Database proposed for Wellington's homeless

Wellington City Council is proposing creating a database for the city's homeless.

The idea is part of a draft strategy to end homelessness in the city, due to be discussed at a council meeting this afternoon.

The city council's social portfolio leader Stephanie Cook says it's hard to give exact numbers when it comes to homelessness, but it's definitely an increasing issue in the capital.

She says agencies need to be better at sharing their information when dealing with the problem.

"They have their list of people who they're dealing with, with their clients or whatever. But another agency may be dealing with the same client and not realise that they're also accessing other services or that they need to access other services."

Ms Cook says the council will be seeking public feedback on their homeless strategies, in the hope that Wellingtonians can come together to help deal with the issues.

She says rates of homelessness are increasing in the capital, along with those begging for money.

However, she says not all beggars are genuine, and she's asking people to think carefully before giving them any cash.

"Because in some cases, they're going straight to the bottle store with it basically, and so that's not really helping them."

Stephanie Cook says if people want to help then they should look at donating to the agencies which are helping those in need.

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