Shelter follows four years in the life of a refuge in New York for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender teenagers. Lucky Michaels was one of the first people to start working there, helping the kids find a place to stay and get something to eat; along the way he documented, with his camera, the people and the characters that bring a one-room refuge to life.

Of the roughly 15,000 to 20,000 homeless youths in New York, up to 40 per cent are LGBT. Sylvia Place originated as the vision of Sylvia Rivera, a transgender woman who was an advocate for LGBT rights during her life and worked tirelessly, even while stricken with cancer, for the food pantry at the Metropolitan Community Church of New York. On her deathbed she made the Reverend Pat Bumgardner promise to find a way to start a refuge in the space, and one year after her death Rev Pat saw that vision through to fruition. Their first client arrived on 3 April 2003, and within a week Lucky Michaels was hired. As a participant observer, he began photographing the environment and the teenagers who walked through the doors.

Each story became a part of Sylvia's growing history. 'I'm here and I'm alive, so I guess I'm lucky', says one of the clients. 'It's hard for anyone being homeless. But imagine being homeless, a teenager and gay. People would jump you on the streets.' The one thing they all have in common is that they have nowhere else to sleep, but even sleep is never a guarantee: many lie plagued with insomnia, others lie awake with the hope of a new day. Although they might not find restful sleep each night, they always find a bed and a shower. Some also find families, enemies, boyfriends, girlfriends. Most find their own kind of sanctuary.