Evening star., 1938-03-06
TRANSIENT girls in Washington

/ TRANSIENT girls IN WashlngtOn-
here seeking jobs--stranded while
passing through-runaways from home
-penniless or with little money
are Just as safe as they want to be-
Help in obtaining work, a comfortable
bed at a price she can afford or free
II she has no funds, even transporta-
ton home if necessary-all are at her
disposal.
All that is necessary for the girl
who wants to be safe is that she get
in touch with the Travellers Aid So
ciety. either at the Union Station or
at its headquarters, 6l2 E street NV.
And whether she intends to get in
touch with this organization or not
the girl-especially II she is very
young-is liable to find herself talk
ing to keen-eyed we'll dressed young
woman. trained to spot these girls in
a crowd
One reason why the Travellers Aid
Society worker is able to immediately
gain the confidence of the young
stranger is that she is not typed"
She wears no uniform. If you look
closely you will see the small Travellers
Aid badge pinned to her dress.
Mrs. Margaret Ford. executive sec
retary Of the Travellers Aid Society,
picks her girls with the greatest of
care. They must be members of the
American Association of Social Work
ers." she explains This means that
they must have had four years at
college and an extra two years at an
accredited school for social work. as
membership in the A. A. S. w. means
the same to the social worker as men,
bership in the medical society means
to the young doctor.
Most of our workers are COM
paratively young. We found, early in
the establishment of this organization
in Washington, that younger woman
seemed to fare better in any attempt
to gain the confidence Of people in
trouble, whatever the cause OF course,
you know that our work is by no means
confined to transient girls-or to girls
and women generally, for that matter
We help boys and men and little chill
dren as well. It might interest you
to know that the Travellers Aid So
ciety in Washington last year gave
some form of service to more than
$4,000 persons of all ages and facing
all sorts of trouble from the simple
matter of finding suitable room up
to the loss of all money and tickets.
These included runaway girls and boys,
old people travelling alone, few
mental cases, unmarried girls about to
become mothers and others too numer-
GUS to mention"
MISS BEATRICE HoDGsoN, as
~ sistant to Mrs. Ford, was author
ity for the statement that about 100
transient girls are interviewed by the
Travellers Aid Society monthly. Some
of them" she explained, come here
in the false hope that the Government
offers jobs for all who may apply. but
they are few. Some of them have
managed to get jobs here. but these
jobs have proven temporary and they
are finally out of funds. Some appeal
to the Y. W. c. A. and are referred
here, although a girl who applies to
the "Y" late at night and tells
straight story is never turned away.
She is kept for the night and sent to
us the next day. The "Y" co-operates
by furnishing rooms for girls at a very
small cost to our organization"
DO girls really sleep in the Union
Station? Do they 60 on the street
because they can get no help?" Miss
Hodgson was asked
"No girl sleeps in the Union Station"
was the emphatic answer. I'm the
first place, we have worker on duty
every hour of the "a and she would be
quick to notice if girl fingered too
long in the station. In the next place |
the station officials have very keen eyes |
for any person attempting to use the
station as lodging house and no girl
could sleep there very long without
being turned over to us. As to those
who go on the street. can't say. If
they take that way out, they do so
without our knowledge, because every
policeman. almost every cab driver,
knows about the Travellers Aid, and
would see that they got in touch with
U.s."
How about young girls travelling
alone, who might be approached by a
man on the train?" Miss Hodgson was
asked.
We meet many Of The trains" was