Client Success Stories

Stories of Real Life, Taken from the Case Files of Travelers Aid Society Caseworkers.

Johnny.  19 years old.  (Johnny’s name was changed to preserve confidentiality.)

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.”

In search of a new direction in his life, Mr. Price (not his real name) 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, Candace Slade, 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. Candace 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.

[The client’s name has been changed to preserve confidentiality.]

For some people, traveling by air can sometimes be fraught with mishaps, and for those who have medical conditions, it can be nightmarish. For Larry Lindo, leaving Florida for a new life in Hawaii, after recuperating from open heart surgery, starting fresh was complicated by being diagnosed as bipolar and having acute anxiety disorder. His flight across the continental U.S. was marred by a nightmare-size anxiety attack, which he countered by over-medicating himself. Consequently, he missed his connecting flight here in Los Angeles. He was desperate, agitated, and unstable.  That’s when Larry asked Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles for help at our LAX office. Our caseworker, Candace Slade, learned from Larry that the airline was completely unsympathetic to his problem; his missed flight was not their fault, and they would not reissue him a replacement ticket due to the conditions of its original purchase. Candace discovered how long Larry had been sleeping at the airport (three days), and she quickly advocated on his behalf to get him reinstated into the airline’s good graces. It took Candace three more days to get Larry finally rebooked on a Honolulu-bound flight; however, after he’d checked in, it was discovered that he was on the wrong flight, and he had to be removed from the plane. His bags, however, went on across the Pacific. Larry was frustrated and panicking and went back to the TASLA office. Candace did all she could to keep Larry calm and focused, in spite of the growing difficulty of the situation.  Candace then contacted the airline in Honolulu to explain Larry’s luggage dilemma. She requested that the baggage tags be corrected so that he could claim them when he finally arrived. Then, after working with the airline in Georgia, Larry’s original carrier, Candace was able to secure a free ticket, courtesy of the Airline’s station manager, and a night’s stay in a hotel, since his flight to Hawaii was the following morning.  TASLA’s social worker helped him with advocacy, some basic necessities, and the hope and assurance that things would turn out all right. They did.