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1. Unraveling a woman’s struggle: homelessness, the L.A. court system, and the U.S. State Dept

This story is how a team of TASLA caseworkers and a social worker from another local agency unravel a woman’s nightmare, involving homelessness, the Los Angeles court system, and the U.S. State Department. Kate [all names of clients in this pamphlet have been changed to protect confidentiality] had been living in Seoul, South Korea, where she taught English, when word came from the State Department office in Osaka, Japan, that a child support suit had been filed against her in Los Angeles. She’d been sending checks regularly to her ex-husband to care for their young son, but he
wanted more.

She was so strapped for money as it was, that she had to take out a repatriation loan from the U.S. government in order to return to Los Angeles and deal with the case. Upon arrival, her ID and passport were frozen, so as to safeguard her from skipping the country and defaulting on the loan. She had no resources to support herself, yet she was expected to defend herself in the court system. At risk of becoming homeless, she came to our LAX office. TASLA’s caseworker was able to get Kate placed at Good Shepherd transitional shelter, and put her in touch with legal aid referrals. For two months Good Shepherd was Kate’s home.

Then another TASLA caseworker, with the help of a social worker from a cooperative agency, worked with her regarding long-term housing and legal assistance, for when she could get out of Good Shepherd. She was going to need time to finalize the child support case. Eventually, the court found in favor of Kate, who--they said--had even overpaid her child support and would be entitled to a lump sum, to be issued in about a month. But Kate needed to pay back the repatriation loan, she needed to get back to Seoul. The TASLA caseworker contacted the State Department and helped Kate get an extension on the loan repayment schedule. Kate then called her aunt in Mesa, Arizona, and was offered a place to stay (if she could manage to get to Arizona) while she worked to repay the loan and then finally get back to Seoul. TASLA’s casework supervisor arranged for a Greyhound Bus ticket to Mesa. With no funds available from her aunt to pay even a portion of the ticket, TASLA paid for the whole thing.

Now, Kate’s still in Mesa, working three jobs; she set herself up in her own apartment, and with the court’s check for her overpayment will be able to pay back the repatriation loan and return to South Korea to teach.

2. In search of a new direction in his life.

Mr. Price came to California from Georgia, with promises from a friend of a safe place to stay and an opportunity of work. Unfortunately, neither the job nor the stability of a place to stay materialized; and by the time Mr. Price came to the Travelers Aid office at LAX, he was stranded, with no resources and no options.

After consulting with the LAX Caseworker, calls were made to Georgia to confirm that he had a place to return to and asking whether or not there was a chance of some assistance with his return home. Luckily, a friend had wired Mr. Price some money, and with that, combined with a Travelers Aid voucher for a Greyhound Bus ticket, Mr. Price now had an option to return home.

Our TASLA Caseworker gave Mr. Price some snacks for his trip, his ticket was secured, and Mr. Price’s gratitude was unbounded. Even an offer of work had come through from his old employer, a construction company in Georgia. Although Mr. Price’s luck had failed him initially, Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles, and a friend, were there for him.

Oftentimes individuals and families come to California with hopes for a better life, but they arrive without the resources and a realistic plan to see them through the rough beginnings. Without a support system, people like Mr. Price fall through the cracks of social services, and they don’t know where to turn; and that’s where Travelers Aid comes in. We have qualified, sensitive social workers who have available to them a wide array of county and private social service resources, as well as Travelers Aid’s own 80 years’ experience in getting people home and reunified with their families.

3. Johnny

I came to Hollywood from Porterville, Calif., sometime in 2004. It was a pretty messed up situation with my mother and her psycho boyfriend living together and my half-sister and her father and me living somewhere else.

My mom said she and the boyfriend were moving to Los Angeles, so I just had to say good-bye to her, because she was leaving; she’s my mom. But my sister’s father told me that if I left to go see my mother I wouldn’t be allowed to come back; the man hated my mother so much because she was a drug addict and prostituted herself to keep her and the boyfriend in the money.

Well, I decided to see her and he kicked me out. So, I took the consequences and I left Porterville with my mom and her boyfriend. We arrived at the Greyhound Bus station with enough money to live in a motel for about six months. During that time, my mom’s boyfriend became very abusive, and he started begging on the streets in order to pay for his drugs and alcohol, which got way out of control. We all got way out of control. Then, in a moment of weakness, I let my mom’s boyfriend introduce me to crystal meth. And I became addicted.

When the money ran out and there was nothing left to hock, we had to leave our hotel room. We moved from shelter to shelter and, finally, we ended up sleeping on the streets. One day I came back to our squat and found my mom’s boyfriend beating her up, he beat her up pretty bad. I got between them. I tried to stop him from hitting her by shoving a screwdriver into his neck. That did it! After that, my mom decided that she was going to stop using drugs and leave the psycho boyfriend alone, and she moved into a domestic violence shelter.

I knew some kids who’re Teen Canteen clients and they told me that I should visit Teen Canteen. They told me how it is a drop-in center for kids who don’t have any place to go. I went there the very next day. I continued to squat and to use drugs everyday, but now I had a safe place to go to and at least I could get food. Soon I started opening up to the staff at Teen Canteen. I told ‘em that I wanted to stop using drugs and to start working so that I could get my own place and get off the streets. The staff worked with me to help me stay clean and out of trouble. I became a regular workhorse around that drop-in center. I was always asking to help. I worked pulling up weeds, preparing lunch for the other clients, and trimming bushes.

I have been clean and sober now for the past eight months. And with the help of Teen Canteen staff, I’ve completed my resume and posted it on the Internet. I went on several interviews, and I even landed a couple of temporary jobs. I still go to Teen Canteen to help do odd jobs, and I try to stay connected with the staff. I even keep in contact with my mom; she lives in SRO housing Downtown. Somebody asked me how Teen Canteen has helped me. I told them, “…being there has made me a lot smarter and motivated. Teen Canteen provided a lot of support for me, and being able to get good food, do laundry, take a shower, and little odd jobs here and there, have helped me to stay clean and sober.”

5. When Children Are the Parents

Parents or guardians are supposed to be the family protectors. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, like substance abuse, sometimes the children are called upon to fill this role. Joyce, a 19-year-old woman, came to Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles to seek assistance to travel to her sister’s house in Oklahoma City, OK. Joyce was accompanied by her three-year-old daughter and 15-year-old brother.

Joyce’s mother had just passed away 14 days prior from a drug overdose. Shortly following her mother’s death, Joyce and her family were evicted from their home. Joyce had just reunited with her mother a year ago, after coming out of foster care. The only other family she had was an older sister, who is 22 and lives in Oklahoma.

A TASLA Caseworker contacted Joyce’s sister and confirmed that the family would have a place to stay with her. ’s sister was unable to assist financially toward the family’s trip to their new home, so TASLA paid for it. Joyce’s daughter had a slight cold, so the Casework Supervisor provided her with a few toys to cheer her up and to pass the time on the bus trip. TASLA not only purchased the bus tickets for Joyce’s family but provided shuttle assistance to the Greyhound station, because they had a lot of luggage and packaged food for their trip. Joyce and her family were thankful beyond description to TASLA’s staff.

The Caseworker contacted the newly resettled family the following week to follow-up. Joyce stated that she and her family had arrived safely in Oklahoma, and they were looking forward to getting settled. Joyce has a long road ahead of her, but with TASLA’s help that road was made a little easier to tread.

6. New Orleans to California to Baton Rouge

With one and a half years having passed, and nearly 2,000 miles away, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina can still be felt even in California. When 25-year old Charlotte, her fiancé, Bill, and Bill’s young son Kenny came to visit the Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles LAX Service Center, they had not eaten for three days. In the apartment for which they could not pay rent, they had had no electricity, nor running water for three months. Sleeping on mattresses on the floor, they were still waiting for FEMA assistance money. It was time to return to Louisiana and attempt to rebuild their lives, they told the LAX Caseworker.

Because there were no resources available in their home state, New Orleans could not help them. They decided to leave California and resettle in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where both had families; in fact, Charlotte’s three young children from a previous marriage were in the custody of her relatives there.

Charlotte was still suffering post-traumatic stress, not only from her own troubles, but because she’d lost a sister and two uncles when the city became 80% flooded on August 29, 2005. Luckily, she had a Greyhound ticket, supplied by her ex-husband for her eventual return; but Bill and his son had no tickets, and there was no way of buying one. First, we gave them soup and sandwiches, and coupons for McDonald’s®. Then we arranged for two Greyhound tickets for Bill and Kenny (at TASLA’s expense), gave them all tokens for MTA buses so that they could get their affairs in order before leaving Los Angeles, and then with some prepackaged food, bid them good luck. A follow-up call to Louisiana let us know that Bill’s mother said they made it back fine and she was thrilled to have her grandson back again; and she was very grateful to us.

7. Starting Over After Hurricane Rita

David fled his hometown of Houston, Texas, after the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the Gulf of Mexico, Hurricane Rita, left him homeless for two years.

The 23-year old thought he could start his life over in California, as so many Americans had done before him. Once he arrived in Los Angeles, as luck would have it, he found himself stranded and lost, since he had no support system and was without a plan. For months, David struggled with his second homelessness and, without a job and money; he was encouraged by a friend to visit Teen Canteen.

David spoke to the Program Assistant, who fed him and got him to take a shower and get some extra clothes from the Teen Canteen Free Clothes Closet, and then got him to see a Teen Canteen Case Manager for counseling, crisis intervention, and case management. What Teen Canteen does best! David explained to the Case Manager that he wanted to make things work here in California, but that he also missed his home. One day he revealed that he had left a six-year-old daughter in Texas, who was living with David’s grandmother. After an emotional counseling session, it was clear to staff that David was ready to face his responsibilities as a parent and return home to his daughter and grandmother. With that realization as a plan, we arranged for Teen Canteen to purchase David’s Greyhound Bus ticket to Texas, and he is there now starting his life over.

8. Return of a Salesman

What could possess 19-year-old Steven to leave a safe, comfortable home in Richmond, Virginia, and travel to California to be a salesman, not knowing what product he’d be selling, how much he’d be earning, or where he’d be living? It took a month for Steven to realize that he’d made a terrible mistake, that there was nothing in him, or in Los Angeles that could rectify the situation. He was stranded, he was broke, and he was hungry. Luckily, Steven had been given refuge in three excellent L.A. area homeless shelters, but he needed to get back home!

One Friday morning, after signing in with a Teen Canteen Case Manager, Steven was given breakfast, a chance to do his laundry, take a shower, and even have lunch, while receiving counseling and working our a plan to return home. Steven told staff that he had left behind a younger sister and an aunt, with whom he lived in Richmond, and his aunt wanted him back. After being reassured that Steven’s aunt would indeed take him back, we arranged for TASLA to pay 80% of Steven’s ticket to Richmond. By the following Tuesday morning, with sandwiches and something to drink, we got Steven off on the right foot home.

9. Up and down, down and out

In her late 40s, Carolyn had decided to move to Los Angeles to get away from the ups and downs of her life in Tacoma, Washington. She stayed for 27 years, visiting Washington occasionally, before losing contact with her family altogether and returning to her old lifestyle. “The years without family and a support system were very hard to deal with,” she told our Case Manager. Over time, she’d found herself back on the street, and she would eventually spend time in jail.

Upon getting out of County jail, Carolyn had a visit from her cousin Sandy, one of the few relatives Carolyn had stayed in contact with over the years. Sandy traveled to California to inform her that their grandfather had been diagnosed with cancer. By the time Sandy was able to convince Carolyn to return to Tacoma with her, their funds had dried up. Sandy contacted her own sister back home, who found our number from the Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles website. After contacting the LAX Airport Service Center, they were directed to the Teen Canteen in Hollywood, because it was logistically too much of a burden for them to travel to the Airport Service Center. With TASLA’s help, Sandy and Carolyn were able to get discounted Greyhound Bus tickets back to Tacoma.

Photos courtesy of Istockphotos.com