Bobbi Payne
Director of Residential Services for the BWCS
By Charles Arriaga, Incite Blogger
While waiting to interview Bobbi Payne, Director of Residential Services for the Battered Women and Children’s Shelter (BWCS), the receptionist Lourdes, was so excited about a mother cat that had just given birth to her kittens. It was a sign of a new life that signaled a new beginning at a facility designed just for that purpose. In 1977, Anne Whitehead, a local social worker, along with Reverend Don Baugh began the very first San Antonio Battered Women’s Shelter with $400 in a 3 bedroom house. As services and public awareness increased they moved to a bigger facility. While the BWCS was dealing with its growing pains in 1988 a pregnant teenager, Bobbi Payne, a senior at Salmen High School in Slidell, Louisiana, decided not to walk the stage at her graduation due to the negativity of becoming a statistic.
Bobbi, an only child born to parents whose occupations in Alexandria, VA were a hairdresser in Washington DC, who later went back to school at the age of 47 to become a nurse and her father who lived in Florida refinishing boats. Her parents busy work schedules left her grandparents to raise her. She said her grandfather was a great male role model for her. He served 33 years in the Army, valued education and loved to read. At the age of 15, Bobbi’s mother moved them to Slidell, Louisianan to begin a new life. After some time, Bobbi began dating Brian a person she never married but still calls him, her BFF. She met Brian in Mrs. Stubb’s Advanced Placement class. Bobbi remembers Mrs. Stubb’s telling Brian that “I was trouble and to stay away from her”. Bobbie soon became pregnant and determined to beat the odds, Bobbi’s plan was to graduate and start attending college after graduation. While Bobbi’s mom moved back to Virginia in 1987, due to financial problems, Bobbi stayed behind and took up residence with some friends from high school. She didn’t last long, due to her friend’s parents not approving of Bobbi’s teen-age pregnancy.
Bobbi, pregnant and now homeless, found a church parking lot on the outskirts of town to park her car at. She figured that she was far enough off the main road that no one would take notice. She spent the next two weeks calling the non-denominational church parking lot home. Parishioners Roy and Judy Boasso took Bobbi in. After the birth of Lauren, Bobbi found a part-time job as a cashier at a local food store and began attending The University of New Orleans (UNO), it wasn’t easy. She got by on a part-time job along with government programs WIC, Food Stamps, AFDC and $350 monthly from her grandparents. Brian was still in the picture but soon moved away and would help out whenever he could. After graduating from UNO in 1998 with a Liberal Arts degree Bobbi and Lauren moved to South America so she could teach English to the Chileans. After 2 years she moved to Washington D.C. and took a job working as a Case Manager at The Coalition for the Homeless and became an advocate for the Spanish speaking.
The events of September 11th hit too close to home for Bobbi. She was working in her office on 9th Road North in Arlington, less than a mile away from the Pentagon, when the attack occurred. She decided that same day to start making preparations to look for another location to raise her daughter. Even though she had no job lined up, Bobbi and Lauren moved in April 2002 to San Antonio. When I asked why she chose SA, she replied, “It was an ideal choice. First, we already had family living here; Second, San Antonio is very Spanish friendly; and Third, we have the best Mexican food”. Two weeks after moving here, she answered a want ad in the newspaper for a Case Manager at the BWCS. After securing the job, she decided to continue her education and started attending UTSA enrolling in the schools first ever Social Work program. In between family, work and school, she managed to have her second daughter, Kalipse. Working at the BWCS during the day and attending school at night Bobbi graduated in 2007 with a Masters degree in Social Work. Around that same time, President & CEO of Family Violence Prevention Services, Inc., Marta B. Palaez, tapped Bobbi to become the Special Projects Coordinator. In 2008, Bobbi was chosen to become the Director of Residential Services for the BWCS, a position Bobbi still maintains today. A goal she is working towards is to incorporate a clinical practice that focuses on mental and substance abuse issues. When asked how she spends her free time she replied, “Taking after my grandfather, I love reading and traveling”. She remains very busy these days with the BWCS, her daughter Kalipse now in elementary school and daughter Lauren now a senior at UTSA planning to become a teacher after graduation.
