"This is the blessing God gave me," Robert Venegas said.
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Before that moment, Venegas was among an estimated 23,000 homeless people living in L.A. He didn't even have a tent.
"I'd get on the street with a cardboard box on the floor, with blankets and a pillow," he said.
In the temporary shelter, he gets a bed, shower, air conditioning and most valuable of all - help to find an apartment.
L.A. County voters approved a $1.2 billion bond measure to build permanent housing for the homeless two years ago. But with squalid camps popping up everywhere, pressure pushed the city to find an interim solution.
The $2.4 million operation in the historic Pueblo district is called A Bridge Home. Among the amenities featured at the location, there is a fence and 24-7 security which is a level of protection the residents have never had before.
"I had an associate whose tent was set on fire," one man said.
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The man, who did not want to be identified said living on the streets can make you an easy target for drug-fueled violence and thieves.
"You worry about, 'Are they going to come in and try to rob me and I don't have nothing?'" he said.
He's applied to A Bridge Home, but there is a waiting list among the 44 residents getting help there. The goal of the program is to find a real home for them within six months and make room for other people.
Until then, the new tenants look forward to their first night of having a bed, a roof over their head and newfound hope.
"I'm very happy. I've got joy in my heart. I'm good," Venegas said.