The Guardian Group voted unanimously to accept a new asylum seeker under our care.
The man is from Nigeria who has a place in San Francisco to stay right now.
We agreed to provide the man with a decent cell phone and a MUNI pass. We plan to enroll him for Healthy San Francisco and obtain a San Francisco ID card.
He is already in contact with an organization that assists Africans with asylum seeking.
Gay men who have come to the United States legally but feel that they cannot return home are becoming more prominent in our group’s work. The government-sponsored persecution of sexual minorities in Africa, the Middle East, and Russia have forced many people visiting or temporarily working in the United States to decide that they will face death if they go home.
This week the Guardian Group is looking for either short- or long-term housing for a young gay man from Nigeria who has been in this country several months.
He escaped Nigeria to avoid being persecuted for his work with gay men and with AIDS projects.
He is reportedly an outstanding young man who speaks English fluently.
“He’s really an outstanding person, well and favorably known in the Nigerian LGBT community,” reports Bruce Knotts, Director of the Unitarian Universalist United Nations Office (UU-UNO). “Please do all you can. ”
If you are interested in helping with housing for this man — or other sexual minority refugee attempting to settle in San Francisco — please let us know!
Tuesday afternoon the Jewish Family and Child Services of the East Bay received notification that a 23-year-old gay man from the Congo would arrive in the San Francisco Bay area on June 12th.
The Guardian Group is looking for a space to rent in San Francisco for him starting June 12th.
The refugee speaks five languages including French and some English. He has worked as a musician, a basketball player, and a barber.
The man will have approximately $200 a month to spend on rent as part the 8-month’s of support provided by the government. He will also be legally able to work as soon as he arrives, and he will be able to apply for citizenship in five years.
If the Guardian Group cannot find San Francisco housing for this man, he will be housed in the East Bay and receive only ad hoc support from other volunteers in the East Bay. In our experience it is much better for gay refugees to live in the City of San Francisco, so we are very interested in finding housing.
If you can rent space in your house or know of other space available, please contact the Guardian Group.
The Guardian Group will tell more about the people its helping, the group’s work, and how you can help at the Forum of the 1st Untarian Universalist Society of San Francisco (Franklin @ Geary).
Starting at 9:30 , the 30-minute presentation will lead into a Q&A discussion.
Come check us out at this free program!
In the past month the Guardian Group of the First Unitarian Universalist Society of San Francisco has been contacted by two gay men already living in San Francisco who need help surviving. Both are seeking asylum from physical violence in their home countries. They believe — with good reason — that if they go home they will be killed.
We needed to provide quick response and to get ask our network of friends for specific items quickly. We’ve established this interactive site to facilitate our communication with the supportive San Francisco community.
Please check here frequently to find out about the needs, joys, and challenges that we are experiencing together.