A woman in Auckland has been forced to live in a car with her newborn baby because she had nowhere else to go once she left hospital.
She and the baby stayed in the car in South Auckland for the first two days of its life, about two weeks ago.
The Salvation Army has stepped in to help house the woman and her new child.
The charity's social policy director Campbell Roberts said the case was troubling and reflected a rise in the number of homeless people.
He said Auckland had less emergency housing than it had ever had, and politicians had been too slow to react, and the situation was desperate.
"It is very, very difficult, we have these people who come to us, our hearts go out to them really, and yet we don't have ready solutions that we can offer to them."
He said the Salvation Army was able to find a place for the pair.
