Carla came to The Passage in March this year at her lowest ebb. Today, she is part of Co-Activate, our peer-led mentoring project supporting people as they sustain long-term accommodation, rebuild confidence and reconnect with their local community after experiencing homelessness.
The project matches every participant with a trained mentor who has been through their own journey to overcome homelessness.
Through The Passage’s homelessness support services and our new Co-Activate programme, people are being empowered to rebuild their lives and support others on their journey away from homelessness.
Carla’s experience of homelessness
“There was a time when my life looked positive and secure. I was working as an executive secretary, I had a home, and I was in a relationship with someone I expected to marry. I never imagined that my life could change so quickly.
Yet within a short space of time, everything began to unravel. My relationship ended, my mental health deteriorated and I lost my job. Soon afterwards, I lost my home too.
I moved between friends and slept on sofas until there was nowhere left to go. Then I began spending nights on buses, trying to sleep and stay warm. My family are all in Brazil, and I did not want them to know how vulnerable I had become. I let them believe that I still had a job and a home.
The truth was that I felt completely broken – financially, emotionally, in every way.
My therapist referred me to The Passage, but walking through those doors was incredibly difficult. You never imagine homelessness will happen to you. I was hungry, frightened and ashamed. Nobody judged me or made me feel like a problem.
People listened, treated me with dignity and made me feel that I mattered. Their care felt genuine. When I was asked what I needed, my answer was simple: “I want a bed, somewhere I can have a shower and somewhere I can put my books.” Within days, The Passage found me a hotel room through its No Night Out service.
After so much uncertainty, being able to close a door and know I was safe felt like a lifesaver.
Later, they helped me to find a permanent home. When I walked into the place where I now live, I knew immediately that it was different. I looked around and thought, “I have fallen in love. This is mine.”
Finding stability and looking ahead
“Receiving the keys was wonderful, but it was not the end of the journey. I sat alone in my room and cried because I didn’t know anyone nearby. Then I told myself that if I stayed there crying, nothing would change.
So I went outside. I explored the neighbourhood, met a woman at the library who invited me to church, I joined a gym, returned to work and began a master’s degree in psychology. Slowly, I became more confident and began to recognise myself again. I have also started thinking about pottery, which I loved in Brazil, and perhaps building a small business one day.
I was referred to the Co-Activate project by my Passage Case Worker and during the initial interview with Jim, I was asked what the future feels like. My answer was: exciting.
I am now a trained mentor and I want to support others who have moved out of homelessness, but still feel lonely or unsure of what comes next. The Passage gave me safety, dignity and the chance to begin again. More than that, they made me feel cared for and loved when I felt I had nothing left.
Now I want to help somebody else to believe that step by step, life can get better.“
A message from Jim, Lived Experience Project Manager
“I first met Carla at an Experts By Experience activity at The Passage. She was shy, nervous and overwhelmed by what was happening in her life. I remember asking whether she was okay. She said, “yes I am okay”, and although I could tell she was nervous for what lay ahead, her potential shone through.
That memory has stayed with me because it shows how far Carla has come since.
Even at that point, there was a warmth and attentiveness about her. She noticed the kindness people at The Passage showed with one another and immediately began talking about wanting to help others in the same way.
With the invaluable support she received from The Passage, Carla has rebuilt her life with courage. Today, she is confident, sociable and full of ideas. She is working, studying for a master’s degree in psychology and preparing to support others through our Co-Activate project, as a peer mentor to people who are at the start of their journey away from homelessness.”
I am so proud of Carla. She has turned a painful experience into empathy, purpose and hope, and her journey will inspire others who are beginning to rebuild their lives.”