Summer Camp Campaign: Siblings eagerly await fun outdoors

They have a car, but no home. On a recent night they slept inside their vehicle after a dinner of Cup Noodles that they microwaved at a local 7-Eleven.

“I try not to serve instant noodles if possible,” said Jillian Smith, the mother of two girls and one boy. “But sometimes that’s all I can afford, and it keeps us warm when the night is cold.”

This family of four has undergone some drastic changes within the last five years. Smith and her three children — Xavier, 13, Cheyenne, 12, and Victoria, 8 — fled their hometown in Florida for California because of domestic abuse. Since then, they’ve encountered one problem after another.

After moving to another apartment complex in January after their previous residence burned down, Smith said, the bank foreclosed on the owner and locked the tenants out.

She said the family has been homeless ever since as they fight the bank for the right to return home.

“It’s hard. And I get angry a lot sometimes,” Cheyenne said. “I cry a lot.”

After school, the kids participate in a program run by Keep Youth Doing Something (KYDS), a nonprofit organization that provides free activities for low-income children, while Smith studies at Pierce College in Woodland Hills to earn her sociology degree.

All three children are in high spirits because in July they’ll be going to Santa Barbara County’s Los Padres National Forest to attend Camp Whittier through a scholarship provided by KYDS. They talk excitedly about the hiking, archery and zip-lining they plan to do.

“For them to get a different scenery from what they’ve been dealing with will give them a little more hope,” Smith said. “Right now all they can see is what’s in front of them, and the question of ‘is this going to keep happening, are we ever going to get out of this cycle?’ When you see other things, you open your eyes and you can look at more than what is the immediate. You can look into the future and hope for something better.”

Smith said hope and faith are what have kept her strong throughout her ordeal. The children have learned from their mother. Xavier hopes to go to Stanford and become a pilot, while Cheyenne wants to attend Yale or Harvard and become a forensic scientist or the first surgeon to cure cancer.

“I think it’s important to have hope and never give up on your dreams,” Xavier said. “No matter how bad things are.”

Through the generosity of Times readers, along with a match by the McCormick Foundation, more than $1.6 million was granted last year by the Los Angeles Times Summer Camp Campaign.

The Summer Camp Campaign, part of the Los Angeles Times Family Fund, a McCormick Foundation Fund, supports programs that provide thousands of Southern California’s at-risk children ages 7-17 with enriching, educational and fun camp experiences.

Donations are tax-deductible as permitted by law and matched at 50 cents on the dollar. Donor information is not traded or published without permission. Donate online now at latimes.com/donate or by calling (800) 518-3975. All gifts will receive a written acknowledgement.

sophia.lee@latimes.com