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Published on 07/27/1998 All articles from this issue

Teen helps house families in crisis

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By Linda Taaffe / Town Crier Staff Writer

For families traveling hours from their homes to assist a relative during medical treatments, 16-year-old Nima Soltanzad is sometimes their only barrier between sleeping in a hospital corridor or in their cars and securing a local hotel room.

The Los Altos resident places financially disadvantaged families experiencing medical crisis into hotel rooms at no cost through the Accommodations Program at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital.

Soltanzad is one of 16 students from Castilleja High School working in the community this summer as part of the schools seven-week internship program.

On a typical day, Soltanzad meets with families, arranges for accommodations, assesses the safety and condition of local hotels and answers a myriad of questions from out-of-town families needing general information about the area.

Last Friday Soltanzad was on the phone negotiating with a hotel manager for a room for a mother and her 12-year-old son, who was being treated for cancer.

The family was short on cash, but needed to stay in the area overnight, Soltanzad said. Finding a room was difficult she said because the program had used all of its allotted complimentary stays for the month.

Soltanzad managed to secure a room.

She talked of finding the best local public transportation routes to the hospital for a man and his daughter who had traveled two days on a bus from Phoenix and didn't know how to get around.

"She's dealing with people in crisis, under deadline pressure. Not everyone could do that," said Erin Champion, coordinator for the Accommodation Program.

Soltanzad will often have to make 20 calls before securing a single room, Champion said.

Champion described Soltanzad as an "ambassador" for the program, meeting with families, social workers, civic groups and hotel staff.

She also credits Soltanzad for helping to shape the new program, which is still in its early stages.

Sponsored by the Department of Social Services, the Accommodations Program at the Children's Hospital was launched last November out of a critical need for housing.

Champion said the agency is where families and social workers turn when the hospital's Ronald McDonald House is full. She said often, more than 100 families a night looking for a place to stay.

Champion said 19 hotels have agreed to donate one night each month to the Hotels With a Heart Program, a division of the Accommodations Program.

Champion said she hopes to expand the Accommodations Program into other sectors of the community, such as private residences.

During her internship, which she completed last Friday, Soltanzad placed about 30 families into rooms.

Soltanzad said she applied for the internship because she's interested in a medical career and wanted to experience hospital work first-hand.

"You can't come in and expect fireworks and a great show of people's lives being saved," Soltanzad said.

"There's more to the whole picture that goes unnoticed."