Airport Experience® News - Customer Service Issue 2024

he’d like to create something akin to the Homeboy Cafe, according to Dr. Alvin Brown, president of GTMS. The idea excited Brown. “I have a PhD in Urban Affairs and Public Administration, so I’m really focused on that kind of research,” adds Brown. He told Buchanan he was interested in creating “a social entrepreneurship model” where they could not just bring awareness to one of the area’s most-pressing issues – homelessness – but provide an active solution through their concept. Brown turned to fellow DFW concessionaire Ronnie Harris of R.S. Harris LLC , who connected Brown and Buchanan with Dr. David Woody, president and CEO of The Bridge homeless recovery and housing support nonprofit. When Harris and Brown toured The Bridge’s downtown Dallas campus and learned of the organization’s comprehensive approach to supporting unhoused locals, “they were blown away,” says Woody. As Brown and Harris returned with Buchanan to meet with Woody, “they were particularly moved by the fact that here in Dallas, because of the issues of systemic racism, 63% of the folks we serve who are homeless in this community are African American,” says Woody. The goal became to directly address the pervasive poverty and homelessness that impacted the community, Woody says, noting that the group then “looked at this as a social entrepreneurship experience: What’s the problem? Can we plan to have an impact? How do we prioritize our resources? Can we craft a prototype of what this might look like, and then pursue it?” The prototype, made possible through a joint venture between GTMS and R.S. Harris LLC called GTMS RS Harris LLC, is now The Bridge Travel Essentials store located in Terminal A. The store, which opened in December 2023, donates 5

percent of its gross sales to The Bridge and also employs formerly homeless clients through Bridge partner and employment services organization Upspire , allowing The Bridge “to continue its mission to provide every homeless man and woman with the tools necessary to become self sufficient,” says DFW’s vice president of concessions Zenola Campbell. Travelers can also learn about the organization’s mission through video content and QR codes throughout the store. The Bridge Travel Essentials Store’s combination of a licensing agreement, employment opportunity and awareness campaign “creates that synergy between profit and nonprofit,” says Brown – a relationship “which is usually counter intuitive,” he adds. In just under a year, the store has already been able to make two payments of $50,000 to the organization. “Who would have ever thought that in working at a homeless shelter, we would be on the forefront of Terminal A at DFW International Airport? To be able to stand back and watch folks coming into the store and asking questions, where we can give them information about what The Bridge is, how they can contribute – it’s amazing,” says Woody. “It’s one thing to get 5 percent of store gross receipts. It’s another thing to be able to track, as a result of folks coming into the store, how they’re also moved to make a direct donation to the organization.”

Above: The Paper Planes Cafe at Vancouver International Airport equips individuals with diverse abilities with the skills and experience needed to thrive in the mainstream workforce.

YVR’s Approach Employing members of the local community has also been a key tenet of the Paper Planes Café, which opened in 2023 at Vancouver International Airport (YVR). A collaboration between YVR and Vancouver’s Pacific Autism Family Network (PAFN), the Paper Planes Café equips individuals with diverse abilities with the skills and experience needed to thrive in the mainstream workforce, says Alyssa Smith, manager of communications at YVR. “The partnership between Vancouver International Airport and the Pacific Autism Family Network began in 2021 with a shared vision to make travel more accessible and enjoyable for all, regardless of ability,” says Smith. “The result ... is a multi year agreement with YVR contributing $100,000 annually over each of five years.” “One of the key outcomes of the PAFN YVR relationship was the idea to create meaningful, living-wage employment opportunities for members of the neurodiverse community,” Smith adds,

Opposite page: The Bridge Travel Essentials Store at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport donates 5% of its gross sales to The Bridge, a homeless recovery and housing support non-profit. The airport location also employs formerly homeless clients.

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AX NEWS OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2024