Troubled Kids Find Haven, Heartfelt Help at Canteen

Life on the street isn’t so bad, mused Jessica, a 19-year-old who has been homeless for the last year. “You kind of learn to deal with it.” There are friends, and good times and an independence that’s hard for a teenager to find anywhere else. On the streets of Hollywood, “every night’s a different story.”

That was what she said at first.

Only later, after relating her harrowing life story to a stranger, did Jessica (not her real name) admit that her life as a homeless teen is sometimes unbearable. Had she ever tried to kill herself? Yes, she said. When was the last time?

“Yesterday,” she said. Carefully rolling up the sleeve of her black sweatshirt, she revealed an ugly, fresh razor gash on her wrist.

If there is a positive force in Jessica’s life, it is the Teen Canteen, a drop-in center run by the Travelers Aid Society of Los Angeles. Here, just off Hollywood Boulevard, she finds safety, home-cooked food, a shower and a washing machine, used clothing, an Internet-ready computer, medical referrals and, perhaps most important, counseling toward a better life.

“Teen Canteen’s cool,” she said. “They don’t treat you like you’re lesser than them. They treat you like you’re anybody else.”

Most people know the Travelers Aid Society for its booth at Los Angeles International Airport, where volunteers help nearly a million passengers a year find transportation, lodging and other services. But the organization does much more. Founded locally in 1922, the Travelers Aid Society also provides extensive services to the homeless, both adults and teenagers.

The society received a $15,000 grant this year from the Los Angeles Times Holiday Campaign, which raises money for nonprofits in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

The money is badly needed, according to Donald Sanders, director of youth services for Travelers Aid. Donations declined after the Sept. 11 attacks, as they did for many local charities. Meanwhile, demand for services at the Teen Canteen has sharply increased. The influx of new clients more than doubled between September 2001 and this September.

The canteen’s clients, who range in age from 12 to 24, are victims of a checklist of social problems: sexual abuse, drug abuse, abandonment, homelessness, mental illness. They are, Sanders said, America’s “throwaway children.”

Many resist help, but canteen staff members are patient. Eventually, he said, most of the kids “reach a breaking point and say, ‘Help me. I’m tired of this.’ ”

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