Press Release – E Tipu e Rea
E Tipu E Rea Whānau supports mātua taiohi (young parents) aged 14-22 in Auckland.
Since October last year, nearly a third of our mātua taiohi have had to access MSD-funded immediate housing in motels.
While the issue of youth homelessness has been publicised in recent months by groups such as Lifewise and the Manaaki Rangatahi Collective, the additional challenges and complexities faced by young people with tamariki have not yet been made public.
E Tipu E Rea works with mātua taiohi and has seen that the current use of motels for immediate emergency housing is completely inappropriate for young māmā and their tamariki, who often live there for months at a time. Given the majority of mātua taiohi supported by E Tipu E Rea are Māori or Pasifika, this is an issue of equity that has far reaching ramifications.