After a number of years of homelessness and, more recently, sleeping rough for a year, the future looks bright for Steven. The team at DCM have him back in a home of his own, and looking forward to getting back to work and smiling again.

It’s an old sports injury that’s behind Steven’s visit to DCM this time. He’s in to see volunteer physio, Jeff Dixon, for treatment on his AC joint – a shoulder injury he first suffered when still playing softball as a sporty youngster, before having to choose to get serious about softball or tennis.

Steven chose tennis and until his early 20s he played competitively to national level, here and in Australia, before moving into coaching. Now in his fifties, he’s been starting to play a bit again, and he’s loving it. It’s something he can do now that he’s permanently housed. And he’s preparing to work again – also something being in his own whare enables. “When you’re sleeping rough you can’t work. You can’t plan ahead, for a start. And to get a shower I had to go mid-morning, which doesn’t fit with most work hours.”

Last year, Steven was sleeping rough, mostly in “the coves” along Wellington’s waterfront, where he felt safest. Aside from odd bouts of unemployment, Steven had always worked. He qualified as a chef at 18 and worked in Australia for 20 years or so before coming back to New Zealand in 2005, often heading up busy kitchens. Life was good – he had a good career and two daughters, now grown and living in Australia.

But back in New Zealand, things were not so good. While away visiting his sick father, Steven missed a week’s rent payment. He was going to make it up the next week, but after the landlord “went off” at him, he thought “I’m out of here”, packed up and left. With nowhere to go, and no money in the bank, he found himself homeless. For several years he stayed in different boarding houses and hostels, eventually ending up sleeping rough. He lasted a year like that, sleeping on the waterfront, taking advantage of the restaurants’ heaters when they were on. “That’s where I’d go every night. It’s the safest place – much better than a tent in the bush. I’d drink to keep me warm and put me out at night so I could sleep in the cold. That was the only reason I drank – I don’t drink much now because I don’t need to.”

He doesn’t need to because he’s now permanently housed in his own one-bedroom whare up in Karori, thanks to DCM’s Aro Mai Housing First team and Te Aro Health. The Te Aro Health nurses are an important part of team DCM, supporting taumai through outreach clinics at DCM. Nurse Bronwyn first saw Steven at DCM in January 2017. At that time Steven was staying at a lodge, and was in a bit of a bad way, both physically and emotionally. Since then, Bronwyn has not only been able to assist with his health needs, she has provided referrals related to ACC and his benefit, and support letters for housing too.

Steven has also had some dental work done at the DCM Dental Service. “I had a tooth that I’d completely written off, but the dentist built it back up in about 10 minutes. It was amazing. It made such a difference to my confidence.”

When he was sleeping rough, he began coming into DCM “a lot – I was constantly on the move and this was the only place I could come and chill out and keep warm.” He’d also come in to talk with the team at DCM about how he could get off the street. They helped him onto the social housing list and did what they could to get him housed as soon as possible.

It took upwards of a year, but Steven is certain he’d still be waiting without DCM’s support. “I couldn’t wait to get off the list and knew I was getting closer and closer. It was just a matter of waiting. At that time there were lots of events going on in Wellington, so it was hard to get into emergency housing in motels. Maybe you’d get in for a few weeks, but then you’d have to go out on the street again. It was just a band aid.”

But then, at the end of last year, Steven was handed the keys to his new flat. “It was just like heaven. It was a load off my mind because you’re hyper-sensitive and aware when you’re outside doing it rough. You’re always aware, even when you’re sleeping. Moving in was a load off my mind. I could start planning ahead again and I could start thinking about getting back to work.”

“If I hadn’t had DCM working with me, I reckon I would have been waiting three or four years. It’s definitely a fast track, especially at a time when there wasn’t much around.”

DCM also helped Steven go to op shops to select what he needed for his new home, and Work and Income helped out buying some appliances. “The team from DCM then turned up with a truck to pick up my new furniture and helped me move it. It was all sorted,” says Steven.

The next thing Steven plans to get sorted is his teeth, with DCM’s Dental Service having referred him to the hospital to get false teeth. The cost is still $800 to be paid off over time. “My teeth had been great till about 10 years ago but then they went real quick. I have a great smile, but I just didn’t smile with my teeth the way they were. I can’t wait to get false teeth and become a grinning idiot. It will give me so much more confidence to get back into looking for work. I want to be able to walk into an interview and give them a proper smile.”

That work will likely be back in the kitchen, although Steven says he’s keen to get into training young chefs. Because cooking is what he does – it’s also how he gives back to DCM. Steven was part of the team which prepared the DCM seasonal kai for spring last year, and he has helped out with catering for the team of volunteers involved with DCM’s Bookfair.

Unsurprisingly, having a kitchen again is Steven’s favourite thing about having his own flat. The first thing he cooked in his new whare? “A big roast pork with orange Beauregard kumara. I candied up the kumara with brown sugar and garlic, then added a little butter at the end. Delicious.”

Thanks to DCM kaitautoko Lee-Anne Duncan, who spent time with Steven, listening to his story.