
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, November 20, 1995                   TAG: 9511210045
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

NEWCOMER GETS BOOST TO PROVIDE BETTER CHILDHOODS THAN HIS OWN

Abraham Smith, 23, lived most of his life in inner-city Columbus, Ohio. This fall, he and his fiancee and their three children left the crime-ridden, run-down neighborhoods they were living in and moved to Roanoke. They had never been here before, he said, ``but we heard it was a good place to live. It would be a change for the better.''

So far, it has been. Smith stayed behind in Ohio for a month to earn more money for the move while his fiancee came with the children to look for work. She found a job within weeks, and soon Smith joined her.

One of his first stops was Roanoke Area Ministries. The family had saved $1,000 to pay for moving expenses, and it was enough for everything but the deposit for gas service. Smith applied for and received $75 from the Emergency Financial Assistance Program, the money for which comes from the Good Neighbors Fund. It was the first time in his life he has ever asked for help, he said, and in many ways, it hurt his pride. But his fiancee convinced him that ``sometimes a situation occurs where you have no choice.''

Smith said he hopes it will be the only assistance he will have to seek. A certified welder and cook, he also has done landscaping and maintenance work. He started looking for a job only days after he arrived.

``Opportunity is everywhere'' here, he said, and he is impressed by the kindness everyone here has shown toward him. He also likes the scenery.

``I've never seen mountains before,'' he said, laughing.

For Smith, supporting his family is a serious responsibility. His mother reared him and his siblings alone and taught him that ``she wouldn't be around to take care of us forever.''

His father was a drug addict, he said, and not very involved in his upbringing. The firsthand view he got of the life his father chose convinced him that ``I wanted something better for myself. I wanted to go out and do something for my family.''

He wants to teach his own children ``to be successful and understand that you do fail sometimes, but you don't give up.''

\ Checks made payable to the Good Neighbors Fund should be mailed to The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 1951, Roanoke, VA 24008.

Names - but not donation amounts - of contributing businesses, individuals or organizations, as well as memorial and honorific designations, will be listed in the newspaper. Those requesting that their names not be used will remain anonymous. If no preference is stated, the donor's name will be listed.

by CNB