Anthony doesn’t like to remember how he came to be homeless, the memories are too painful. Besides, it is all behind him now, in his past. For the last year he has been working as an administrator for a film production company, a role he got through the shelter.
Now he comes back each Monday to work as a volunteer, using his own experience to help people stuck in similar situations. “The people at the shelter taught me never to give up on myself,” he says. “It took the pressure off me, gave me the space and time to get myself together.” He says that’s a rare luxury. Most shelters in London make people move on after a fixed amount of time. “The shelter gave me the opportunity to help myself. If it wasn’t for that place, I could be dead now.”