The Worcester, Mass.–based LGBT Asylum Task Force opened the doors of its new triple-decker residence over Thanksgiving weekend, and the first residents moved in. Asylum seekers in the US are not allowed to work for up to the first two years they’re in the country, according to the Task Force, so this group from Worcester’s Hadwen Park Congregational Church, was created to support them.
“I don’t even have the words,” Alain Spyke told the Boston Globe, which reports Spkye, 26, fled Jamaica because of harassment from gangs. “To come into this country and have a safe space to escape all the hardships and trauma? Not everyone has that opportunity.”
According to the Globe:
The LGBT Asylum Task Force, a ministry of Hadwen Park Congregational Church in Worcester, raised more than $500,000 to purchase and renovate a dilapidated, three-story former group home on the city’s well-heeled west side.
It’s the ministry’s biggest investment amid long-running efforts to help LGBT immigrants, said Al Green, the task force’s director.
The group typically houses asylum seekers in rented apartments throughout New England’s second-largest city, but as the effort has grown over the years, it’s become challenging to coordinate services and foster community among the new immigrants, he said.
The task force covers rent and provides a $500 monthly stipend for immigrants, at least until they can receive work authorization, a process that can take around two years, Green said. The group also connects asylum seekers with immigration lawyers, sets them up with bank accounts and health insurance, and helps prepare them for entering the workforce, among other things.
“We found that giving folks stability has helped them better prepare for their asylum cases,” said Green, who is also from Jamaica and participated in the program. “They know they’re in a safe place until they can get on their feet.”
Read the complete Globe story here.
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