Hope From the Ashes

Hi, I’m Mmatseleng, In February 2026 I reached an important milestone in my journey when I became a U-turn Strand Champion. To understand what that means, you have to go back to my first steps through the doors in October 2025.

Between 2022 and 2025, I lived with housing insecurity. Fortunately, I never lived on the streets, but I moved between shelters and friends’ places because I had no secure employment and no stable family home to fall back on. In April 2025, my shack burned down together with everything I owned, and I was at the brink of homelessness when I walked through the doors of the U-turn Strand Homeless Service Centre.

My first day was a Tuesday and I arrived early in the morning. That same day was also an outreach day for the centre, so before I had even settled in, I was invited to go out and tell people on the streets about U-turn. I felt a little intimidated by that, but it also told me something important right away: here, you’re included from day one.

I remember those early days well. I had come to U-turn because I was hungry and didn’t know what I was going to feed my two boys. I was warmly welcomed at reception and taken through the intake process. A counsellor explained the support available, the routines, and what the next few days would look like. There were no forms pushed across a desk in silence. Someone sat with me and talked me through it.

The biggest challenge wasn’t the paperwork or the new faces, it was uncertainty. Not knowing if this place would make a difference in my life. What helped me was that I felt safe, I was treated with respect, and I was given a meal with no judgement.
The meals and the way staff and other U-turn clients engaged with me, is what kept me coming back. First steps at Strand isn’t just intake, it’s being seen, being fed, being heard, and being told you belong.

Today, I am focused on my growth and my role as a Champion working in U-turn’s Strand shop. This milestone brings me one step closer to the stable future I am building for myself and my boys.