New hope for motel kids~Caterina's Club

[Dawn Marie]

New hope for motel kids

*Please See Video at the Link  HERE

By Brad Marshland

Just blocks from “The Happiest Place on Earth,” in one of the richest counties in America, Demond, Ashley, and their four kids have been living in a cramped, run-down motel room for a year and a half. Between the six of them, they share one bed and one small couch. Surprisingly, they aren't welfare cases; Demond and Ashley both work full-time at Walmart. But like thousands of other families in Orange County alone, they struggle to save enough to pay the first-month/last-month/security deposit that landlords require. And so they're stuck.

“It eats up all your money so you can't afford to move,” says Ashley, “Even if you could afford an apartment of your own, with kids, and the rent, you can't save any money to do anything except stay here.” To compound the problem, Ashley's mom had an eviction when Ashley was living with her – a fact that shows up on Ashley's credit history. So Demond and Ashley pay $1300 a month for the dubious privilege of living in a single motel room where the kids aren't even allowed by the management to play in the parking lot. For Christmas, they'd like nothing more than to get out of the motel and into a stable home.

Caterina's Club

Bruno Serato came to the U.S. with just $200 in his pocket, worked his way up from dishwasher, and is now the owner of the Anaheim White House Restaurant. For the last ten years, he has worked to improve the lives of motel kids. His non-profit foundation, Caterina's Club, feeds 1,200 poor kids a day with meals cooked in his restaurant kitchen between lunch and dinner, meals delivered by van to nineteen different after-school programs in seven Orange County cities. But even donating his own labor and his own kitchen aren't enough. “Every night when I feed the kids, I'm very happy.” says Serato. But then when the children go back to their motels, his mood changes. “Because I know where they go. Motel area, you have prostitution, drug addict, drug dealer, sexual abuser, pedophile... But you also have the great American families, the ones who work all their lives and end up in a motel room because they lost their home; they lost their job. And they know they can't stay in that room any longer, for the safety of the children.”

Serato's new goal is to move these families out of motels into safer, more stable living situations. According to Caterina's Club, 75% of the men and women living in area motels have jobs. But like Demond and Ashley, they're stuck between bad credit and a lack of sufficient savings to put down a deposit on an apartment. If they could just get over those hurdles, their monthly expenses would be comparable, but would buy so much more.

Welcome Home

Through Caterina's Club, Serato has initiated a new program to cover the costs of security deposits needed to move families out of motels. The Welcome Home program selects from a pool of applications for assistance, targeting working families who just need that extra help. Serato himself is not a rich man. During the recession, he had to take out a second mortgage to keep his food program running. But there's more than one way to feel rich. With the help of donors, Serato has placed 65 families into their own homes.

Family number 66 is Demond and Ashley's, and the good news could not have come at a better time. They didn't know what they would have done if they'd had to spend another Christmas in a motel room so small that there's not really room for presents. Now that their application has been accepted,  they can move to their own home, one where the kids can finally have their own beds.

[Dawn Marie]

Without a doubt I will be donating to such a cause.  God bless this good man for his generous heart+

[Cathleen]

What a heartwarming story!  May God bless that good man for seeing this need and truly helping from his heart.

[Birgitta]

My husband and I headed a small charity that delivered free groceries and gently used clothing to "welfare" motels  weekly for about 6 yrs. It is a very worthy cause, though I admit that it left us a bit jaded. There were some people who just needed a bit of help to get back on their feet, but there were also many who were happy to stay in their drug/alcohol lifestyles perpetually. But we were glad to give them free food each week so at least their kids would have something to eat when they weren't in school receiving free breakfast and lunch from govt programs, especially the littlest who weren't old enough to attend school. Many though, were "pro" homeless. They knew every free meal, charity giveaway etc in the area, and hit up all the churches regularly. One year, after collecting and squirreling away toy donations all year long, I delivered Christmas toys to more than 30 families. Exhausted, I went on Christmas Eve to try to buy a few things for my own kids, money was tight, and I was discouraged- and who did I see in Walmart? Two different families that I had just delivered toys to- their baskets piled high with expensive electronics and toys for Christmas- much more than I could afford for my own kids. And one of those families had been receiving new bicycles for each child  from the Police Auxiliary group when I showed up to deliver the gifts! 

But- having seen these people on a weekly basis, I can tell you no amount of toys are going to make up for having to live in those dumps and with the neglect and abuse most of those kids were subject to on a regular basis. Once a tiny girl came and put her arms around me and asked "do you have power at your house?" When I answered affirmatively she said:"Can I come live with you? I promise I'll be good." 

Guys like Mr Serato are rare. And the cause is one of the best I can think of. Being stuck in those Motels is a hell for those families. And the ones who are sincerely trying to get back to a normal life are deserving of any help they can get. And the ones who aren't-- well, the rain falls on the just and the unjust. I wouldn't begrudge either one an umbrella. 

 

[Cathleen]

Thank you for sharing that, Birgitta.  I have heard a similar story from friends who help at the local food pantry / used clothing bank.  Unfortunately, there are always a few bad apples mixed in with the good. 

[Cathleen]

At any rate, may God bless Mr. Serato for his generous heart.  The reply about his Mama saying, "Bruno, you give them some pasta" touched my heart and reminded me of many Italian mamas I've met.  :-)