Supporting someone out of homelessness takes more than a roof, hot meals or help with benefits. With 94% of people experiencing homelessness in England having lived through trauma, understanding that impact – and responding with compassion – is key to truly effective, lasting support.
At Single Homeless Project, we use trauma-informed care across all our services. We recognise that many of the people we support have experienced serious, often repeated trauma, which deeply shapes how they respond to the world and us.
What trauma-informed care means
Trauma-informed care isn’t a checklist – it’s a mindset. It means showing up with empathy, acting with purpose, and doing the work to build trust.
It looks like this:
- Facing trauma head-on – understanding how trauma shapes someone’s world, and responding with care, not judgment.
- Avoiding further harm – knowing that services can retraumatise and doing everything we can to make sure they don’t.
- Giving power back – offering real choice and support that fits the person, not the system.
- Earning trust – listening first, being honest, and consistently showing up.
Why this matters
Many of the Londoners we support have experienced abuse, abandonment, violence, and neglect – not only in personal relationships, but also at the hands of systems and services meant to support them. These repeated betrayals of trust can lead to deep fear, anxiety, and mistrust – especially towards people in authority, organisations, or those trying to “fix” things quickly. Even well-meaning support can be triggering. What seems like a simple conversation or routine appointment to most may resurface memories of past trauma for people who’ve been homeless.
Nobody changes when they are forced to. They change when they’re ready – at their own time, their own pace, and when they feel safe and heard. That’s one of the hardest parts of our work. We often see someone’s potential before they do. But our job isn’t to rush them – it’s to stand beside them, offering encouragement until they’re ready to turn the page.
A real story from the frontline
Rosie, one of our Regional Service Managers, tells the story of a resident in a Camden hostel who had serious, untreated health issues. He was clearly in pain, but whenever staff tried to speak to him, he would shut down.
“He wouldn’t answer his door, he’d avoid eye contact, sometimes even shout or be verbally aggressive,” Rosie recalls. “At first, I thought maybe he just didn’t like me, or didn’t want help.”
But Rosie didn’t give up. She got hold of a basic mobile phone and gave it to him. When she called, something remarkable happened:
“He answered. And not only that – he talked to me for 20 minutes.”
Through that phone call, Rosie discovered that this resident lived with severe social anxiety. Unexpected face-to-face conversations were overwhelming for him. But a phone call – something he could control, decide whether to answer – was manageable.
What’s at stake without trauma-informed care?
Too many people experiencing homelessness are left to navigate trauma alone. Nearly half can’t access the specialist support they need – and many say they’re not taken seriously until they’re in crisis.
When homelessness services aren’t trauma-informed, people can feel unheard, unsafe, or even retraumatised. That makes it harder – sometimes impossible – to ask for help.
And the longer someone is stuck in a system that doesn’t recognise or respond to trauma, the more harm is done. By that point:
- The support needed is more intensive and complex
- Coping strategies may become barriers to engagement
- Trust in services takes a hit
- And the risk of staying homeless – or becoming homeless again – rises sharply
This isn’t inevitable – and that’s why we use trauma-informed care. It’s not optional – it’s critical.
The bigger picture
Trauma-informed care is about more than empathy – it’s a strategic, compassionate way to build trust and help people move forward. It’s at the heart of how we work at the Single Homeless Project, and it’s key to helping people not only leave homelessness behind but rebuild lasting lives.
Every breakthrough, like Rosie’s phone call, is a reminder: when we listen differently, people respond differently. When we create space for safety and choice, people begin to heal.
Ending homelessness isn’t just about housing. It’s about seeing the whole person and supporting them with care that understands where they’ve been and what’s beneath the surface. And we need to offer support that meets people where they are, not where we think they should be.
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