Poverty is rampant in earthquake shattered Christchurch...

St Andrews College, Papanui Road. Liquefaction, causing water and silt to squirt up from underground. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Fish and Chip shop at junction of Bowhill Road and Keyes Road; collapsed following Feb 22 earthquake. Taken in New Brighton, Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

2011-03-01. Merivale, Papanui Road. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: The Pyne Gould Building following the , , New Zealand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

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Horror stories of Christchurch families living in garages and tents continue to surface almost two years on from the February 2011 earthquake.

Some families are still stranded in sheds or illegally overcrowding friends' and relatives' houses.

Meanwhile, rental housing prices show no sign of abating and welfare agencies believe this year could be worse than the last.

Demand on Christchurch's social services continues to increase: people who have never needed help before are queuing up at food banks and many families still face impoverished living conditions.

City Missioner Michael Gorman said the unprecedented demand on the mission's alcohol and drug services, foodbank and night shelters "has not eased at all".

"There is a lot more money going into rent and a lot less money going into living."

The number of people approaching the mission suffering from poverty or mental health issues was rampant, he said.

One of his social workers had a week-long waiting list of families needing assistance with school uniform grants. Another had recently been supporting a young family living in a tent, and a couple renting a washhouse.

A desperate woman with a newborn baby emailed Gorman last week asking for any free food because she said she was "paying so much rent, I can't afford to live".

 

"We are seeing many, many new people. Some who may actually own property but are so stretched by having to be out of their houses and pay horrific rents," he said.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/poverty-rampant-in-quake-hit-christchurch-5328634

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