Samaria’s Story

Samaria, a transgender young woman, was referred to New Horizon’s Youth Hub by Stonewall Housing Charity, an organisation that we work in partnership through the London Youth Gateway. 

“I was living in like a friend’s house and the situation wasn’t the most safe. I was living in a room with mould and no heating the whole winter. They [Stonewall Housing Charity] asked what my needs were, asked what I wanted help with. And after a couple of weeks they found me a space in a Youth Hub” 

New Horizon’s Youth Hub is a 26-bed service providing single, en-suite rooms for 18-24 year olds who are currently or at imminent risk of sleeping rough. It is the only emergency accommodation project specifically for young people in London.  

In partnership with Depaul UK, each young person living there has access to 24-hour support and their own support worker focused on finding housing to meet their needs.  

Samaria speaks of the struggles of finding move on accommodation whilst she was living at the Youth Hub but how through New Horizon’s support, she found somewhere to live long-term that she loves: 

“[New Horizon] referred my case to the council. And it took like two months for them to actually do something. They were being really difficult, really difficult. It’s only because of Hayley [Advice Worker], my support worker, getting on the phone with them and really pushing them.  

“Hayley managed to get me housed by a LGBTQ housing association. … It is somewhere safe to live that is catered to my needs and to my identity.” 

Samaria appreciated the support she got from the Youth Hub greatly. She said it made a massive difference to her: 

“The workers there, genuinely, that place couldn’t run without them. They gave me so much support in every aspect. Like, they gave me therapy and then on top of that literally 24 hours a day I could just go down to the office and just speak to someone if I needed to. It was really reassuring. 

“I don’t think I would be here today if it wasn’t for them.” 

Having recently moved into her new house at the LGBTQ+ housing association, Samaria feels she can finally focus on her future. 

“Now I’ve been housed, honestly I feel like I can do anything.  

“Those six months that I was [homeless], I just felt like it stunted my life. Now, I feel like I can study and that’s what I want to do with my life next year.”  

Samaria will be starting a foundation course in fashion next year and will also be taking a short course in beauty therapy.  

“I want to study so I can earn some money. So I never have to be in a situation like this ever again.” 

To help New Horizon make a big difference to the lives of young people like Samaria, please support us by making a one off or regular donation: Support our work – New Horizon Youth Centre

* Story told from young person’s own words with full consent. The header image does not depict the young person in the article.