SAN YSIDRO, Calif. (KGTV) — Nearly a hundred people have new homes, thanks to a new apartment complex in San Ysidro. Milejo Village looks like any other building, but now it's home to 64 families trying to get off the streets.
Emily Tamminga singed a lease there over the summer after six years living on streets, in shelters and motels with her two daughters.
"It’s a great feeling to be able to just breathe and just relax," said Tamminga.
She spent that time making sure her daughters, now six and 11, had food and clean clothes. Often, that's all they had.
"Half of the time we didn’t have a bathroom," said Tamminga. "So we had to go walk all the way to the park and carry our bleach, or our own paper towels, so I could clean up the seats for my kids."
Jamboree Housing teamed up with the county and the San Diego Housing Commission to build the units. They also offer support with food and furniture.
This comes as reports rank San Diego as the most expensive housing market in the county. The county's housing commission says 1,195 people became newly homeless countywide last month.
So Tamminga feels fortunate not only for a new home, but also to give her daughters hope.
"They go to the bedroom and they’re like 'oh, my own room!'" said Tamminga. :They go into my bed, they go ‘oh look mommy!’ Then ‘oh look, that tub!’ They were just ecstatic bout everything."
Milejo Village only accepts families making a quarter of the area's median income. All units are currently full.
Milejo Village cost a total of $38.3 million to build, using a combination of government funds and loans from banks.
