Below right, Martha Rodriguez and her daughters Adrianna, top, Chrissie and baby Rachel are clients at the Georgia Travis Center, which hopes to build a new playground to give kids like Richard Vega and Chrissie Rodriguez, right, a place to play.

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Getting families back on their feet
DONATIONS WILL HELP BUILD KIDS AN INDOOR PLAYGROUND

when Martha Rodriguez goes to the Georgia Travis Center in San Jose, all three of her daughters tag along, but each one for a different reason. Little Rachel, who is just 9 months old, rides on her mom's hip. Chrissie, 3, bounds ahead looking for other kids her age. Adrianna, 12, helps out with the smaller children and talks about becoming a volunteer one day.

The Georgia Travis Center is a daytime drop-in center that serves at-risk and homeless women and their children. It's just one of the programs of InnVision of San Jose that are aimed at getting parents and families back on their feet. There's a clothing bank, free meals, showers, health care, job training and programs for kids. Martha, 33, is thankful for all of them.

``Last year around this time, I became homeless after I lost my job,'' Martha says. She and her children stayed at the InnVision shelter for three months. ``They helped me out with clothes, we had lunch, and they played in the little kindergarten area. I took different classes. They even help you with your résumé.''

Martha is working hard to find an accounts-receivable and billing job, which is what she did before being laid off. Financial help from her cousin is keeping the family going now, but just barely, she says. Coming to the Georgia Travis Center for meals three times a week helps, and so does the day care there, which she uses while she is job hunting.

``These things can make a real difference in a person's life,'' she says.

This year, the Georgia Travis Center moved into a converted 20,000-square-foot warehouse that used to house a Seven-Up bottling plant. It's a nice, big space, but it lacks a playground. Equipment used at the old location doesn't meet current safety standards.

``It would be helpful to have a playground because when mothers are in class, the kids would have a place to do things they love,'' says Martha, who must look for work and raise three kids on her own since the girls' father is not in the picture. ``They only have a few toys for the kids to play with, and they can get 25 kids there at one time.''

A new indoor playground would cost $17,000. The Junior League of San Jose has committed $2,500 to the project. Each donation of $50 (30A) can help make up the difference.