The Wilmington morning star. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1909-1990, 1944-02-02
(CONTRIBUTED)

needs OF persons who find them
selves in difficulty when away from
home. Sometimes these difficulties
have their origin in the individu-
ais own personality; sometimes
they relate to his anxiety about
those he has left behind in his
home city; sometimes they arise
from his being stranger in new
community. Their problems are
varied but the common factor
which governs service to them is
their status as strangers faced with
a situation demanding prompt at
tention.
The normal Travellers Aid Pro-
gram provides individual social
case work service, travel service,
and information and direction serv-
ice. Although the basic pattern of
Travellers Aid functinoing has re-
manned fairly flexible adaptation
of services to meet new needs dur
ing periods of national social re-
adjustment. Each period Of mi
grafton has necessitated certain
shifts in program in order that
current needs might be effectively
met.
Recently Travellers Aid Services
have been expanded to meet the
needs of a moving population at
war. The movement of people re-
sulting from the national defense
and war emergency has called for
increased Travellers Aid Services
at points where Travellers Aid So
cieties already existed. In addition,
because Of military encampments
and war production centers or a
combination of both, new concen-
trations of people have converged
on small communities which were
wholly unprepared to deal with the
many problems thus created for
them.
Travellers Aid Societies and the
National Travellers Aid Association,
as a member of United Service
Organization, accepted this in
creased responsibility because of
long experience in assisting NOV
ing people and because of the stra-
tegic location of Travellers Aid
intake points in transportation ter
minals.
Individual members Of armed
forces, in transit, may have either
simple or sometimes fairly COM
pick social problems for which
they request the help of a Travel
ers Aid worker. For example, a
service man who loses his money
or railroad ticket, and is under
pressure to return to camp on
time, often turns to Travellers Aid
for prompt assistance with his
problem. If the social problem is
volved is one requiring case work
service which can be completed in
one contact, and is not one in
which the special technical serv-
ices of the Red Cross are needed,
it may be met by USO-Travelers
Aid. 81.
The Travellers Aid worker has
access to military special services
personnel, chaplains, Red Cross
workers, and others within the mil
itary area for consultation and CO.
operation, when these are indicat-
ed, in behalf of an individual serv-
ice man.
Families and friends of service
men visit or move to new COM
munities to live near military
posts. AS newcomers, their needs
for Travellers Aid Services may
be very real. In some instances,
their problems may become a
source of anxiety to a service man
and can affect directly or indirect
ly his military functioning. Such
problems as insufficient funds,
need for employment, emergency
medical care, lack of recreational
facilities, are among those present.
ed by the civilian associated with
the military personnel. Careful at
tention to their needs serves to
allay concern which might be Diet
rimental to the service mans ad-
justment to military regime.
War production workers some.
times double or triple the popula-
ton of community. While broad
and extensive plans for their well
fare in such matters as housing,
group recreation and working con-
ditions are the major concern OF
specific governmental and private
social agencies, the men, women
and their families who constitute
the war production group, often
have individual problems or family
problems with which they may
need help. Sometimes they may
be simply in need of help in ad-
justing to new and strange sur
roundings; sometimes they may
need help in meeting emotional
problems which arise unexpected
ly in all human experience and, al
other times, they may simply need
a friendly, interested listener te
whom the may talk, in confidence,
before today's little problem be.
comes tomorroW's big one. TRAY.
elers Aid offers individual help in
meeting these situations to war
production workers as an import.
ant part Of its service to the com.
munity, just as it offers this serv.
ice to soldiers and their families.
Information and Direction Serv.