Student’s Plight Stirs Widespread Support : Assistance: Freshman was earning A’s and Bs despite living on the streets. Classmates and teachers respond with help, saying he has unified the school.

On Thanksgiving Day, Chris Linden helped serve food to some of the city’s homeless at the Orange Coast Interfaith Shelter. Less than a month ago, the 14-year-old could have been one of those being fed.

A freshman at Estancia High School, Chris lived in a shelter, a series of motels, his mother’s van and, finally, on the streets for nearly five months until other students, hearing of his plight, rallied to help him.

His story touched the hearts of teachers, counselors, residents and local officials, who responded with offers of housing, clothing, food and, just as important, encouragement and support.

“This has really unified the school,” said counselor Carolyn Crockett, who let Chris stay at her home for a few days. “It gave them a chance to experience what it feels like to do something good for someone else.”

Chris and his mother came to Orange County in July from Independence, a small farming town in Northern California, after she split up with his stepfather.

They first went to the Interfaith Shelter in Costa Mesa, which offers a 60-day training and job placement program to help people in transition get back on their feet. But his mother did not find work, and when the program ended, the two were on the streets.

Chris enrolled at Estancia, went to classes and tried to keep up, doing his homework wherever he happened to be for the night: sometimes in a motel room, more often in his mom’s 1984 van. He still managed to get A’s and Bs.

In October, his mother could no longer care for him. Crockett let Chris stay at her home until a Superior Court judge put him under the care of the county. While he was at the county’s Orangewood Children’s Home, a shelter for abused and neglected children, his mother disappeared.

Meanwhile, Estancia juniors Melissa Inouye and Chris Johnson, reporters for the high school newspaper, El Aguila , learned of his situation and wrote about it. When their story appeared, the community’s response was quick and generous.

A resident sent $500 to the school to help buy Chris food and clothing. Students put up posters to let the community know about his crisis. A school secretary bought him an entire wardrobe.

“We gave a little push, and the ball started rolling,” said Chris Johnson, 16.

When he returned to school after two weeks at Orangewood, students turned out in force to welcome Crhis back.

Melissa, 16, explained the response this way: “When you see someone that wants to live the American dream and wasn’t given a fair shot, it’s great to be able to help.”

Students collected nearly 300 signatures on a petition urging county social service agencies to expedite Chris’ case so that he can go to a permanent foster home quickly.

County Supervisor William G. Steiner, hearing the story, instructed his staff to make sure the petition papers were properly filed.

As a result, hearings on Chris’ case will be this week, Crockett said, which means that Chris could be in a permanent foster home before Christmas.

Chris, who is with a foster family temporarily, said: “I feel like I owe my life to this community.”