I knew from the age seven that I was a girl but when I told my parents they laughed it off, they just thought I was gay!  At fourteen I finally made my move to transition; I just started dressing as a girl, as far as I was concerned I was a girl.  I dropped out of school at twelve because of bullying and attended a referral unit, but that was even more brutal.  From twelve to fourteen I was unschooled till they sent me to stay with an aunt in Margate where I had to play ‘straight’, which was soul destroying.   Back then you couldn’t start testosterone blockers and oestregen treatment till you were eighteen and I was twenty-one before I could eventually start hormone therapy.

Mum and Dad have been very supportive and chilled about my identity but I have a troubled relationship one of my brothers. A few weeks ago we had a horrible fight and I was kicked out.  I was street homeless for a week and it was really scary.  People offered me drugs, they offered me a roof over my head in return for sex; it was terrifying!

When The Albert Kennedy Trust referred me to SFTS I was pretty anxious but as soon as I arrived I was made really welcome, everyone is relaxed and kind; I feel safe now. I don’t want to leave in the mornings because who knows what’s going to happen on the street?

The shelter is helping me look for work and accommodation and I’m trying to finish my Music and Performance course at college.  I’m determined to fulfil my dream of becoming a music teacher; it may take a bit of time, but I know I’ll get there in the end.

There is no “average” homeless person; there are instead people like Iris, who happens to be homeless. Radiant with confidence and chat, Iris has experienced more at 21 than most experience in a lifetime.

Iris left a chaotic, single-parent home in her early teens and moved in with a boyfriend soon after. She fell pregnant and had a daughter, now five years old; while the birth of her daughter was a blessing, Iris’s new living situation was even more chaotic than the one she had fled. Iris feared for her safety in her own home, and was forced to leave her partner – and their daughter – when he became abusive. Years of couchsurfing and substance abuse followed, but Iris held out hope, overcame her addictions, and resolved to take control of her life.

At Shelter from the Storm, Iris has found support and regained the confidence she lost while homeless and unemployed. She is a star employee at Waitrose and hopes to be housed soon, as much for her daughter’s sake as her own; of everything she has to look forward to, Iris is most excited about being back with her daughter, building the kind of peaceful, stable home that she herself never had.

Meet a Guest Suzy

Suzy is 20 years old and moved in with her 21-year-old partner in 2013. From the start the relationship was abusive, with regular episodes of violence involving the police. On Christmas Eve this year he stamped on her foot so hard that he broke her ankle in two places. She was admitted to hospital but he visited her on Christmas day when he smashed her broken foot into the metal bed frame. The police were called and he was arrested, but bailed to his and Suzy’s home. When she was discharged from hospital after two weeks, the Domestic Violence charity that was trying to help her was unable to find a refuge. The Council told her that she wasn’t vulnerable, she had no priority and that she was ‘Lewisham’s problem’! Eventually, they contacted us and luckily we were able to offer Suzy a bed. Suzy was worried about being in a mixed environment, but she says feels safe at SFTS. She has an interview for supported housing tomorrow and today her ex was sentenced to six years for GBH. We really hope to be saying bye bye to Suzy very soon!

I became homeless when the friends I’d been sofa surfing with kicked me out.  I had no work, no money and now no home.  I was only on the streets two nights, but believe me, two nights rough sleeping is a long, scary time. I was really frightened.  I got a place at Shelter from the Storm and started a training program with a placement at Costa Coffee.  It was hard work but I got taken on as a full time employee.  At the shelter I can live for free, so I’ve managed to save up for a deposit and I hope to move into my own place next week.  It’s not easy working while you live in a homeless shelter but it’s helped me motivate myself to move on.  I will miss the delicious food and the lovely volunteers but I can’t wait to have my own space and a lie in on my day off.

I’m a retired airline pilot and I’ve lived, worked and paid taxes in the UK for more than two thirds of my adult life. When I was told my status was in question I felt I was going mad. Shelter from the Storm was the one place that accepted me without question when everyone else passed me by. It’s been a long haul, but now it’s finally over and I’m moving into my own place, words can’t express how grateful I am to Shelter from the Storm for all the care they’ve given me.

I’m 22 years old, I was born in Newham Hospital and I’ve lived in East London most of my life. I grew up as the only child in a single parent family and relations had always been a little difficult. I did pretty well at school but always felt out of step with the crowd, maybe because I was a bit of a tomboy. I get a place at University but had difficulty settling in and left this April after 2 years. Moving back in with Mum was hard. She was constantly questioning my sexuality. My family are very religious and I’d always been frightened of coming out. This Halloween things came to a head and I finally told her I was gay. She became really angry and upset and kicked me out. I tried to stay with other members of my family but she warned them not to have anything to do with me.   I became very low and took an overdose. Thankfully, I immediately panicked and called an ambulance. They took me to the Royal London where I was looked after for 2 weeks. They were wonderful. When I was ready for discharge they called Shelter from the Storm and luckily they had a bed for me. It was a relief to finally be honest about who I am, but I’m still not speaking to my family. Now all I want is a decent job, I’ll do anything. I want to save up and get a pace of my own and get my life on track. Who knows, one day I may even go back to Uni and finish my studies.

Mohamed recently moved into a place all of his own. He’s just popped back this evening to say hi and thanks to all our volunteers. He’s now working hard for a qualification in Health & Social care. Yay! He did it!

Mable fled persecution in Uganda losing all contact with her family due to her sexuality. It’s very scary in Uganda if people discover you’re gay and I was an activist as well. In Uganda, the sentence for being homosexual is Life Imprisonment, but you also risk being attacked and badly hurt. Now I’ve been granted refugee status I would love to find a job in IT but I’d be happy working at anything. I just want my life back.

Dean is only 22 but he’s already qualified as an actor, fitness instructor and personal trainer. He moved to London from the South East after leaving a difficult family situation.

When he was forced to give up the room he’d been staying in he found himself on the streets. To make matters worse he had his bag, laptop and passport stolen while sleeping rough. However none of this stopped him from completing his training course at a gym – and being inventive: “One time, I tried to sleep at the gym and decided to hide in a cupboard until they closed”, he recalls, “but I suddenly realised the room was being used for a meeting and at the end someone opened the cupboard and discovered me and found out I was homeless.” He was expelled and kicked off the course. “But”, he smiles, “the next day I was allowed back and even got an apology!”

Dean began acting when he was 17. He misses the atmosphere of the theatre and would love to go back to it. Who does he admire as an actor? “Tom Hardy because he avoids being stereotyped and recreates himself all the time and Johnny Depp.”

Dean says that since arriving at the Shelter he has grown up a great deal and been able to take more responsibility for himself. “If I hadn’t come here, I don’t know where I’d be”, he reflects. He says it’s also changed his view of homeless people, and he believes many of his fellow guests have great potential. He’s even acted as a personal trainer for some of them. However Dean is determined to leave; “I want to take my life back”, he says. He’s hugely passionate about fitness, training and nutrition, and he spends his days looking for work. One day, he’d love to own his very own gym. While being a successful actor, of course.

John is a Cold War veteran.  He served with the British army in divided  Berlin in the early 1970s, which he still remembers as a great experience for a young man of 18.  He was born in Guyana and came to Britain when his mother sent for him, his brother and his two sisters when he was just 12.  “I didn’t know whether it would be a good move”, he says, “but it definitely broadened my horizon.”  John also did a tour of Northern Ireland, where he remembers being “slagged off as a black man.” He says he joined the forces as a way of staying out of trouble, having fallen in with what he describes as “some bad boys”. “Otherwise”, he reflects “I would have been in and out of prison”.

He’s proud of all the jobs he had after leaving the army: “I worked on the buses, at the Ford motor company in Dagenham, helped build fire extinguishers and prams”.  Just over 20 years ago, however, John fell on hard times after he was caught drink driving. He lost his job, got mixed up in drugs, was evicted from his home and ended up having to stay with friends.  “You can only do that for so long”, he says, which finally led to him being referred to SFTS.  John has only been at the Shelter for a short while. He describes it as “a good place, with friendly people”, and he appreciates the food that’s served up.  One thing he finds hard, however, is having to spend the day outside, as the Shelter only opens for the night.

John hopes to find some shared accommodation soon, then a place of his own.  Once he gets back on his feet, he would love to visit Guyana again.  He was last there in 1990 and, he muses, much will have changed.