It’s a dream come true for a formerly homeless veteran, who was rewarded with a year’s worth of free rent at a new San Jose apartment. However, this comes as many others continue in their struggle to stay afloat.
“It’s gorgeous, it’s more than what I could have dreamed of,” said Ana Espitia, a 10-year navy veteran as she showed off her new place.
Her new apartment marked a major turnaround for Espitia, who until recently had been sleeping in her car.
“I can’t express how difficult it really is,” she said.
She said she will now live there rent-free for the next year, thanks to help from the Veteran Affairs, a local non-profit and the property’s owner Republic Urban Properties.
But while it reflects an encouraging step, the greater problem remains.
“We don’t have enough available affordable housing right now,” said Andrea Urton, who heads up the San Jose-based homeless service agency that helped make this move-in possible.
Urton said she would like to see more property owners step up to make the same gesture, as Republic Urban Properties did for Espetia.
“It would be amazing,” Urton said. “And we would solve homelessness for veterans very, very quickly if every landlord did that.”