Nicole Jones is a single mother of two who lives in one of America’s wealthiest zip codes: Silicon Valley, California. Nicole is a bartender who makes a good living serving the wealthy employees of Apple, Google, and other technology companies that have invaded the area for years. Ironically, these same clients are the ones who are the cause of Nicole’s unusual living situation, albeit unintentionally, of course.
Currently, Nicole and her two children live in a one-car garage for $1,000 a month. It’s a cramped space for the family of three, but it’s the best option Nicole could find, after spending $750 in application fees looking for other apartments.
The family had to move out of their spacious apartment in the Valley because the cost of rent had skyrocketed. Employees of technology companies, looking for housing, drove local rents into the stratosphere, with the average rent in the area exceeding $3,000 per month.
Even with her solid, stable job, Nicole could no longer afford to pay that rent (as well as childcare, groceries and other expenses) on her salary alone. So the family was forced to move and searched for months before settling on a car garage.
Although it seems like an unconventional space, the garage is surprisingly nice on the inside! The space houses Nicole’s queen bed, an entertainment area with a flat screen TV, a small bathroom, and a small kitchen area. The family has a mini-fridge for food storage and prepares meals in a microwave and toaster oven.
“Honestly, I always thought homeless people were panhandlers or people on the street that were hungry and cold and drug addicts and alcoholics — who didn’t want to do anything for themselves,” Jones told CBS. “I work and make decent money when I’m working. I think part of the reason why I became homeless is because finding work and day care and transportation and everything just combined made it impossible for me to keep a roof over our head.”
Nicole’s children, as well as Nicole, were enjoying their new tiny space – until Nicole decided to go public with their situation. When Nicole began sharing her story to raise awareness about homelessness and the housing crisis, she received nothing but a series of hateful messages. Complete strangers judged her situation, her decisions, her work, her parenting skills – in fact, they judged her entire life because of where her family lived. And none of them really knew anything about her.
The hate mail scared Nicole’s landlord somewhat, who feared she and her children would be evicted as a result.
Friends, family members, and strangers have encouraged Nicole to leave the neighborhood for a more affordable place, but Nicole’s rebuttal is that moving to another neighborhood would be extremely difficult with her children. There is no doubt that her two children have friends and a life, and their mother cannot bear the thought of ripping them away from it because of this situation.
Ultimately, despite the unconventional nature of her lifestyle, Nicole is a hard-working single mom who does what she has to do for her family. It’s clear that everything she’s done is for the sake of her children, mainly so that they have a roof over their heads and a place to call home, even if it’s a little out of the ordinary.
What do you think of this one-car garage home?
