Volunteer finds Salvation in Perth
LivinghereisbestmovePaulevermade
A Perth-based charity volunteer with severe epilepsy says that moving to the city has helped him turn his life around.
Paul Hernandez (44) started volunteering at the Salvation Army’s community church on South Street in 2016 after moving up from Blackpool – due to suffering a horrible seizure.
Paul, who also has learning disabilities, lived with his mum in Blackpool for 19 years until 2014, before she moved to Invergowrie.
A few months later he was struck by the seizure which left him unconscious for three days in hospital.
With no family support nearby, he decided to move north to be closer to his mum.
He was given supported accommodation at the Salvation Army’s resettlement flats directly above the organisation’s community church to help him get back into independent living.
Paul admits that he struggled at first.
But thanks to the support of Salvation Army church leader Albert Kidd he started volunteering at the Salvation Army drop-in cafe for people experiencing homelessness.
Shona Stewart, a specialist support worker at the organisation’s Skinnergate Lifehouse, arranged for a full assessment of Paul’s learning disabilities – something he’d never had done – and worked with social workers to get a care plan put in place.
Reflecting on his experiences, Paul said: “Moving to Perth and finding the Salvation Army has been a lifechanging experience.
“Albert and Shona took me under their wings and cared about me when they didn’t have to.
“It was hard leaving Blackpool because I was settled and had friends. But when I was in hospital I realised I didn’t have a lot of actual support.
“I was closer to my mum but apart from that I knew no one in Perth. So I was worried about being isolated.
“But I got to know Bert and he introduced me to the Salvation Army.
“Then I found out about the work of the church in helping homeless people and I was lucky enough to meet Shona.
“She arranged for me to be assessed, sorted out my benefits and made sure that I had carers Hernandez with Shona Stewart who has helped him turn his life around to help me live on my own. I have found a community in Perth with the Salvation Army.
“This is something I’ve been waiting all my adult life for. I’ve got everything sorted out. I’m with people who care about me at the Salvation Army.
“I have a nice flat and in helping people I’m doing something that I love. I couldn’t ask for more.”
Shona said: “I’m so happy for Paul, to see how well he is doing for himself.
“When I first met him I was shocked that no one had assessed his learning disabilities and that he was on the minimum amount of benefits – basically for people who are deemed fit for work.
“I spoke to my manager and he gave me permission to take Paul on as a client.
“Paul was working so hard for the Salvation Army and I wanted to do something for him.
“So basically from having no support whatsoever we managed to sort out a social worker to try and source some sort of care because of the amount of learning disabilities Paul has and because of his seizures.
“When Paul was being assessed at the hospital his mum came along and she was quite emotional because the family had never been able to access any of this kind of help when he was younger.
“He has such a heart for helping people – an example of this being during the winter months when he would do soup runs off his own back for people that he knew were having a hard time.”