Selma has always been Nancy Travis’ home, and she simply wouldn’t have it any other way. Her friends are here, she grew up here and she’s had a successful career here.

Actually, she’s had two.

Travis, who is the executive director of S.A.B.R.A. sanctuary, a nonprofit organization that serves clients of domestic violence and sexual assault in Dallas, Perry and Wilcox counties, also serves a travel agent at The Travel Shop. She loves doing both, because in very different ways — wearing many different hats — she’s able to help people improve their lives and be happier.

It’s clear that Travis’ roots in Selma are very deep. At 16, her first job was at Bush Hog and now she’s very involved in the community and her church, St. Paul’s Episcopal.

She never really gave moving somewhere else much thought.

“This is home. My children are happy and their roots are here. My family and my friends are what keep me going,” Travis said.

Like many in Selma, it’s the people — long time friends and former classmates — that keeps her love for her hometown so strong.

“I go to the beach a lot because my daughter lives there, and I go to different places because of my job, but I always love coming back to Selma because of my friends and my family,” Travis said.

In her spare time, she enjoys trying to find long-lost friends on Facebook, and through the years she has been able to reconnect with many of them.

“That has been great,” Travis said. “We just found one, and he came to Selma and we had lunch. I hadn’t seen him for a long, long time and it was great catching up with him. [I enjoy] reuniting with old friends and talking to them.”

She also enjoys reading, but her work keeps her occupied most of the time. Through S.A.B.R.A, she does everything she can to help those affected by domestic violence.

“Our biggest pleasure is when [a woman] comes back and says ‘I’m not going back. What can I do to get out of this situation?’” Travis said.

In her travel business, she plans honeymoons, vacations and helps families get to their dream destinations. She’s visited many of the locations she sends clients to, having seen a lot of the world traveling for her jobs and because her father was in the Air Force. Yet, none of them match up with Selma, a hometown she continues to have a lot of pride in.

“We have a lot of beautiful homes, beautiful buildings and I’m glad to see that downtown Selma is slowly getting revitalized,” Travis said. “Back in the 1960s and 1970s it was wonderful, and I’m glad to see some of the empty buildings filled again.”