CHILD'S ILLNESS CREATES DILEMMA.

Byline: Amy Raisin  Staff Writer

VALENCIA - When little Alethea Smith toppled from her chair in her family's mobile home last December, her parents thought she was choking on a jelly bean.

The epileptic seizure that followed sparked a year of panic, financial crisis and, now, possible eviction.

Lori and Daryl Smith, parents of three young children, have never lived lavishly or spent beyond their means. But since the seizures began requiring endless medications, their medical bills now total $9,000.

``We're hard workers, we always have been,'' said Lori Smith, who had to quit her job earlier this year to care for Alethea, 8. ``We're just getting so deep. We're three months behind on rent and they said we're going to have to leave.''

The family of five has been living in a tidy, 30-foot trailer at a mobile home park for two years. Smith, watching 11-year-old Anthony, Alethea and 4-year-old Ashton, play near the trailer last week, fears the next stop will be the streets.

But Dee Gadbury, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Newhall Optimists Club, is in emergency mode. Determined to keep the Smiths from eviction, she and the club's board voted Wednesday night to dip in the organization's funds and pay a month of the family's rent.

``You can tell that these people are not used to asking for help,'' Gadbury said. ``It took a lot of humility. They're just down on their luck right now. Most of us have been there at some time.''

The rough times have a way of snowballing. Soon after Alethea spent nine days in the hospital in July, her dad, in an attempt to make more money, switched jobs.

An ensuing gap in health insurance coverage has proved a nightmare for the couple. As collectors threaten to put the $9,000 in medical bills on their credit report, their dreams of eventually buying their own home are quickly fading.

The children, they say, sense the stress. Alethea's seizures, which come less now since doctors' adjusted her medication, are hard to miss in the small trailer.

Older brother Anthony said the episodes still frighten him, though he knows the drill.

``I help out,'' the fifth-grader said. ``Like I help put her on her left side.''

Alethea, who is right-handed, suffers smaller right-brain seizures that include ticks, drooling and sucking noises. The left-brain episodes, however, are more distressing and often involve full-body convulsions.

As the holidays approach, Lori and her husband are feeling the added stress of Christmas - a tree, presents, stocking stuffers for the children.

But if the couple, both 38, gave up on believing in Santa Claus long ago, perhaps the goodwill of the SCV Newhall Optimists Club will rekindle their sense of perpetual hope.

The organization will ``adopt'' the Smiths, along with more than 20 other local at-risk families, and provide food and toys in time for Christmas.

HOW TO HELP FOLKS IN NEED

To make the holidays merrier for disadvantaged families in the Santa Clarita Valley, the Optimists Club has set up donation boxes for food and toys in the doorways of local supermarkets.

To make a contribution to the Smiths or to help other adopted families, call [phone] or mail donations to the SCV Newhall Optimists Club, P.O. Box 1446, Canyon Country, CA, 91351.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- 2 -- color) Above, Alethea Smith sits in a cardboard box as the shadow of her sister, Ashton, is seen on a nearby tree trunk. At left, Daryl and Lori Smith sit at a table with their daughter, Alethea, and son, Anthony. Soaring medical bills have made it difficult for the family. Alethea suffers from epilepsy and the Smiths have had to cope with related expenses. Now, the Smiths live in a mobile home park, but might be evicted if their fortunes do not improve. The Santa Clarita Valley Newhall Optimists Club has agreed to pay one month's rent so the family will be able to stay for a while longer.

(3) Alethea gets a hug from her mother, Lori, as her father, Daryl Smith sits nearby. Alethea has improved with medication.

David R. Crane/Staff Photographer

Box:

HOW TO HELP FOLKS IN NEED (see text)