VAN NUYS, LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Jenni Alpert is a singer/songwriter that also goes by her birth name Cami. She was adopted at 4-years-old after being in the foster care system, and didn't know much about her birth family
"I was always curious where I came from. What were my genetics? Who did I look like? Who did I sound like? How was it that I could play music?" Cami says. She later found out that her biological mother passed away before she had the chance to meet her but legal documents from her adoption case gave her birth father's name, Don Logsdon so eventually she decided to look for him to see if he was still alive.
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"The kind of lifestyle that I lived was I would earned my money as a poker player, bought drugs, and played guitar and did all that kind of stuff running from the law until I would get caught," Don says. Cami knew about her birth father's drug use and time in and out of prison yet when she finally found him in 2016, he was homeless running from the law. After spending time getting to know him and evaluating the safety of the situation, she decided to become his advocate, shadowing his every process to help him through his unfinished probation and establish a life that was healthier and safer for him.
"In 2016 I had a chance to abandon that life ... had an opportunity to get to know my daughter... well that was the only reason I abandoned that life," Logsdon says. "Not because I didn't like living that way but because of her." Don chose to live a homeless lifestyle since he was 8-years-old because he felt best when he was living outdoors.
Along their journey together, Cami and Don discovered Hope of the Valley Help Center in Van Nuys and used some of the services like temporary transitional sober living housing, hot lunch meals, and day showers while assimilating Don into a new way of life. With the help of his daughter and the support of Hope of the Valley, Don finished his probation and is now by law a free man. Today they perform and share their biological reunion story together and Don speaks about homelessness and the new relationship he has with his biological daughter while they play music together.
(source: abc7: https://abc7.com/family/valley-woman-finds-homeless-father-and-now-make-music-together/5292884/ | Description of interview with community reporter Gabriela Milian | content and links added.
Hope of the Valley Rescue Mission is committed to helping move people out of homelessness. For this reason, we provide shelter during the day time hours, along with a computer center, case management, recovery services, life skills, and support classes to all guests. They are currently in need of housing / beds in the San Fernando Valley for the flux of clients they are seeing that fall over the age of sixty. To get involved in anyway click here.
Read more on Cami and Don's biological reunion and transformation story here (source: Groknation, edited by Mayim Bialik).
