Yasin lives in a small apartment downtown. An electrical engineer by trade, he works as a technician at a bike and scooter rental shop, doing repairs and rebuilds. He has a glow about him these days, what he calls fresh start energy.

If we rewind six months, however, life looked very different.

Yasin was between jobs, gigging through a work app after relocating to Vancouver from Montreal. Burnt out and struggling to afford rent, he started staying at a hostel. When even that became too expensive, he spent his first night in a shelter.

Before this, Yasin wasn’t even aware of what a shelter was. He’d known housing stability his whole life. In an earlier chapter, he ran a business in Dubai that employed 75 people.

“It was shameful to stay in a shelter,” he admits.

He was grateful for the bed and the support, but the experience pushed him far outside his comfort zone. He was often nervous and afraid.

Yasin came to Hornby Shelter this past winter. That’s where he connected with an Outreach Worker in Community Builders’ Housing Outreach Program.

Working alongside Yasin, the team was able to secure a rental subsidy and connect him to a local property management company that partners with Community Builders. Relationships with landlords are a big reason the Outreach Program works so well. The program helps connect vetted and supported tenants to private market housing, assists with move-in and continues to provide support during the first year of tenancy. It’s a win-win for both parties.

It didn’t take long for Yasin to find a place, and he moved out of Hornby Shelter in less than two months.

People like Yasin don’t always fit the image we might have of someone experiencing homelessness or housing precarity. But the reality is, there’s no such thing as typical. Every person who comes through our shelters has a different story. What they share is a very human need for something fundamental: safe, stable housing.

“The whole experience really opened my eyes to seeing life better,” Yasin reflects. “I learned how to take care of people. We are all one.”

Now, Yasin is looking ahead to the busy season that summer and FIFA are sure to bring to the bike shop. He’s happy in his new place and feeling renewed in a way he wouldn’t have expected just months ago.

It as only a short period in his life when he was down and out, and in need, but, in his words, “Those few months gave me my whole life back.”

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