All I have ever wanted is my own front door that I can call my own," says 30-year-old Paul, who tonight will doss down in an outside bin and broom cupboard, open to the elements.

Broom cupboards have been his home for three long years.

It may seem incredible in this day and age that anyone should be living like that but Paul is one of society's casualties of the vicious circle of homelessness, poverty and not having a job.

He's a bright, friendly and helpful man whose dreadful predicament has him moving from one cupboard to another in the communal squares of Sunderland council estates.

Vulnerable and with mental health problems, Paul pops in regularly to Wearside Women In Need's drop-in at Speculation Place, Concord, Washington.

He knows he won't be judged here, can wash himself, his clothes, get a hot meal and talk over his problems – his biggest being getting a roof over his head.

But Paul is trapped in a Catch 22 situation and says: "I have been totally let down by the system. You need more housing for people like me and not just hostels."

Twenty five is the cut-off age for Hap properties rented by WWIN from gentoo and private landlords for young people from 16 to take over.

But as funding and development worker Bridget Phillipson explains, WWIN has pleaded Paul's cause to no avail.

She says he feels vulnerable and intimidated in hostels and cannot get anywhere to rent privately because he has never been a tenant so cannot show any proof of having an unblemished record.

And so he is back on the housing list, but as Bridget knows, it could be years before he gets anywhere.

She adds: "We are seeing more homeless people because there is a shortage of houses and a lot of one-bed flats have been pulled down and replaced on estates with three-bed semis."

When Paul isn't sheltering in a broom cupboard, he sleeps in a tent in the warmer weather. He carries his home on his back and leaves what meagre belongings he has at the drop-in.

Bridget makes the point how society is all too quick to criticise and brands homeless people as drop-outs.

Paul, like many others, has through circumstances found himself in this plight.

Bridget says: "If you are homeless, it's all too easy to sneer at people who don't work. People call them lazy and can't be bothered.

"They have often found themselves in that position through no fault of their own.

"And all the people who come to Speculation Place want to improve their lives and want better lives for their families.

"But it's very difficult to achieve and where there's been abuse you have an awful lot to overcome."

People do take for granted having a family member but if you don't have any family where do you go? "

That's where Hap comes into its own. And as Bridget says: "It isn't only about having support but overcoming problems when you are homeless.

"Often, you might have developed a drink problem, whatever it's poverty and unless you address these underlying problems, you will never succeed in your own place."

As well as helping young single mothers and men cope in their own homes for the first time, there's support in budgeting, parenting and practically furnishing a house.

Bridget's mother, WWIN director Clare Phillipson, had the vision for Hap, which has and is saving countless homeless people.

As well as finding a listening ear in workers at the project, the homeless are helped in sorting out their benefits, finding a job, writing their CVs on the computer, having a postal address and even taking courses to help them get a job.

And the community has from day one supprted their work magnificently.

Every day, good-hearted people drop off bedding, clothing, toys, foodstuffs and donate furniture.

And men and women of all ages, as well as the homeless, are desperately in need of these basics that are beyond them.

Paul's name has been changed to protect his identity.

For more real life stories read today's Echo.