Carla Ecola, Managing Director at The Outside Project, talks to QX about the work of the crisis shelter and how they’re Making More Space For Homeless Queers!
“Conversations about The Outside Project started in 2016 amongst a group of LGBTIQ+ people who worked in homelessness and sex worker support services in London. We could see the need for a ‘by and for’ crisis shelter for LGBTIQ+ people from our own experiences, but the taboo around LGBTIQ+ homelessness and domestic abuse alongside barriers our community faced in accessing statutory services led to a lot of polite listening and not much action from those in positions of power – within the system and also within the community. Homeless Queers were not on the agenda and certainly not the ‘glamourous’ or popular crowd at a party.
When we launched our campaign to open an LGBTIQ+ winter shelter during Pride month in 2017, we really didn’t expect the level of support we received from the community. They financially provided and physically showed up for the Shelter that winter and have done so ever since. That first year was the strongest foundation we could have built, and we have since been able to achieve everything we had hoped for in 2016 and much more.
Covid caused chaos in everyone’s lives. Our night shelter became a 24hr service, and we went into lockdown together. Our LGBTIQ+ Centre had to close, but by June 2020, we had opened STAR Refuge – the UK’s first LGBTIQ+ domestic abuse refuge. This remained open throughout the pandemic, and we are continuing to build this service into its own independent organisation – STAR Support. We have a job vacancy for this project here –www.lgbtiqoutside.org/team/vacancies.
We launched an emergency hotel fund for winter 2020/21, and the community raised enough for us to cover the majority of these costs in less than two weeks. It was incredible. We have run the emergency hotel fund every winter since with the addition of a rent/deposit scheme since winter 2021/22.
Reopening our LGBTIQ+ Centre in June 2021 in a beautiful new venue – Lant Street in Borough – was a fresh start for us. We have weekly support, social and sports groups centring the needs of those most marginalised in our community – people who are homeless, in recovery, seeking asylum, survivors of domestic abuse and LGBTIQ+ youth. We’ve been to all of the Pride events together, have our own football team (Outsiders United) and even published a book about our previous LGBTIQ+ Centre venue. We’re just about to launch our creative programme for 2023. Check out our timetable here: www.lgbtiqoutside.org/centre
But our central purpose – the biggest challenge and achievement we have had – has been to find a permanent venue for our LGBTIQ+ Shelter. We now have a beautiful three-story house in a quiet residential area in Islington. It has just been completely renovated. Everyone will have their own room, fridge and lockable storage space. We have a big kitchen with 2x cookers, a communal lounge and a sensory space. We have a massive garden to grow vegetables in, so finally laying down proper roots. For more information: www.lgbtiqoutside.org/help
We have smashed all of the goals we set out to achieve. What’s next? Making more space for Homeless Queers! We’re so proud to be working alongside LGBT Switchboard and Stonewall Housing to open the first LGBTIQ+ Shelter in Brighton, due to open on the 23rd of January 2023. For more information: www.lgbtiqoutside.org/Brighton
We are a by and for non-profit organisation that operates on a solidarity, not charity basis. To support our work, please visit www.lgbtiqoutside.org/donate or visit our fundraising page: https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/donation/the-outside-project .”
