Five community organisations are collaborating under the Wellington City Council's Te Mahana initiative, a strategy to end homelessness, to help people into their own homes through the 14 hour homeless fundraiser.
The fundraiser involves teams of three to five people sleeping in either cardboard boxes, on couches or in a car.
Wellington mayor, Celia Wade-Brown says there is a need to provide assistance for people who get overwhelmed by life's challenges and end up in need of temporary overnight accommodation, food and support.
“The agencies involved are all doing a wonderful job but they need resources including funds to support people in need,” she says.
Wade-Brown, who will be roughing it on Friday night, is urging the community to support the fundraising activity to boost funding for the needs of homeless people in the city.
“For the first time the agencies who provide the services – Downtown Community Ministry (DCM), The Salvation Army ,the Soup Kitchen, Wellington Homeless Women’s Trust and the Wellington Night Shelter, – are working together in a community initiative that will help support people to find housing, manage their money, access health services and connect with family.”
These organisations work alongside hundreds of people each year who are sleeping rough, staying in overnight emergency accommodation, temporarily with family or friends, or living in unsafe surroundings. They also focus on the large number of people who are at risk of homelessness.
According to a Ministry of Health report using 2013 census data, more than 35,000 people in greater Wellington are living in crowded conditions.
14 Hours Homeless is run to support and raise awareness of World Homeless Day which occurs on 10 October every year.
You can read more about World Homeless Day here.