A couple of Travelers Aid Success Stories...

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.

 

Franny, a young mother, and her two young sons, Eric and Alex, ages 1 and 2½, were stranded in Los Angeles. They were en route from Vallejo, California, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Franny had a new job and an apartment waiting for her in that historic, multicultural city along the Mississippi. But Franny’s bag got stolen; in it were the Greyhound tickets for her and the boys, and all of her money.  Distraught and with nowhere to turn, Franny contacted her family; however, things have been tough in California, and no one had any ready cash to send her. She was stranded from 6:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., until a stranger in the station gave her some coins and suggested that she call Travelers Aid Society. She found our number in the phone book at the Greyhound Station and called us.  Robin Hendershot, our Caseworker at LAX, asked Franny to come to our office. "We would work together and see what we could do for her," Robin said. By the time Franny reached LAX from Downtown, the office had closed. The Lead Volunteer on duty contacted the Casework Supervisor, who was on-call, and obtained authorization to issue Franny a hotel voucher for the night and some food vouchers.  Franny came to see Robin the next day. At first, she had no solutions to her predicament. "I don’t know what to do," she cried. Robin began to make some calls to local charities, to see if they might donate part of her fare to Baton Rouge and Travelers Aid would make up the difference. When it became apparent that things weren’t going to work out, Franny suggested that Robin call her church, the Revival Center, back in Vallejo. "I’ve been going there and putting money into their collection boxes for years," she said proudly. Together Robin and Franny tracked down the church’s telephone number. Sure enough, a woman in the accounting department remembered Franny. After Robin explained Franny’s situation, the church offered to pay the entire fare for her and the boys to continue on to Baton Rouge.   After Robin issued a voucher for new Greyhound tickets, based on the arrangement with the church, and tokens to get back Downtown to Greyhound, Franny and the boys then boarded a bus that evening. Today, the Alex and Eric are safely in their new home with a babysitter and Franny is at work at her new job.