#45 - Bruce Ford - Homelessness at the edge of the world.

In this episode, we meet Bruce Ford — community advocate, former Southland District Councillor, and the driving force behind the Stewart Island Seniors Cottage Trust.Bruce has lived on Stewart Island since 1968. He knows everyone. And for years he has watched proud, independent people — the fishing families who built this community over generations — quietly struggle in ways that never appear on a government spreadsheet. They don't register for housing support. They manage. Until a medical event takes them off the island and into elder care in Invercargill, where, as Bruce puts it simply, they give up.In this episode, Bruce talks about what it takes to build a housing solution from scratch in a remote community that doesn't appear on any government priority list — six small cottages, modest and practical, designed to keep people home. He talks about six years of fundraising, rattling on doors in Wellington, and why the model he's building could work for small communities right across the country.We'd like to thank Bruce for taking the time to speak with us for this episode.And don't forget to subscribe to the CHA Hub Podcast — wherever you get your podcasts from.The CHA Hub Podcast is sponsored by our Founding Partner, Westpac New Zealand.