Last updated 17:03, June 22 2018
A census is planned in September to count the homeless in Auckland.
A pair of cracked bare feet at the end of Williamson Ave, near Auckland's Grey Lynn shops, are as much a fixture of the village as Kokako Cafe.
During summer, these feet poke onto the footpath from under a striped umbrella; in winter their owner Loiti Sentos tucks them into the little concrete alcove he's commandeered next to a fire hydrant. Sentos prefers going by the name 'Royal' and says he's "doing alright, doing alright".
Royal, 50, has been homeless for the last two decades and hasn't seen a doctor within that time. When asked about his background he murmurs about living in a forest as a boy and that he grew up on an island – but he either will not or cannot elaborate. He thinks he might have slept in the alcove for the last five years, and considers it his sanctuary. Locals agree Royal's been there a long, long time, sitting quietly and alone.
Loiti Sentos - known as 'Royal' - has slept in a alcove near the Grey Lynn shops for years.
He'll likely be one of the rough sleepers Auckland Council has announced it will count on the night of September 17. Mayor Phil Goff says this census will be the first step towards eradicating homelessness in the city.
Moira Lawler, the chief executive of Lifewise – an organisation dedicated to helping the homeless and working with the government on its Housing First initiative – applauds the project.
"You can't solve a problem until you're aware of the scale of the problem so this is a really important step forward," she says.
On whether homelessness will in fact end, Lawler is less absolutist than Goff. She says "there will always" be kids thrown out of home, women escaping abusive relationships, and traumatic events stripping people of their capacity to cope with the admin of regular life. The council's long-term goal should more realistically be defined as to make homelessness "rare, brief, and non-recurring", she reckons.