Jesus Is Lord Barbershop

Ken Couper - Mayor of Whangārei
Whangarei District Council

🌿🚨 Updates on our whānau on the hill: Insights from our meeting with the Mayor 🚨🌿
​Minutes and notes were taken during our hui, and while not everything is broadcasted publicly, here is where things stand:

​🏛️ The Mayoral Position & Accountability
While the Mayor has acknowledged accountability and agreed to a pause, turning around and sending someone up the hill to place a verbal eviction notice on our whānau goes completely against what was agreed and breaches our trust.

​💔 Whānau & Community Advocate Stance
When we asked how many of our unfortunate have passed away on the streets, neither the Mayor nor his agencies even knew the numbers. And you call that duty of care.

​📋 Key Proposals Tabled
We have clear, practical proposals on the table—including a proper transition runway, safe and supported emergency solutions, and true co-governance where the Kōmiti and leadership are directly at the decision-making table.

​🗺️ Action Plan & Timelines
Moving forward, our focus is on clear, step-by-step action that prioritizes health, safety, and proper transition timelines—ensuring our leadership and kaimahi are actively involved every step of the way.

​🤝 Respecting the Process
We specifically asked for direct contact and no media coverage or filming until our internal processes were complete. Respecting those boundaries is essential as we work through these steps together.

You are welcome to share

Mahi Up on the Hill! 🌿🛠️☀️

​Yesterday, our whānau and community headed up to the site at Old Boys to put in the hard mahi and clean up the area together. It was a beautiful day on the hill with everyone in good spirits and great vibes! ✨
​When our whānau first received the eviction notices, I instantly thought of Mariameno Kapa-Kingi mō Te Tai Tokerau . Having followed her and the incredible mahi she does in Te Taitokerau & our community, I reached out to her right away. We had a beautiful kōrero, and she has been working tirelessly behind the scenes for us ever since. She is pono (100% true) to her mahi. ✊🏽❤️
​A massive mihi and huge shoutout to Mariameno, her husband, and their whānau for stepping up in a big way. Mariameno brought her trailer out and did a couple of loads for us to clear the site! We truly appreciate her and all the heavy lifting she’s done behind the scenes. 🚚💨
​Shout out to my daughter, my mokopuna, our whānau living on the hill, and everyone from our wider community—including the wahine & their tamariki who came up yesterday—to get stuck in. We all rolled our sleeves up, got the work done, and made a real difference! 💥💪🏽
​Regarding the Council’s claims about broken glass at the stadium's emergency exits: Kāore! (No!) That is completely wrong. ❌ Before doing our mahi, we went out and took photos of those exact areas, and there was no glass at all. When we spoke with one of our whānau on the hill about it, he confirmed that there was never any glass there to begin with.
​Despite all of that, it was a beautiful day spent together. Thank you again to everyone who showed up, supported us, and helped care for our people. Look forward to our continued kōrero ahead. 🗣️🤝
​Ngā mihi,
Project Shelter 2026 🏠
Jesus Is Lord Barbershop

Community Update: What We Told the Council
​Our whānau are facing an immediate eviction notice, yet the Mayor's office response was to push a meeting out to Monday the 19th—weeks away while people are displaced.
​We sent this direct response back to them to make our stance crystal clear:
​"Waiting until Monday the 19th is completely unacceptable given the immediate pressure facing whānau on the ground.

​Your email states that your actions are driven by 'safety and land management' concerns. However, under your own Public Safety and Nuisance Bylaw, your statutory job is to protect public health and safety—not force vulnerable whānau onto the street with zero housing options, which only creates a greater public safety crisis out in the open.

​You talk about the 'responsible management of Council land' and site conditions, yet when practical community solutions are offered—such as bringing trailers up to clear and clean the site—they get bogged down in council red tape. Under your Waste Management and Minimisation Bylaw, your role is to support practical waste solutions, not reject community help just to use the mess as an excuse for eviction.

​If the Council genuinely cares about 'the wellbeing of people experiencing homelessness,' pushing people into displacement without support directly contradicts your own bylaws and your legal duty of care under the Local Government Act.

​We need an immediate, workable solution before any enforcement proceeds—waiting weeks while people are displaced is not acceptable."

​They have not replied to this email. Our community deserves to know how we are holding them accountable to their own rules.
​Ngā mihi,
Project Shelter 2026
Jay

‼️we need your support from Jesus is Lord Barbershop ‼️

Sign the Petition ​Stop the October 8th eviction of our homeless whānau up at old boys

My heart is so heavy today. Sending my deepest love, thoughts, and aroha to the whānau and to everyone grieving this loss.
​We had the absolute privilege of getting to know him every Friday night when he’d come down to the shop. He was such a good, respectful man—always so humble, appreciative, and full of gratitude for the smallest things.
​Seeing him out there working hard to turn his life around, hitting the gym, taking care of himself, looking healthier, he was truly inspiring. He had so much pride and so much potential.
​It hurts so deeply to see so many of our whānau passing away. To lose someone who was taking such strong steps forward is just heartbreaking.
​Thank you for your warm spirit, your chats, and your big heart every Friday. You will be so deeply missed. Rest easy brother. May the Lord wrap His arms around all our whānau out on the streets tonight. ❤️🕊️

He pānui tēnei mai i a Haven Falls Whangārei
E ngā mana, e ngā reo, o tēnā hapū, o tēnā iwi, tēnei te mihi ki a koutou katoa

Bereavement pānui on behalf of the Green and Firth whānau regarding the loss of their beloved son and brother, Liam Daryl Green, who sadly passed away in Whangārei.

The whānau will travel to Paparore Marae this afternoon where Liam will lie in state for the duration of the tangihanga. The final service will be held at the marae at 10am on Friday, the 2nd of October and Liam will then be laid to rest at the whānau urupā in Kaimaumau.

For anyone wishing to make a koha directly to the whānau, the account details are as follows:
Ritihia Curbishley
03-0339-0455565-25

Please feel free to contact Haven Falls for further information
Ngā mihi aroha ki a koutou katoa
Moe mai rā e tama, hoki ki ngā mātua tūpuna kua wehe, haere, haere, hoki atu.

Whangarei Community, let’s be honest—seeing our people served with eviction notices is deeply heartbreaking, and the anger and frustration right now are completely valid.
​But we’ve been busy on the ground, making some noise, and pushing hard for real solutions. Because of that momentum, we have some fantastic news: I received an email yesterday confirming that Ken Couper - Mayor of Whangārei has agreed to meet with us!
​We are so excited and grateful for this opportunity to sit down with him for a hui, hopefully next week before the October 8 eviction deadline.
​It is so great to have your support, Whangārei—it means everything. Let’s channel our frustration into staying focused on the solutions and moving forward together. 🙏

Jesus Is Lord Barbershop / Project Shelter 2026

🔥 THE TIME FOR TALK IS OVER. IT’S TIME FOR ACTION. 🛑 Ken Couper - Mayor of Whangārei Whangarei District Council
​Welcome to Project Shelter 2026! 🏠✨
​Right now, our whānau are sleeping on cold concrete, under bridges, and in doorways while the winter storms hit 🌧️🥶. We aren't waiting around for broken systems. We have the plan, we have the trust on the streets, and we have the heart to protect our own ❤️🤝.
​What we need is simple and completely reasonable:
​🏢 A proper roof over our heads with basic facilities.
​🛡️ Council-funded 24/7 security through trusted partners like City Safe who actually know our people.
​Swipe through the slides below to see our full vision 📱👆, and stand with us to get this done.

AN OPEN UPDATE TO OUR COMMUNITY & COUNCIL 📢📍
​Kia ora Whangārei,
​Today, notices were handed to our homeless whānau staying at the old Boys’ Club site, requiring them to vacate the land by Thursday, 8th October 2026 under Council bylaws.
​Because our phone calls and emails had gone unanswered, we went directly down to Council today to demand an urgent face-to-face meeting with Ken Couper - Mayor of Whangārei
​Moving whānau off land when there is no emergency shelter ready for them does not solve homelessness—it simply shifts vulnerable people into doorways and alleys downtown. Once they are pushed downtown, the exact same system uses Move-On Orders and enforcement to move them along again. It is a constant, endless loop of displacement that penalizes our people for simply trying to survive.
​We have already suffered tragic deaths on the streets among our homeless community in Whangārei. A proper shelter should have been established years ago. It is freezing, wet, and many of our whānau don't even have tents—they are sleeping under whatever shelter they can find. It doesn't matter what official reports say; sleeping in the cold kills people.
​This is an emergency and an immediate priority. Enforcing evictions while offering no actual shelter is not caring for our community—it is failing our people.
​As local leaders, Council and Mayor Ken Couper have a basic duty of care to look after everyone in our district.
​Our request for an urgent meeting with Mayor Ken Couper was escalated directly to his Executive Assistant while we were there today. We are publicly calling on the Mayor and Council leadership to sit down with us before the 8th October deadline. We need to discuss real, immediate solutions—including our 90-day pilot for Project Shelter Whangārei.
​We will keep you all posted as we wait for confirmation of this meeting. Thank you to everyone standing with our whānau and supporting the call for real shelter in our town.

COMMUNITY UPDATE | WE ARE BACK & READY TO SERVE 🍲❤️

​Kia ora Whānau,
​As many of you know, it’s been a heavy, busy time for us recently with back-to-back tangi. We got home late Thursday night pretty exhausted, but our hearts are always willing and ready to serve our street whānau.
​Friday night was a bit slow on our end (even though town was buzzing!), probably because we didn’t get a chance to advertise we were open beforehand. But every bit of kai we prepared went to good use, and we enjoyed the laid-back rhythm of the night 📢
​We want to make one thing clear: WE ARE BACK AND UP & RUNNING! 📢
​If you hear rumors that we’ve stopped or packed up, remember: if you don't hear it directly from us, it isn't true. If we are ever closed, we will always post it here ourselves.

​A HUGE MIHI & THANK YOU 🙏✨
​We could not do this without the incredible hearts in our community who keep us going:

​Sister Lou: A huge, special shoutout for providing the parāoa and Māori bread to keep our whānau fed!
Buildings & Kids Playhouses (over at the Blue Goose): A massive thank you for your support and for providing kai to help us feed our street whānau.
​Our Amazing Barbershop Customers: Thank you to everyone who drops off kai at the shop to support the cause. Your generosity means the world to us.
​We thank God for every single one of you who shares the love, stands with us, and supports our homeless whānau.

​PROJECT SHELTER UPDATE:
We’ve also taken another step forward—we sent an email to Mayor Ken Couper inviting him to sit down with us over a cup of tea for a face-to-face kōrero about Project Shelter. We’re hopeful for that conversation moving forward.

​We are so looking forward to feeding our whānau again this Friday. It feels good to be back on the ground serving our community as always.

​See you all Friday!