Dunedin Bedding Bank founder Janine Walker and administrator Alysha Gibbs visit The Oval every Sunday to meet and support homeless people.
Even before the pair arrive, a small group gathers to await them.
As the name suggests, the pair give out bedding but they also distribute tents, sleeping bags, hygiene products such as soap and toothpaste, as well as clothing, towels, food and snack packs.
Ms Walker was on a first-name basis with many homeless people.
"I get to know them extremely well."
"They are the same as us — they are just down and out on their luck."
Ms Walker also did a weekday "food run", alongside the Sunday morning supplies at The Oval.
"I go around town. All around town."
Her connections with homeless people meant she was phoned when newcomers to the streets turned up.
"The homeless ring me and let me know if there is someone new on the street, then I will come out."
As well as more visible locations such as The Oval, Ms Walker visited places where people might go when they found themselves homeless.
"There’s boarding houses and stuff, empty abandoned houses and stuff they will go in as well."
Everyone was about three paycheques away from being homeless, Ms Walker said.
"There is a lady over there now that everyone is saying is an alcoholic and a junkie and everything else.
"She is not. She is there because her house got sold that she was renting. She cannot get another house over $400 a week.
Work and Income would not allow any more, she said.
"So that is why she is stuck over there."
Ms Gibbs said people liked to assume things about homeless people.
"People could be just like you, like Janine and I, who live week to week and then suddenly just end up on the streets."
People would be amazed how many families were living in cars, Ms Gibbs said.
"You do have your addicts and things, people that just got out of prison.
"But there is also a lot of people that are just Joe Bloggs, some of them work.
"Some of them work and just can’t afford housing."
Ms Walker began her bedding initiative to help those struggling in July 2022.
In January 2024, the Dunedin Bedding Bank was set up as a registered charity, Ms Gibbs said.
"We have a board of eight, so there is eight of us that work in varying ways."
Ms Gibbs thanked the Dunedin City Council, which provided a community grant to fund the charity’s Winter Warmer Project and resources to support homeless people.
But there were still many ongoing costs such as replenishing supplies as they were given out.
"We get a lot of second-hand stuff, but what we really need is people that would like to donate, even if they just donated $5 a week."
The charity was hoping to raise enough to buy a vehicle for Ms Walker, who was at present relying on a friend’s car.
"Because my main issue is, if I got called out in the middle of the night, I couldn't go," Ms Walker said.
"Ideally, I really need a seven-seater, because I need to carry all my stuff on me and then have enough backseat room for three 90-litre containers to do the food run."
To give, visit givealittle.co.nz and search for the Dunedin Bedding Bank.
