WORCESTER — Al Green recalled LGBTQ individuals in Jamaica who were forced to live in storm drains after being driven away from their communities for their sexual orientation.

“LGBTQ people end up having to live a double life or live as though they are not full human beings,” said Green, who is LGBTQ himself. “There are a number of gay people who end up having to live in storm drains in the main financial district, in the capitol of Kingston, after being chased away from their communities.”

It’s illegal to be homosexual in Jamaica. If found guilty of being gay, members of the LGBTQ community can face up to a 10 year in prison.

That’s one of many reasons why Green decided to seek asylum in the United States when he was 25 years old.

“It was just horrible facing taunts constantly,” Green said. “I had to be extremely mindful of my actions. It got to the point where it was weighing on me emotionally and mentally and I couldn’t function properly, so I just had to get out.”

In 2015, Green was accepted to the LGBT Asylum Task Force, a ministry of Hadwen Park Congregational Church. The asylum task force houses and provides other essential services to LGBTQ asylum seekers until they are allowed to find work.

“They provide housing, connections to healthcare, mental health resources, connections to pro bono attorneys, they also provide a monthly stipend $500 for food and transportation costs,” explained Green. “It can take up to two years for an asylum seeker to be able to work, so what we do is offer basic support through that period that they are not allowed to work.”

When Green first arrived in the U.S., he stayed with the task force for a few months before transitioning into the workforce, but it wasn’t long before he came back. In 2017, he joined a number of committees at the ministry and when the position for director opened up, he applied and got the job.

“I got super involved after seeing how unique and special Hadwen Park Congregational Church is; just the way they view LGBTQ people as full human beings, that there’s nothing that needs to be changed,” said Green.

Green, now 31, is part of an effort at the ministry which raised $500,000 to renovate a triple decker on the city’s west side. This new housing is a step up from the three-bedroom apartments the organization rents throughout Worcester, where one asylum seeker is generally assigned to each room.

“Currently we have housing in three locations in Worcester,” said Green. “The building is the culmination of four years of fundraising and campaigning to be able to purchase a building.”

The new housing might eventually become home to asylum seekers from the 50 or so countries where it’s illegal to be LGBTQ that the LGBTQ Asylum Task Force hasn’t had the opportunity to assist yet.

“Over the years, we assisted people in over 20 of the 70 or so countries where it is illegal to be LGBTQ,” Green said.

Green added that about 60 – 70% of asylum seekers who have historically stayed at the ministry are men, not because homosexual males face more persecution, but because of the economic privilege men experience everywhere.

“It is really a result of the ease with which people are able to get VISAs, or are able to afford airfare, or have the resources to get to the U.S.,” said Green. Adding, “Men have more privilege.”

One male asylum seeker who has benefited from the ministry is 35-year-old Onyedikachi Nwogu of Nigeria, who left the ministry last November to work. He’s presently employed by UPS.

“The program is awesome,” said Nwogu. “It’s great for someone like me coming from Nigeria not knowing anyone; they were the family I had here.”

The ministry is currently housing individuals from Uganda, Jamaica, Haiti, Ghana and Kenya.