St. Louis Bound

Instant Family

(LAX)--Talk about instant family.  One day back in May, LAX Caseworker Emily Kelly was contacted by Andy Matlock of the Los Angeles County Department of Children & Family Services.  Andy was requesting TASLA’s assistance in paying for two children’s airline tickets to St. Louis :  Eight-year-old Archie and his two-year-old brother, Calvin (names used are not their real names).

   Emily explained to Andy that this isn’t something TASLA normally does; TASLA usually goes the Greyhound Bus route.  But she hadn’t heard the whole story.  Andy was working with Claire, [1] a 55-year-old woman whose daughter, Shirley, [2] due to the misfortunes of life, could no longer take care of her four children and a grandchild.  Shirley’s husband had long since given up his own paternal responsibilities and signed away his custody.  The two older children (one of whom had a baby) were already wards of the State, and Archie and Calvin were both headed for the same destiny.  Whereas her daughter Shirley could not see that her “children are the anchors that hold a mother to life,” Claire had no difficulty in doing what needed to be done. [3]   If she didn’t want her those children to be split up and scattered within the “system,” Claire had no choice but to come to Los Angeles and to take them back with her to St. Louis.

   Once she was awarded custody of her grandchildren, her next problem was how she was going to get them to St. Louis .  The wards of the State had their tickets paid for, but Archie and Calvin had no tickets and Claire had no more money left.  Who was going to help the boys get to St. Louis ?

    Normally, Emily would have put her client on a Greyhound Bus without blinking an eye, but if she’d done that for Archie and Calvin, they’d have to be placed in foster care until Claire and her other two grandchildren could meet them in St. Louis .  Emily knew the importance of a support system when caring for children; that it was important to keep everyone together; that moving cross-country was stressful enough, and having everyone broken up would be counterproductive.  She explained TASLA services and the Agency’s use of inexpensive ground transportation to Andy and said she would need to contact headquarters regarding covering the cost of airline tickets.  It was not a done deal.  She also had to find low fares on AmericaWest® Airlines and had to work to arrange everyone’s tickets to ensure they could all travel at one time. Because it was past the end of the business day, Emily could only leave a voice mail for the Administrative Director and reassured Andy Matlock and his supervisor Gladys McCampbell that she would advocate for TASLA to pay for tickets.

   The next morning, headquarters grasped the tenuous nature of the situation, and Emily got approval for spending the “not-limitless funds,” and the tickets were purchased.  Thanks to the patience and cooperation of the Dept of Children & Family Services, of AmericaWest® Airlines, Calvin and Archie, as well as Claire and her new instant family, were on their way to St. Louis and a new life.

    --Mark Zipoli with Emily Kelly

Paul Dinletir:

A Friend of Teen Canteen

( Hollywood )-- It often happens in literature, where someone steps off a train or knocks on the front door or bumps into someone on the street and things begin to get better.  Once in a while, that out-of-the-blue gallantry happens to our youth services program, Teen Canteen.  Paul Dinletir , a music composer for film and television, just stopped by.  Because he often includes Gower Street in his morning jog, he happened to notice our clients lined up outside the Gower Street facility waiting for Teen Canteen to open.  He had helped homeless kids individually, but here was a place dedicated to helping hundreds of homeless youths. 

    TASLA Executive Director Paul Hollombe described his first (Sept. 17) meeting with Dinletir:  “He just wanted to give something back to the community.  He wanted to help feed hungry kids…and he wanted to inspire them by his own example--he was once a homeless youth himself.  The simplicity of his inquiry was touching.  He asked, ‘How can I help?’”

    Having studied film scoring at UCLA Extension, composition and performance at the Grove School of Music, Dinletir has also studied classical piano at Glendale College and jazz piano at the Eubanks Conservatory.  Currently composing for the Cartoon Network’s hit show, “Samurai Jack,” and for TNT’s “Worst Case Scenario,” Dinletir has also scored “Beyond the Glory,” [1] “Life in the ER,” [2] “Ascent on G2,” [3] and a film score for “Mind Games.” [4]   His original compositions for movie trailers include “Panic Room,” “Black Hawk Down,” “Behind Enemy Lines,” Rush Hour 2,” “Atlantis,” “Erin Brockovich,” “The Cider House Rules,” and “Universal Soldier.”

   Dinletir has donated clothing (new and used), food, and money.  He would like to see Teen Canteen opened on weekends once again (it’s been almost 8 years since we could afford to stay open on weekends).  When the staff at Teen Canteen were planning for the annual Thanksgiving Day dinner, Dinletir stepped in to assist with Thanksgiving expenses and with the annual (December) Holiday Party for Clients, and with other expenses incurred in providing food at the drop-in center.  Paul is a true friend in need for Teen Canteen.

--Mark Zipoli

 

(Pictured above: L-R Jill Carlano, Paul Dinletir, Ebony Tolliber, Paul Hollombe.)

Volunteers Are Busy!

Hotel Referrals &

Crisis Intervention

(LAX)--When travelers need quick referrals to local area hotels, they come to the Travelers Aid booth at any one of the nine arrival terminals in the airport.  Our volunteers made 20,324 hotel referrals from July 2003 to June 2004.  With an average room cost of $60, we directed nearly $1.2 million in revenue to hotels/motels in the LAX vicinity.  Additionally, during the previous fiscal year, TASLA-LAX opened 484 new, unduplicated cases for individuals and families in need of crisis intervention services from a social caseworker.  Of those cases, 43 involved minor children.  We salute our Volunteers for their outstanding service!