Street Art Project featured in The Press

October 10, 2025

Some of the artists behind our World Homeless Day Street Art project shared their stories in this article for The Press.

Seven years ago, Roger Shaw was among the hundreds sleeping rough. He had a good upbringing, with an “excellent” mum. But he became addicted to drugs and synthetic drugs. It left him living on the street “off and on” for years.

The longest period he slept rough was after the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, when a lot of the city’s boarding houses and cheap accommodation were destroyed.

Shaw has now been sober from alcohol for 10 years, and at the end of this month it will be one year since he took synthetics. For the past seven years he has lived in a council flat in Wainoni, and he works every day to stay on top of his recovery,

He hopes his poem, which details what his life was like on the street, will give people a glimpse into what those on the streets deal with every day.

“Just seeing it up here, it shows me how far I’ve come in the last year. It’s just giving people a little insight of what it’s like to be out there,” he said. “That’s part of what this booklet is about, it’s part of my recovery.”

Roger's poem "Today I will..." can be viewed online here.

The World Homeless Day 2025 Street Art project is a collaboration between Housing First Ōtautahi, The White Room Creative Space, Watch This Space, Christchurch City Mission, and Christchurch City Libraries.