A RESIDENT of a tiny house will live rent-free for the next year after leaving the streets earlier this month.
Daniel King of Portland, Oregon, has spent most of his life homeless and for the past year has lived in a tent in the woods.
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However, a week ago he left the Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge and went to live in his small house in an apartment building.
“No way is this my apartment,” King remembers thinking while speaking to the ABC News affiliate KATU 2.
“I was in complete shock when I saw it.
“This is a cool place and it’s like… I didn’t think they would accept homeless people here. I really like it.”
It has a one-bedroom apartment with a fully equipped kitchen, living area and bathroom with washer and dryer.
Plus, he gets a year of free rent and utilities so he can save for the future.
Speaking to the media outlet from the roof of the community building, King pointed across the Willamette River toward the forest, saying, “We were actually going straight across, right there.”
“I like it here. It’s very relaxing, especially at night.”
King’s friend Patrick Jensen called the location “ironic” as he looked at where he used to sleep across the street with King and his friend James Jones, who also got a living space in the building.
“I mean, who would have thought we’d be on the other side of the river in what, five months?” Jensen added.
Jensen reached out to the news outlet in December to get help for himself, King and Jones, who lost their jobs and were evicted after being unable to pay their rent.
Jones detailed the depression he felt during his time homeless.
“Half of it feels like people don’t even want to see you alive,” he said.
The trio was put in touch with local resources like shelter operator Urban Alchemy to help them get off the streets, which led to them temporarily moving into the Clinton Triangle Tiny Home village.
Jensen still lives there, but expects to receive the keys to his new apartment within two weeks.
It seems like people don’t even want to see you alive.
James Jones
“I can do whatever I want. I can start my life. I can get a job,” he excitedly told the outlet.
“It doesn’t get any better than this.”
In the meantime, King hopes to find a job that can help him move into his own home.
“I’m off the streets and I have a place to live and I’m grateful to Urban Alchemy for all the things they’ve done,” he said.
The US Sun previously reported on a new tiny home community being built in Georgia for young adults.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
