By Emily Deruy, The Mercury News, Decemeber 2, 2019
As a fierce rainstorm drenched San Jose a few nights ago, Ericka Avila slept soundly in her new studio apartment just steps from St. James Park.
Several weeks ago, that would have been out of the question. The 42-year-old spent years sleeping in her car, parked mostly at a Walmart on Story Road and sometimes at a library on Tully Road. When rain poured down or lightening flashed, Avila would peer out her windows, frightened and alone.
“I’m afraid of thunderstorms,” she said. “It was horrible.”
In early November, Avila became one of the first residents to move into Villas on the Park, a six-story apartment complex on N. 2nd Street with 83 units dedicated to housing and serving formerly homeless people.
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