“NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) –

Inez Turley is sleeping in a real bed for the first time since 2014.

The 58 year-old has been homeless all of her adult life. Thanks to a case worker from Park Center Homeless Outreach, Turley has access to her own apartment for the first time ever. “When I turned 18, I was just thrown out. I had nowhere else to go, no family,” Turley recalled. “I’ve never had my own apartment.” Turley hitchhiked across the country and worked minimum wage jobs for more than 25 years, all while battling homelessness and addiction. She even went to prison for 13 years and was released in 2012. Now she’s starting a new chapter in her life. “If you’re homeless, look at me,” she told News 4. “I didn’t think it could ever happen, but if you really want it to happen it can happen. It’s all in your hands, you’ve got to want it.”

Turley received a Section 8 voucher and is renting an apartment at Whispering Oaks in south Nashville. She told News 4 she expects to make it a permanent home.

“It ain’t hard to fall right back out there,” she said. “But I’m not planning on it.””

http://www.wsmv.com/story/36741966/woman-gets-first-apartment-after-40-years-of-homelessness