Jared came one evening to check out where we live, where a guest might stay and about our motivations. For us it was just a really tangible way to live out Jesus’ calling to really love the vulnerable. “We were so inspired by what they are doing, and we felt that it was something that maybe we could do. Susie and her husband volunteered as hosts after hearing Helen and Jared speaking at the New Wine Summer Conference – she shares her story: They just become part of your family.” A host’s story There is always a worry because you don’t know who that person is and how it is going to impact your family, but when they move in and get to know them it changes. We then began to set up the charity and find hosts across the country to do the same thing. She lived with us for about a year and Jared was then made redundant. Having piloted the scheme in their own home, Helen explained, “A lady came to us via the Citizens Advice Bureau she was about to be evicted. Jared told me, “We want to ensure that every survivor of human trafficking has somewhere safe to live, and we want to see the church across the country step up, be the kingdom of God in action and bringing those that don’t have homes into their homes.” Jared and Helen founded Hope at Home with people like Clara in mind. But they give me more than love, they give me more than words can say.” The biggest thing I receive from them is love. My host family helped me with everything, that’s why they have given me a new life. Before I came to the host family I tried to get help from so many places, but no-one could help me. Before I moved to my host family I tried to kill myself because I felt so lonely. “If you decide to help someone like me, you can offer them a new life. Now I go out all the time and don’t lock myself away, and I can deal with the things when I’m scared because the host family help me. When they say they love me, I come up to my room and I cry, because I think about how much my life has changed since I moved here. No-one has ever told me that they love me before in all my life. They love me, they always tell me ‘we love you’. When I came home they saw from my face that I was scared, they came over and gave me a hug – they talk to me and they understand. Once I went out and saw something that scared me. They gave me love, they are very caring and they listen to me when something happens. I lived with my host family for a year and I’ve made a lot of good memories with them. Before I moved to my host family’s house I felt very nervous. I only came out when I had important appointments and when I got back I would just lock myself away. I just stayed by myself in my flat all the time, not going out for 24 hours.
I didn’t have anyone to talk to, or to listen to. “My life before I moved was really hard, it was a difficult time, and a lot of bad things happened to me. She was supported by Hope at Home to find a safe place to recover and grow. Helen and Jared are understandably cautious about drawing too much attention to the people they are hosting, but Clara* was able to share her experience. “That’s the moment where our hosts step in and provide an amazing home for them.” “Homeless people are targeted by traffickers, so they are at risk of being re-trafficked,” Helen shares. If they are not entitled to benefits (for example, as refused asylum seekers) the combination of vulnerabilities is dangerous. In an echo of Mo Farah’s experience when he started school aged 12, Helen noted that many of their guests haven’t had the opportunity to learn English, and are also without a support network of friends and family nearby. This inspired Helen and Jared Hodgson to launch Hope at Home, which facilitates people opening their homes for survivors of human trafficking. This means that around 1 in every 500 people in the UK is in slavery – in a city the size of Bradford, where I live, that means it is likely that well over 700 people are living without their freedom and dignity.īut even those people who escape their situation can find themselves homeless. The Global Slavery Index estimates that there are 136,000 people in slavery at any one time in the UK, yet in 2019 just 10,000 people were identified as victims and brought out of their situation.
Strangeland podcast host full#
His full story aired on BBC1 ( now available on BBC iPlayer) – it’s well worth a watch. He was trafficked to the UK aged just 9 and was forced to work as a domestic slave. This week, Mo Farah revealed that his birth name is Hussein Abdi Kahin.
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