Chris' Story

I’ve been here at Emmaus for six months now. I enjoy living here, I love it actually.

Communal living is my bag, I’m a very sociable person so every aspect of Emmaus works for me. The work is very up my street, the place we live is pretty cool. I used to live near the community anyway, so it feels like going home.

Years and years ago, my mum used to donate to Emmaus and buy furniture from here. I’ve known about the charity pretty much from when the building opened on Magdalen Street in 2008. I totally forgot about it for 20 or so years until I was made homeless, and it was the first place I went to for help. I was very lucky that I already knew where to go. I went to Emmaus and one of the support workers sent me onto Beacon House, which is a day centre. They help with the first stages, when you first become homeless, and they said as soon as we can we’ll get you to Emmaus.

Emmaus welcomed me with open arms. I was only homeless for three days, some people I know have been homeless for weeks and months, others for years – I was just three days. I became homeless just because of a failed relationship, I left and suddenly, I had nowhere to go. My father is still alive, but lives in South Africa and my mum has passed away. I had no passport at the time, and no way to get to family abroad.

Emmaus wasn’t my only option at that time, I could have sofa hopped with friends, but you just feel like you’re imposing. I could have gone to the night shelter but it’s not the same as getting your own space. You get a room at the night shelter, but you don’t get the community like you do at Emmaus. At the night shelter, the people are friendly, and the staff are helpful but it’s not the same feeling of camaraderie and companionship.

I already knew what Emmaus was like, but I was expecting it to fall short of my expectations. The other companions, other people had been homeless were very supportive of me from the word go – that I wasn’t expecting. I was expecting, spiky, angry down on their luck people to be aggressive and mean and everyone was really nice. The first few weeks I was there, everyone was incredibly pleasant.

Being homeless, it was frightening. I was lucky enough to have a tent, supplied by Beacon House, and I had my things with me but yeah that was frightening. You constantly think your things are going to be stolen.

I’m a confident human being but it’s the most unpleasant feeling of uncertainty. Everywhere you want to go, you’re looked down upon.

Even though I was dressed reasonably smartly, you’re carrying a bag and a tent and people instantly judge you. I didn’t expect it to be quite as dramatic as it was. People literally crossing the road to get out of your way. You can’t help but look homeless, when you’re carrying all your possessions with you. Every time you tuck your belongings away somewhere, you’re worried they’ll get taken. It’s horrible. I did it in the summer when the weather was quite pleasant. I would hate to think about it at this time of the year, in February.

I’ve never not had a roof over my head. Up until then, I’d never had the feeling of not knowing where my next meal was going to be from. To not have a flushing toilet available to you, to not have a bed to go have a lie down on if you feel tired. It’s quite basic human survival. I used to pitch my tent outside the Mercury Theatre, we tidied up every morning, so they never asked us to move on. There was three of us there, sort of safety in numbers.

I now volunteer every Wednesday at Beacon House; I cook lunch for people coming in to use the day centre. Beacon House and Emmaus really saved my life, I was at my wits end. I couldn’t be bothered; I was contemplating suicide. At this time, I didn’t think I was going to be able to see my daughter again or have sentimental belongings back. Once that situation all improved, I felt much better, but if it wasn’t for companions here, the support workers and Beacon House I think I would have done something silly. Conversations with companions put my experiences into perspective and helped me to move forward.

I love volunteering with Beacon House, the people are brilliant, and I will want to keep volunteering there even when I have a full-time job. I see people now come in, very upset and in need of urgent help and over a few weeks I get to see them improve and get housed or even come to Emmaus. It’s very uplifting to see people progress like that and see the positives happen.

I really like the work here at Emmaus.

I like the premise of the charity – taking something that would have been thrown away and giving it a new lease of life or taking something that has been loved and used lots and giving it a chance to be loved and used again.

We live in a throwaway society and it’s nice to be part of something good for the planet and good for people.

Before Emmaus, I had sold my IT business and had been retired for six years. I think I needed to get back into work so I’m grateful I get to do that here at Emmaus. There’s enough structure in the days that it’s similar but also enough variety that it never gets boring. My main role is to ensure the shop floor is stocked with electrical items, so that involves PAT testing donations that come in, researching them and pricing. I like getting involved in anything, I like going out on the vans, being in the workshop, on the tills – it’s all good fun.

To anyone who is homeless now, I want them to know that there are support systems out there. If you go to somewhere like Emmaus, you feel safe. Your door locks and you have the support of other companions. I look around me now and suddenly I have a family and loads of brothers and sisters that I didn’t have before.

If you or someone you know are experiencing homelessness or housing instability – get help from Emmaus here.