<div>I'm Brother Christian Matson, a diocesan hermit of the Catholic Diocese of Lexington, and I'm raising funds for the residents and staff of House of Grace, an emergency shelter run by Lived Realities Uganda (LRU).
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<div>Information about the fundraiser's previous goals is below. However, circumstances have changed. After multiple house raids by police, the community split into multiple small apartments to avoid being taken all at once. However, the police tracked a staff member's phone, and forced him to take them to all three houses. The residents of the third house escaped, but all the others were taken to jail. After a lot of difficulty, we were able to get them released, but it became clear that the Ugandan government has targeted Grace and his staff and community for prosecution. Charges included "operating an LGBT recruitment center," "recruiting minors" (given that one of the shelter residents has an infant), and "operating as a foreign agent," on the assumption that they are being funded by millionaire Westerners to meddle in Ugandan politics. This last charge is a result of the new Sovereignty Bill, signed into law in May 2026, and which is being used to suppress speech by members of the political opposition (as well as by non-political groups assumed to support them, like LGBT rights organizations). 
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<div>To be clear, none of these charges is based on evidence or rooted in truth. But the fact that the Ugandan government is slinging such charges at Grace and his community shows that they are no longer operating under the radar, which means that they are no longer safe in Uganda.
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<div>Therefore, they have decided to give up on rebuilding their lives in Uganda for now, and seek refuge elsewhere.
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<div>Grace and a companion made it to Canada in July 2026, where they are now permanent residents. I was able to visit Grace in mid-August. He is currently applying for jobs and certification as a Personal Support Worker (PSW) to pay his bills while receiving a small living expenses stipend from the government as a Government-Assisted Refugee. He is also putting together his paperwork to relaunch Lived Realities Uganda as Lived Realities International, a Canada-based NGO devoted to assisting at-risk LGBT persons in Uganda and worldwide. He will be applying for grants and seeking donations and other funding to eventually be able to pay himself a salary and pay his staff again to support and rescue community members in danger. He is also looking at further certification and degree options in human rights law.
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<div>Grace has arranged for three asylum slots for his staff and residents to Canada and 5-7 slots to a Scandinavian country.
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<div>There are 18 staff and shelter residents. 9 have made it to Rwanda, where there are no anti-LGBT laws. Of those, 4 are currently living in a rental house, while 5 are staying in a guest house as they wait for funds to be raised to move them into a second rental house. The other 9 are still stuck in Uganda, in hiding at a guest house while they wait to receive their national IDs, which will allow them to leave the country. (All of them are young adults who have never had an ID before.)
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<div>Once they make it to Rwanda, they can more safely apply for their Ugandan passports, which are needed for their online asylum applications. They will only need to make one more overnight trip back to Uganda to pick up their passports. (They can travel in East Africa with just an ID, but need the passport for North America or Europe.)
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<div>Grace and I sat down on August 14th to come up with a budget for what I'm calling OPERATION STARFISH - the quest to get all 18 staff and residents out of Uganda and to safe homes in functioning Western democracies. (We can't save the whole world, but we can make a world of difference for each one of these 18 people.)
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<div><strong>Here is the budget for our</strong> <strong>two-week push from Aug. 17-30, 2026:</strong>
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<div><strong>$220: </strong>Malaria treatment for the infant, Prince Miracle, and his mom (taken to hospital on 8/16 w/ severe symptoms)
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<div><strong>$380: </strong>Emergency rescue of community member Ali, taken captive in Abu Dhabi as part of a sex trafficking ring (more info below)*
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<div><strong>$1,710: </strong>Moving the 5 people in guest houses in Rwanda into Rental House #2 (see breakdown below)
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<div><strong>$1,620: </strong>IDs and travel to Rwanda for the 9 people still in Uganda (see breakdown below)
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<div><strong>$2,150: </strong>Moving the remaining 9 people into Rental Houses #2 &amp; #3 upon arrival (see breakdown below)
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<div><strong>$1,735: </strong>Guest houses (for 14 people) and food for all 18 people during Week #1 (while raising money for Rental House #2)
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<div><strong>$950: </strong>Guest house for 9 people in Uganda and food for all 18 people during Week #2 (while waiting for IDs)
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<div><strong>TOTAL GOAL: $8,765</strong>
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<div><strong>Rental House #2 Breakdown</strong>
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<div>(needs to house 7 people)
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<div>$1,050: 3-month rent deposit (est. monthly rent: $350)
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<div>$110: Water &amp; electricity deposit (lasts ~2 weeks)
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<div>$550: Bedding for 1st 5 people ($110/person, required by landlord to move in)
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<div>TOTAL: $1,710
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<div><strong>IDs &amp; Travel to Rwanda</strong>
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<div>$720: ID fees ($80/person x 9 people)
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<div>$900: Travel to Kigali ($100/person for bus ticket &amp; yellow fever immunization x 9 people)
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<div>TOTAL: $1,620
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<div>Note: Money was already donated to cover IDs, but these 9 people's initial applications were rejected for insufficient or incorrect parental information. The ID application requires including the full names, birth dates and locations, tribes/clans and native languages, and current locations and states of health (alive/deceased) of the applicant's parents. These 9 people were rejected by their families and are no longer in touch with their parents, and in some cases have not heard from them in years. Therefore, they are not able to get the required information themselves. The community's lawyer is now helping to obtain the required information so that the applications can be processed. Unfortunately, this means that they have to pay new fees, including the lawyer's expenses.
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<div><strong>Rental House #3 Breakdown</strong>
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<div>(needs to house 7 people)
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<div>$1,050: 3-month rent deposit (est. monthly rent: $350)
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<div>$110: Water &amp; electricity deposit (lasts ~2 weeks)
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<div>$990: Bedding for 2nd group of 9 people ($110/person, required by landlord to move in; 2 people moving into House #2, 7 people into House #3)
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<div>TOTAL: $2,150
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<div>The reason why we're doing this intense push over two weeks is that <strong>it costs approximately $17/night to feed and house a person in a guest house, </strong>whereas it costs about <strong>$5/night </strong>to feed and house that same person in a rental house where they can cook for themselves.
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<div><strong>Our costs go down ENORMOUSLY once we get them all into rental houses in Rwanda. </strong>The sooner we do so, the better.
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<div>Once they're all safe in Rwanda, we think their ongoing monthly budget will be less than $3,000 for food, water, electric, medicine, and transportation for all 18 people combined. Once their rent becomes due again (after their initial 3-month deposits have expired), that will just add another $1,000. We expect we can raise $4,000/month to keep them safely in Rwanda until their passports and asylum applications come through.
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<div>*<strong>Emergency Rescue of Ali: </strong>On Aug. 15th, the day after Grace and I determined this budget, we learned that Ali (name changed for safety), one of Grace's community members, had been taken captive by a sex trafficking ring in Abu Dhabi. Ali was one of the 30 community members we rescued from imprisonment during the government's crackdown on suspected opposition members surrounding Uganda's January 2026 presidential elections. 
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<div>After the elections, Ali was offered a job as a construction worker in Abu Dhabi. When he arrived, his passport was taken from him, and he was forced into sex work. 
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<div>(I've read about such trafficking schemes regularly occurring in the United Arab Emirates, but it hits differently when it happens to your friend's friend, to someone with a name whom you just bailed out of jail a few months ago.)
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<div>Ali has managed to communicate his situation and location to a Ugandan man in the UAE who is known for rescuing trafficking victims. (I think this may be a person working in the Ugandan government's anti-trafficking office, but I'm not sure.) One of Grace's volunteers in Africa is maintaining communication between Grace and the Ugandan rescuer. The rescuer has asked for $380 to cover the cost of Ali's emergency travel documents and transport to go get him. We plan to use existing airline credit we have to cover the cost of Ali's flight from Abu Dhabi to a safe African country. This is a developing situation.
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<div>Thank you for your prayers and support!
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<div>Br. Christian &amp; Grace
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<div>(updated 8/17/26)
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<div>***
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<div>House of Grace currently houses almost 20 LGBT young people between the ages of 18-30. These community members have been evicted from family homes and villages and fired from their jobs solely for being LGBT. I have been accompanying House of Grace and their founder, Grace Stone, for the past year.
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<div>LRU is a small, grassroots non-governmental organization whose mission is to create community awareness of the needs of LGBT persons and advocate for their just and equitable access to social services, opportunities, and legal protection. Before the elimination of USAID, LRU developed a network of peer educators who helped approximately 300 community members prevent and receive treatment for HIV, operated a drop-in clinic which provided free HIV medication and tests and other healthcare supplies, connected community members to larger healthcare facilities and free legal aid when needed, and provided free counseling and other forms of psychosocial support, such as food, clothing, and emergency shelter.
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<div>In April 2025, LRU lost all their funding due to the elimination of USAID. In August 2025, they were also evicted by the police from the house they had just purchased, due to local anti-LGBT sentiment. Since August, I have been helping them raise funds to rent another building for their emergency shelter and provide food, medical treatment, and legal assistance for shelter residents and community members.
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<div>Dozens of community members, including Grace, have been arrested under Uganda’s 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, with many tortured and/or sexually assaulted in detention. They have also been subject to mob violence, including beatings, destruction of property, and at least three killings of community members in the past year.
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<div>Grace himself has been hospitalized multiple times over the past year for two heart attacks, multiple ulcers, and repeated surgeries to treat injuries received as a result of torture. He is only 27 years old.
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<div>He receives 50-60 WhatsApp messages a day from former clients asking for help.
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<div>Grace is currently in the process of receiving asylum to another country in order to attend law school, with the full support of the community. He has also secured a commitment from a second country to offer asylum to seven more community members.
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<div>This fundraiser is to raise $40,000, LRU's annual budget before the elimination of USAID.
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<div>With their budget replaced, they will be able to provide a level of financial security for the community, start rebuilding their health services, help their community members gain economic independence by founding small businesses, and have a safety fund to help them address ongoing legal and health challenges.
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<div><strong>BUDGET</strong>
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<div>Rent: $600/month
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<div>Utilities (Electric/Water): $200
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<div>Food: $300
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<div>Medication: $200
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<div>Internet: $100
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<div>TOTAL: $1,400
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<div><strong>x 12 = $16,800/year</strong>
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<div>The remaining $23,400/year will be used to provide a legal fund to defend community members who are arrested under the 2023 Anti-Homosexuality Act, provide emergency medical care for members (such as one who required life-saving surgery in January), begin economic empowerment programs, and assist members in obtaining asylum (e.g., by paying for passports).
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<div>Some immediate needs are:
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<li>REPLACEMENT LAPTOP ($700): LRU is required to submit monthly online reports in order to receive free HIV medication. Their laptop was stolen in the August police raid. They cannot resume HIV medication distribution until they obtain another laptop.
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<li>PASSPORTS ($805): Seven community members are in the process of being approved for asylum in Europe. None of them have passports. Expedited passports (received in less than a month instead of 3 months) are about $115/person.
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<li>CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS ($600): LRU owns a piece of land for a small farm. They've been offered free pigs and chickens from an economic empowerment NGO once they're able to build a pigpen and chicken coop. They estimate materials at about $600.
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<li>STARTER BOUTIQUE INVENTORY ($1,000): Some residents have experience owning and operating a clothing boutique. Purchasing starter inventory will get them going.
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<li>STARTER HAIRDRESSING KITS ($300): Several residents have professional hairdressing experience. $300 will purchase 5 hairdressing kits that will allow members to work as mobile hairdressers in clients' homes.
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<div><strong>NEXT STEPS</strong>
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<div>We're looking for one-off donations, a small network of monthly donors ($75/month covers one resident's needs for a month), and organizational partners willing to help support at a larger level. (Message me for a conversation!)
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<div>If you've been looking for a way to help in the wake of the USAID cuts and the targeting of LGBT communities, this is your opportunity to make a concrete difference in the lives of actual people.
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<div>Thank you for your prayers and support.
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<div>-Br. Christian (and Grace)
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<div>***
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<div>P.S. - A previous GoFundMe existed for this community at this link: <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/purchase-house-of-grace." target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/purchase-house-of-grace." target="_blank" class="" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://www.gofundme.com/f/purchase-house-of-grace.</a></a> I took it down in March in the light of a threatened police raid. I'm putting this new one back up with some additional security precautions because support is still greatly needed.
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