Rough sleeping is a big issue for Auckland, but the problem hasn’t been ignored. In 2022 the Auckland City Mission opened HomeGround: an apartment block, medical centre and services hub for the city’s homeless. It's our leading example of "housing first": the idea that having somewhere safe and decent to live is the first step towards helping people rebuild their lives. HomeGround is also the tallest wooden building in the country and its whole-of-life carbon footprint will be 80% lower than other buildings its size. Former Herald journalist Simon Wilson, who wrote the book HomeGround, will talk about how the building came about, the remarkable people who live and work in it, and the politics that swirl around it now.