Who lives in Abigail Housing?

The children, women and men that live in Abigail housing have no where else to go. If Abigail didn’t provide them with a home they would be on the streets. For example, at one Abigail House, two women from Eretria live together.

In Eretria they were imprisoned for belonging to a Pentecostal church. They were given a choice, sign this document saying you don’t believe in the church anymore or stay in jail. They signed, and were released, but continued to be harassed by the police. Fearing for their security, and wishing to practices their faith, which they hadn’t given up in their hearts, they fled to Sudan.
The journey from Sudan to the UK is difficult and dangerous, but they made it. Once in the UK, they waited many months for their asylum claim to be processed. They could not work, were scared to go out, and could not communicate with their families in Eretria, as they were scared that if the government knew were they where, they would punish their relatives. Eventually, the happy news arrived that they had been granted the right to remain in the UK.

However, their challenges didn’t end there. They had to leave the housing the UK Home Office provided them, and were still on the wait list for social housing. Both women were terrified of living on the streets. They knew what happened to young refugee women like themselves. Working the sex trade wasn’t an option for either of them, but they knew they might not have a choice if they did not have shelter.

Luckily, they were put in touch with Abigail Housing, who found them a safe furnished apartment in Leeds. The two women live together, study English and go to church. They are waiting to move up the social housing list so that they can move on, and then other refugees will take over their Abigail apartment. Slowly but surely they are rebuilding their lives in safety and security.