Can you depend on a stranger?

I just got an email about this scheme in Leeds where I used to live, Short Stop Accommodation.

http://www.lassn.org.uk/short_stop.htm

They run a team of people who open their homes to asylum seekers who are temporarily homeless. A free warm bed and hot meal and a smiling face when your world is turning to shit, or shittier than the normal shit in the middle of shit. Some friends were very active in the Asylum world and told me stories of the horror these people experience. One man was fleeing from the Congo I think, where he'd been tortured for years and seen numerous horrors and believed that his wife and daughter had been raped and killed. He's still in the process of claiming residency and threats he could be sent back. Only to now find that his daughter is alive but being sent to Australia because the UK has said it's quota is full and Australia agreed to accept a small number of children. He would be denied going there, and she denied here. How cruel. The housing situation is desperate too, with the small amount of money they receive to live while being denied the ability to work (or face being detained or worse), it's no wonder a lot of them face homelessness at some point. But in the middle of all that stress, it must be horrible.

I'd like to think that I can depend on a a stranger. And that I can be that stranger too. Would you?

Have you ever been in one of those situations where your life is going to hell and a kind touch is so welcome and surprising. Lifesaving. Or been in a stinking bad mood and the smile and nice comment from a stranger on the bus has lifted the day. I want to be that person. I've certainly learnt who my friends are when it comes to personal and family disasters, especially the prolonged type ones. You come to treasure them, and often it's simple things that make the most difference. Simple things that everyone can give, but don't think they have enough room in their life to do so. Certain boundaries are welcome though, you don't want to give away your soul.

But it sure makes life interesting :D!

I've had people live in my house all my life. It's been a fixture :-). Most of my stories come from those times, when we've taken someone in or some other weird thing has been undertaken to help a near stranger or friend :-). Yes, it got too much, but that's because my mum was ill and was trying to solve all the worlds problems in one go. So, although we do have one guy currently living with us (his wife ended things), not something I can do here. Sooo. I need to move out. Or as soon as I do :p ... strangers here we come.

And if there isn't a scheme in whatever city I end up living in, maybe it'll be worth while starting one. If I end up homeless through some shitty series of events I'd be so grateful and touched if someone did this for me. And if you're in Leeds this January, they are doing more volunteer training, give it a go.