John Thomas Travis Center
Sister Helen Travis, Founder
The John Travis Center, located in the South Bronx, is a home for men recovering from drug or alcohol addiction and transitioning back into the community. The Center provides counseling, referrals and other services. During the day, men living at the Center go to jobs, attend school or participate in recovery programs. Twice a week, they hold group meetings to discuss their progress, resolve interpersonal issues and plan household events. The normal stay for a resident is expected to be six months, but recognizing that an individual’s transition back into the community can be longer, some residents have stayed as long as three years. The Center has five apartments and 15 beds, and each resident is provided a private room. The men cooperatively maintain the building’s common areas.
The Center runs a food and clothing distribution program. Once or twice a week local people line up at 9 a.m. in front of the building’s storefront to receive clothing and food, and residents help run the food pantry by giving out 1,200 food bags a month.
Sister Helen Travis died in 2000. Dorothy Madden, her long time friend, has assumed the directorship, moved into the Center ad is running the programs.