Reuel is sleeping rough in Central London. Reuel is from Bulgaria and relocated to United Kingdom because he felt it would be safer. It was hard to communicate with Reuel, but from what I gather, Reuel believed that Western Europe would be more LGBT friendly than his home county. A report from last year reveled that around ten percent of Londons homeless are from Bulgaria or Romania. Immigration from Eastern European countries is a huge issue in the United Kingdom, and its very similar to the immigration challenges we face with Central America. My last visit to UK I met two Americans sleeping rough in London [Carl bit.ly/Sxv1Zk and Wesley bit.ly/UAwMWj] Only one qualified for benefits and was able to receive help. Here in the States we may think thats a horrible way to treat someone, yet I once had a couple from Guatemala with newborn twins that I could not find help for. If it wasnt for a church being able to help, they did not qualify for any government support and the family would have been left on the streets of Los Angeles. I met Reuel on my first night arriving in London. I give everyone I met a card with my name and contact info on it. On my last night in London I could see Reuel smiling from a distance when he noticed me. As I got closer he said in a excited voice I found you in Facebook. Special thanks to St Mungos Broadway mungosbroadway.org.uk and Mencap mencap.org.uk
Posted on: Sun, 10 Aug 2014 20:08:08 +0000