For 5 Homeless Families, There’s Room at the Inn

It has been a tough year for Everett Miller. He lost two jobs and two homes and struggled unsuccessfully to extricate two of his children from foster care, the result of a nasty split with his wife.

He lived in his car at one point, until the vehicle was impounded. Since early December, Miller and his two other children have been sleeping on friends’ couches and living in motels, certain they would be homeless for the holidays.

But on Tuesday, with all their belongings packed into four large duffel bags, the family moved into a spacious room at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Camarillo, their home for the next two weeks.

The hotel has made room for the Millers and four other families as part of a program that gives the homeless a place to stay and perhaps a fresh start over the holidays.

“It’s awesome what they are doing for me and my kids,” said Miller, 35, an unemployed telecommunications technician who arrived with daughter Marissa, 10, and son Jacob, 7.

“We’ve all been through this physical, financial and emotional rollercoaster in the past year,” Miller said. “Something like this coming up is just a blessing.”

The effort was launched last year by Alan Hurd, the hotel’s general manager. Hurd had run a similar program at a Las Vegas hotel and tapped local Chamber of Commerce and United Way officials to duplicate the effort in Ventura County.

In conjunction with the United Way and the county’s Human Services Agency, Hampton Inn provided rooms free of charge to three families last year. This year, five families are being treated to a two-week stay.

In addition, community groups and local businesses are providing meals, job interviews, legal help and an array of personal services, such as haircuts and makeovers.

Efforts also will be made to find permanent housing for the families.

And on Christmas Day, the children will select from a pile of presents contributed by community members and arranged under a glittering tree in the hotel’s lobby.

“That’s probably one of the best things; we get to see a smile on the faces of the families that come in,” Hurd said. “We want to do something that makes a little bit of a difference.”

For some families, the difference can be huge. Karol Schulkin, head of the county’s homeless services programs, said a landlord stepped forward last year to provide one family with a permanent place to live. The landlord waived the deposit on a Camarillo-area apartment. And when the apartment wasn’t ready by the time their hotel stay ended, Hampton Inn allowed the family to stay a few extra days.

“It’s like for these two magical weeks, the community wraps its arms around these people,” Schulkin said. “We are hoping this will capture the imagination of some other kind hotel manager down the road, and maybe next year we’ll have two wonderful homes for the holidays.”

Nichole Lutton and husband Steve Castner hope the program brings some life-changing opportunities. But they say they will be just as thankful for the little things they will receive, like the chance to live together again.

Lutton, 25, who has been homeless off and on for several years, has been living since the summer at her parents’ Simi Valley house, sharing a cramped, one-bedroom space with her three children. Castner has been staying with a friend.

For the next two weeks, they will be able to live as a family again. And the children -- ages 6 months to 5 years -- will receive a holiday celebration that Lutton and Castner would not have been able to provide.

“My kids will get the Christmas they deserve, and I’ll get some of the help I need,” said Lutton, who hopes to find a job during her stay. “I think this is excellent. I mean for those families that just can’t afford anything and really need the help, it’s a great way to get your life back together.”