Mom, daughter fight cancer, homelessness

Destiny Himmel rests in the SUV she lives in with her mother. Sunday night, she was hospitalized for a blood transfusion, not an unusual occurrence for someone with her type of acute leukemia. On Monday, she was doing fine.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry Himmel, right, thanks Karen Crisp after she and her husband Redden Crisp of Woodland Hills stopped by to donate blankets and socks.   (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Destiny Himmel, 16, cries inside the car where she lives with her mother. She was overwhelmed after two people from Woodland Hills, who had read Steve Lopez’s story about the Himmels, stopped by to drop off blankets and socks for them.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry Himmel rubs her daughter’s head as she tries to stand up for a few moments. Destiny was diagnosed with high-risk acute leukemia, and the chemotherapy treatments have sapped her strength and caused her hair to fall out.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry Himmel buys a small bottle of milk at a nearby gas station. She scrapes by each month on about $500 in food stamps and government aid.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry Himmel pours milk over her daughter’s cereal. Destiny has long been embarrassed about her family’s situation, and kept their poverty a secret even from her pastor back home in Michigan. “I don’t want people to look down on me or think they have to pity me,” she said.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Himmels live in their car along their dogs, Rugrat and Gidget. But Destiny’s doctors say she needs a warm, safe, germ-free place to recuperate from her cancer treatments.  (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

The Himmels moved from Michigan to California a while back, hoping to find more job opportunities here. Kerry got a job driving trucks for a while, but she is now unemployed, way behind on her car payments and being hounded by credit card companies.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

At night, Kerry usually sleeps in the driver’s seat, while Destiny stretches out in the cargo area. Her doctors say she’s been through the toughest part of her 2.5-year-long treatment, but she’ll have to stay on chemotherapy through July 2010.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry helps Destiny take slow, cautious steps toward the bathroom at a McDonald’s in the Valley. The two are hoping to find a place to live, but most of the charities and service groups Kerry contacted were dead ends.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry and Destiny brush their teeth in the McDonald’s bathroom. Foster care is not an option, the Himmels say, because they couldn’t bear to be separated. “I’ve got the best kid in the world, and the most important thing is that we’re together,” Kerry said. Her daughter agrees: “She’s all I have, and I won’t make it” without her.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry spends most of her time taking care of her daughter, which leaves little time to look for a job. Medi-Cal covers Destiny’s chemotherapy, pain therapy, spinal taps and other treatments at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles several times a week  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Kerry hands her daughter a bag of medicine. “We’re really good people, but I don’t want to live like this anymore,” she said.  (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)