The Short family | Family still has a home, but challenges keep coming

Last December, Michael and Leah Short and their two boys spent a night in their car. The family had been evicted from a motel after Michael lost his job and they fell behind in rent.

When the staff at Spruce Elementary in Lynnwood, where son Kevin Short is now a second-grader, learned of the family's situation, they scrambled to find temporary housing and then help the Shorts settle into an apartment.

By January, Seattle Times readers, moved by the family's plight in the holiday season, had donated almost $9,000.

A year later, Michael Short is working as a night security guard in Seattle. The family is still living in the Lynnwood apartment that the school staff found and helped furnish.

But the family has faced setbacks, too.

Kevin, now 8, was diagnosed this year with autism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Doctors at Children's Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle have been trying to find the best treatment, but school can still be a struggle.

And the family's finances are precarious. Leah Short stays home to take care of Christopher, 4. Michael's salary just meets monthly expenses, but not the unexpected.

— Lynn Thompson