Our Impact

Kenneth is one of the 41,000 New Zealanders experiencing homelessness. He comes along to shift to wash his clothes, have a shower, and most importantly – sit down for a genuine and non-judgemental chat.

“I haven’t always lived on the streets but I find myself in this situation at the moment. I am trying to hide it from people around me because there is a fair bit of shame. I don’t like to use the word depressed but I do feel depressed, nine weeks on the streets.

I motivate myself everyday to get up, especially with Orange Sky here. You are part of my plans everyday. Without Orange Sky, I wouldn’t be clean like this. I wouldn’t be walking around with clean clothes and I wouldn’t be sleeping on clean blankets. I’m one of those people that don’t like walking into the public feeling all dirty. With Orange Sky here, I’m able to move about and go do things like appointments and stuff like that. It’s also that feeling of being around good people. ”

Doug and Krystal have been struggling with accommodation for some time. They told us they find it hard to maintain stability and rely on Orange Sky for clean laundry, warm showers and regular connection with volunteers.

“We find it hard to live with other people and it always creates a lot of anger and disappointment. Doug and I are living on the street again at the moment but at least we have Ginger [our cat] to keep us company.

Orange Sky coming here to the library has been so helpful. Knowing we can have a shower, have our clothes washed and have interesting chats helps a lot. All anyone needs a lot of the time are people, or cats, around them that love each other and give each other a sense of joy.”