IRVINE, Calif. — After months spent living out of hotels, U.S. Army veteran Priscilla Salazar finally has a place she and her three kids can call home. Salazar served for 10 years and had previously been deployed to Afghanistan.

“We’re not completely moved in, but it… it brings tears to our eyes. We’re happy that the kids have a room of their own. I have a room. We have our own beds,” Salazar said.

As a single mom, she recently moved in to an apartment this past September. But the transition wasn’t easy. Without stable housing, she was in constant fear of losing her family, she said.

“It got really hard at times, where I felt like I almost had to give them up and I didn’t want to,” she said.

That’s why, she said, she asked another veteran she served with for help. She was then connected with the nonprofit Families Forward and the collaborative Strong Families, Strong Children. Madelynn Hirneise is the CEO of the nonprofit. Currently, they are helping over 20 veteran families get housing, access to food and more.

Last year, they housed over 600 Orange County families in need, Hirneise said.

“She was able to access housing with the housing navigator and her case manager, making sure that her and her children had a safe place to live and rebuilding the foundation from there,” Hirneise said. “Access to career coaching, mental health support, case management, financial literacy, everything that a family needs to stabilize their housing and remain stably housed.”

According to the Orange County 2022 Point In Time Count, there are 280 veterans who are homeless in the county. For Salazar, the move has been life-changing. That’s why she wants other veterans to ask for help when they need it.

“We are very prideful people. Very prideful and it takes a lot to swallow our pride and ask for help. But please know that it is ok and we can’t complete every mission by ourself.”

For more information on Families Forward and services, visit their website.