A man with a piece of land and dreams of helping the homeless is tackling the housing crisis one shack at a time. Read more: https://bit.ly/3neGxgl | Subscribe: https://bit.ly/2JPg8oB

A single dad and his 6-year-old daughter call a small old caravan on the land home.

Aaron Smyle, 48, spent time in a residential recovery centre for people living with mental illness earlier this year. He was released with nowhere to go. He had been sleeping on someone’s couch, but after what he described as “mental slip”, that was not an option.

Since March 2021 he’s made a home on an 11-hectare block of land near Palmerston North with about 20 others, who live in a collection of homemade shacks, vans, caravans and cabins.

Unlike the emergency accommodation, there is no pressure or risk of being kicked out.

Read more: https://bit.ly/3neGxgl

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