A motel ‘miracle’

The long, creeping afternoon shadows on the wheat-colored walls and the messy back alleys around the Costa Mesa Motor Inn conjure up a bleakness. But then Sheree King opens a door in the motel to a visitor, and out tumbles the happy sights and sounds of frolicking children.

Children smile and play together as they run, tumble and crawl around foldable tables. The adults open their doors and slide open the shades to watch the kids as teenagers hang out by the vending machines and young parents cruise the corridors with strollers.

It’s all part of King’s Kid’s Cafe program, which she directs from 3 to 5 p.m. daily out of a motel room. It’s just one room, but it provides a lot of light and life to many families struggling to get by.

“The kids have vacant looks sometimes,” King said. “We get them to laugh.”

In a $281-a-week motel room that would be considered a small hallway in some Newport Beach homes, King has established an operations command bunker. Cabinets flank the entire east wall, filled with supplies and food. The pantry is stacked with helpful items, and the bathroom has been retooled to fit bundles of hygienic supplies, diapers and other family needs. The kitchen and carpet have also been refurbished with King’s help.

Kid’s Cafe is an after-school program for needy children that offers snacks, activities and tutoring. The 2nd Harvest of Orange County organization provides the food. Each child receives three items for his or her snack, matching a corresponding list 2nd Harvest provides for the program. If children don’t want one of their items, they drop it in the “goodie” box for others to have.

On alternating days, Monday through Thursday, there is either an activity or tutoring. When the children bring their homework and finish it, they get rewarded. The incentives seem to work, as one child runs by King, holding his homework up high to declare success.

“Look!” he shouts to King. “I brought my homework.”

King, coordinator Shannon Graves and volunteers let the children be actively involved. A “helper” puts together each tray and makes sure children get their share. For some of the kids, this is all they get to eat.

“I asked a child, ‘What do you eat when you don’t go to school?’ and she said, ‘Well, that depends on when my mom gets paid — when she does, we eat dinner and lunch,’” King said.

King’s program has livened up an area that is usually filled with the thoughts of impoverished minds — but it hasn’t been easy.

“There are days when I go home and almost can’t move because I am emotionally exhausted,” King, a single mother of two, said.

But the reward has been immeasurable for King. In fact, it saved her.

King refers to the program as her miracle. She first found herself at the motel’s doorsteps in her car, crying, her children sitting in the back seat. She was staying at a domestic violence shelter, but her allowed time was up and she had nowhere to go.

“I thought I had lost my mind,” she said.

King ended up getting assisted housing the next day, but through that experience she came into contact with Holiday Zimmerman and Mariners Church.

“When I came to the ministry, I was a statistic,” said King, a high school dropout. “I refused to be a victim.”

King was part of Zimmerman’s mentor program. People from the church would partner with those in need and help them get back on their feet. This was the beginning of the ministry. King was the first graduate and then volunteered. She would then be an intern, a coordinator and now is the director.

As she worked, she brought her children — her 12-year-old was failing second grade — and helped them with homework on the grass. Other parents and children got involved, and King built the program from the ground up.

“I have an opportunity and responsibility,” King said. “It truly is a calling to be here.”

DANIEL TEDFORD may be reached at (714) 966-4632 or at [email protected].