How a Hong Kong charity helped a homeless Filipino musician get back on track
ImpactHK looks out for the city’s homeless, giving them a roof over their heads, jobs, and most of all, dignity
Jose Raymundo M. Gabriel, 61, was once a successful bar singer and guitarist after moving to Hong Kong from the Philippines in 1981.
But seven years ago, the onset of diabetes took away his career, savings, and the roof over his head. He became homeless, sleeping in parks and on footbridges. Eventually, he had to send his five-year-old son to local charity Po Leung Kuk to be taken care of.
In his darkest moments, Gabriel thought he would die. “I thought I would go back to the Philippines in a box,” he said.
Last September, a turning point came when he met Jeff Rotmeyer, an English teacher who founded ImpactHK, a charity for the homeless. With its help, Gabriel got a haircut, moved into a subdivided flat two months ago, and started working as a guitar teacher.
Gabriel is one of the fortunate few among the city’s homeless foreigners. Although the government does not have related figures, a study carried out by local universities and NGOs in 2015 found 10 per cent of the 1,614 homeless people in Hong Kong were non-Chinese.