News

17 Nov

How this man found himself homeless at 80

Stuff reports: As the number of people retiring owning their own home plummets, and many seniors are being priced out of retirement villages, more and more people over 65 are being left with nowhere to live. Phoebe Utteridge reports.

Nick

When Nick Carswell found out his rural Canterbury rental was going to be deemed unfit for tenancy in 2023, it was “a moment of sheer horror”.

“I thought I had nowhere to go,” he said.

The then-80-year-old had lived in a cottage on Miners Rd in Yaldhurst for 16 years. . Conditions in the house deteriorated impacting his health to the point he ended up in hospital.

His family attempted to restore the property so Carswell could continue to live in the countryside, but the property was declared unfit for tenancy.

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17 Nov

Age Concern Whanganui seeks donations to Secret Santa gift initiative

Age Concern Whanganui is on a mission to give older people gifts this Christmas.

It is the seventh year the organisation has run its Secret Santa programme which aims to ease the loneliness of older Whanganui residents over the holidays.

Age Concern is asking for gift items or monetary donations to be dropped off at its office at 164 St Hill St – or a volunteer can arrange to collect donations if they are unable to be dropped off – until December 4.

“We were aware that the Christmas time can be very hard for older people in our community and so we collect gifts,” Age Concern Whanganui manager Michelle Malcolm said.

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7 Nov

Beneficiaries, pensioners don't have enough money for basics - report

In news from RNZ: Households living on JobSeeker Support or NZ Super alone have to spend more each week than they have coming in to cover the basics, on average, a new report says.

Kore Hiakai, the Zero Hunger Collective, has issued its latest annual report - Ka Makona - which notes 27 percent of children are living in food-insecure households.

This year, older people have been added to the household scenarios, modelling weekly income and basic housing, food, transport and utilities expenses for an older person living alone and an older couple.

Single adults, sole parents with two children and two-parent households with two children were also considered.

Housing costs are based on rents for a single adult living in a shared flat, an older person in a one-room unit and an older couple in a two-bedroom house. Family households are based on three-bedroom rentals.

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