One client, for whom Te Puea requested anonymity, arrived six weeks ago at the marae with her three children, including a newborn, after being evicted from her home and living in a motel for three weeks. Searching for a new home by bus with children in tow had proved fruitless, with prospective landlords telling her that her finances were inadequate.

After the family arrived at Te Puea, the staff placed them in one of the compound’s cabins, lined up public housing and helped the children’s father find a more lucrative job. When they left the marae this month, the cabin was already earmarked for a family on a waiting list who would move in within days.

“We do follow our tikanga, our culture and values, for how the marae is run,” Ms. Ewe said. “We have families that say, ‘If it wasn’t for you, I’d still be sitting in my motel room waiting for a miracle to happen.’”

On the other side of Auckland, in Henderson, homeless people applauded Te Puea’s work but said their own options seemed as limited as ever. Some said they had dealt with housing charities that promised help but didn’t deliver. Some were teenagers who had run away from foster care and were wary of seeking public assistance for fear of being sent back.

But the most common complaint was that a confusing government bureaucracy had brought no obvious results and discouraged them from pursuing more help. They said they sometimes waited weeks for appointments, and many did not know what assistance they were entitled to.

With winter closing in, Mr. Takairangi was losing hope of finding housing and talked about looking for work instead. His last legitimate job did not pay enough, he said, so he quit to deal drugs three and a half years ago. Mr. Takairangi said he became homeless when he stopped selling drugs.