommodation that is safe for us. and has been set up for us and then added to that, I think we need our mainstream services to be much better equipped to be dealing with rainbow young people. So that means that it should be a requirement. If you're going to be receiving any kind of funding that actually you're audited around how you respond to rainbow experiences, which means that you [00:43:00] understand what transitioning means and you understand what it means to look like a service and to be a service in which trans people are welcome and provided with what they need and treated in ways that demonstrate respect and make sure that that service is a service that is safe for people to use. Um, and at the moment we just have nothing like that happening, unfortunately at all. So those would be my two, the strategic inclusion, the data collection and then the specific [00:43:30] services and the mainstream youth services being better equipped, those would be my kind of key first steps, and I think mine kind of continue down from that point. So once all of that has been done, I, I think it would be useful to be able to have some form of space institution, a place where actually our knowledge is around health. Rainbow health is collected and acted [00:44:00] upon. I think at the moment we have, you know, in terms of our communities, we have pockets of knowledge from dedicated people who have usually put their love and time into doing this without much money. Um, but also it's so easy for that knowledge to be lost and high turnover of those people in those positions. I'm particularly thinking about those small services who have had amazing superstars doing that work of housing. Young people get [00:44:30] burnt out and then disappear. And I'm thinking, Where does that knowledge go? Um, once all of that disappearing has happened. So I think that thinking about organisations or places where we can start collectivising this knowledge not just around homelessness but the intersections of health and sexuality and gender, which is just a huge massive area that is so under scrutinised, funded and resource within a, um, having [00:45:00] that place would be really, really helpful. And I don't know exactly what that would look like, but at the moment everything's very scattered. I think that, um, one issue that I see is that family parents are not equipped with the knowledge and the tools to be able to adequately support their young people. And so what that usually means is, um, young people will be going through their huge journey in terms of their sexuality or gender, and parents will really be left out of the dark in the dark about what's going on. And there's not many [00:45:30] places where those two journeys are bridged. So at the moment, the majority of support that we have for looks like either the few or the 57 organisations providing a bit of ad hoc support or P flags that have been set up in the past. Um, but I wouldn't even say that there's a huge presence of those at this point in time. That's my understanding. There's two that are live that I'm aware of. So two yeah, compared to the 57 other organisations. [00:46:00] So, yeah, where are the places where families can start finding their way to, um, link in and support so that family rejection isn't such a norm? Um, the other thing I'm thinking about is that's not going to happen in every single situation, even if you have families who know all about it. So where are the safe places that people can go if that doesn't work out? And there have been discussions over whether or not hostels or emergency accommodation or anything like that would be the right fit. And I don't have the answer to that exactly. [00:46:30] I think that needs to come from the communities themselves, what that would look like. Um, but there's very little emergency transitional housing in general. So thinking about what that could look like, Uh, lastly, I think that yeah, the housing crisis crises need to be really firmly addressed within aotearoa and not just left up to the market to determine whether or not we have a safe living place to be able to dwell in. And that's not going to happen overnight. But I do think that, [00:47:00] um, while that continues to be the case, it's going to be hard for any marginalised person to be able to find safe, stable, adequate housing. Yeah, totally. I totally agree with all of that. I think that, um, that sort of wider structural stuff around the housing in general. And I guess for me too, the wider structural stuff around homophobia, biphobia transphobia racism As long as those things are not, um addressed, Recognised responded to, we're going to continue to have housing vulnerabilities. [00:47:30] Uh, so there's there's stuff around making sure that our family and are safer for our rainbow young people. And there's stuff around making sure that our communities are safer for all of us, which means challenging and addressing transphobia, biphobia and homophobia. It says, What can we do as rainbow communities to support this? Obviously they just support all the things that just were mentioned. You could just listen to us and just roll that out. That would be really great [00:48:00] in syndrome manifesto. Hm. There's something for me in this around making sure that we continue to prioritise and listen to our most marginalised people, I guess, and I'm not sure that we always do that enough. Um, I think we should continue, and I know we will continue to do all the great and beautiful stuff that we do to support one another when we need one another. I think you know our chosen family, or, as I like to call it, my logical family, as opposed to my biological family. My logical family [00:48:30] is a critical support for me. And I think the ways that we continue to support one another around that is really important. Yeah, absolutely. I. I think that Rainbow Communities have just done such an amazing job of, you know, often just trying to keep each other alive and survive through this. And so I think we need to just keep doing that, Um, and also work out ways that we can yes, not forget about the most marginalised or the most poorest queers who are not able to afford, um, homes and [00:49:00] so on. Keep it on the agenda. Probably something, too, about seeing each other in this week. A like I think sometimes we're very, very critical of each other, actually, in terms of the groups that are active in support spaces. And at the end of the day, you know, all of our is about lifting up all of us. So, supporting the beautiful work that is going on already, I think that's really important. I agree.
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