Charity’s desperate campaign to ‘restore dignity drop by drop’ for homeless people

Originally published on Sheffield Wire: https://sheffieldwire.co.uk/index.php/2025/12/12/charitys-desperate-campaign-to-restore-dignity-drop-by-drop-for-homeless-people/

A charity in Sheffield is running out of time in its campaign to improve living conditions for formerly homeless people.

Emmaus Sheffield focuses on helping individuals break the cycle of homelessness by offering the necessary tools to change their lives.

This comes in the form of food, clothes, support, or housing found above their charity shop.

Emmaus’ current focus is on improving the conditions of their showers, and they are hoping to start renovations in the new year.

Most of their funding comes from sales made at their shop, which itself employs formerly homeless people.

The shop sells everything from second-hand furniture and clothes to books and vinyls.

Charley Fedorenko, Emmaus’ Marketing and Business Development Manager, has said the income from the shop is not sufficient.

To help, they have launched a fundraising campaign which ends in just 12 days.

Only 5% of the overall goal has been reached.

Emmaus’ housing project was first started in 2008, with the shop’s grade II building turned into ensuite rooms.

Charley Fedorenko, Marketing and Business Development Manager at Emmaus Sheffield, said that the charity is doing everything it can to give safe and clean showers to these formerly homeless people.

She said: “We try to be self sufficient. Unfortunately we’re not at the moment. We rely on a lot of funding to help, which means we don’t have the money for any extra repairs.”

There are currently 18 formerly homeless people living at Emmaus Sheffield, and the charity is using a different approach to tackle homelessness.

Charley Fedorenko said: “Everybody you see here is a homeless person that’s now working with us.

“They work on the tills, they drive the van, collecting the furniture, they work in the workshop, making items.”

The charity works closely with counsellors to provide free therapy services, and provides specialist training for any interested member.

She said: “People have gotten GCSEs here, one guy’s got a degree before, we do woodworking qualifications as well.

“It’s more than just a bowl of soup and a bed. It’s the full package that somebody needs to get back on track.”

In the future, Emmaus Sheffield hopes to expand their store to include more living quarters through a partnership with Crisis, another homelessness charity.

Ms Fedorenko added: “Emmaus is a charity that supports people who found themselves homeless, and the main aim of our support is to help them break that cycle of homelessness and get them back out into society and move their lives on.”