QHA winter shelter in second year
Quaker Homeless Action’s winter shelter has been busy during its second year
Quaker Homeless Action (QHA) has reported a busy season for the second year of its London winter shelter. The centre in a church in Gospel Oak in north London opened a year ago in partnership with the Simon Community.
Katie Calvert, project coordinator and manager of QHA, told the Friend: ‘We have some of the same guests as last year with some new faces too. We have people that are fleeing domestic violence, people that are entrenched rough sleepers, and people that are dealing with addiction and mental health issues.We moved the start date to coincide with the end of our Christmas Shelter at the American Church on 29 December, as we have some crossover with guests and New Year’s Eve can be particularly hard on the streets.’
This year the shelter has had a project coordinator for five nights a week to support guests and volunteers, particularly helping people with social welfare issues from housing or registering with the doctor to getting shoes or cough syrup. According to Katie Calvert: ‘We are looking for volunteers who are able to do at least three shifts before 31 March. Having a constant flow of new people isn’t conducive to the nature of the small community that we have created.’
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