On Monday we were visited by a homeless service from Taiwan to see the work Emmaus SLC undertakes and if it can help them at home in Taipei. We were contacted earlier in the year with a request to visit us and speak about our service. They were able to arrange to visit the UK and Ireland and meet with five different services.
Yvonne, Tina, and Celestine are all members of Ms Shelless, a Taipei based voluntary homeless service aimed at supporting older female rough sleepers. In Taiwan rough sleepers are known as “snails with no shell”, There have been multiple protests since the 1980s where people demanding more homes to be built to dress as snails. Thus, was born the name “Ms Shelless”. They are mostly made up of university students and graduates who do their work as volunteers. What was even more impressive was the fact that Celestine used half of her annual leave allowance to visit. 
Due to the current culture, and how the support system works in Taiwan, there are a disproportionate number of older women forced to rough sleep who are unable to access housing or find meaningful work. We were pleased to hear that the prevailing culture in Taiwan is slowly being influenced by a generation of enthusiastic younger people who desire a genuine change for the most vulnerable in society.
Ms Shelless uses communal creative sessions to improve the self-esteem and confidence in rough sleepers. The art, soaps, and pottery they create are sold by rough sleepers as a much-needed source of income. In the evenings they support rough sleepers with food, access to washing facilities, and someone to talk to with genuine friendship and care.
We spent the morning talking through our shared issues and how we have both found ways to tackle them. This was followed by a tour of our West Norwood Community home and shops. We were surprised to hear that thrift/ charity shops in Taipei are vastly different and highly expensive. Though they were disappointed we were not able to deliver a sofa and table to Tawain!
By homeless organisations sharing what challenges we face and what we do to overcome them, we can all learn new ways to create change for those we support across the world. We are going to continue with this new relationship and find ways of working together, long into the future.