After winning several auditions, including for a Madonna video, Aquila Correia was close to realising her dreams in Portugal, after relying on sex work to survive as a transgender migrant. Then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and Correia was evicted, despite a government ban on the eviction of cash-strapped tenants. As an undocumented Black Brazilian without a written contract, Correia had no choice but to pack her bags. Determined to pursue her career, Correia used the website GoFundMe to raise 4,000 euros ($4,791) to set up Portugal’s first shelter and creative space for trans migrants, who have since come together to produce an award-winning music video. “I became desperate,” the 28-year-old told the Thomson Reuters Foundation from the living room of the Lisbon apartment she has named Casa T.