Thanks to the power of community and social media, one woman is now off the streets of Phoenix with a roof over her head and a job to go to each day.
Sunshine Herrick told ABC15 she'd been homeless for more than five years. Her 19-month-old dog, Tank, has been what's gotten her through tough days.
They had been living underneath the I-17 in Phoenix.
Several weeks ago, she needed help for herself and Tank and decided to ask for it.
"One of my friends' friends actually told me about the Nextdoor app because I needed some dog food and she said, 'Well, why don't you go on there and let people know that you're homeless,'" Herrick said.
It started with her asking for tips on how to keep coyotes and javelinas away from their site.
Then, it grew into people wanting to help her more and bring her things she needed.
"I had people sending me packages with dog food, dog toys, blankets, warm clothes and all kinds of stuff."
She said one couple who had brought her several items, caught her in a low moment when she was about to be moved from her spot.
"When I had to move, I was like, 'Well, just take me to my old spot off of 19th avenue by the state fair' and she called her husband and she's like, 'I can't leave her here in the bushes by the freeway, I can't do it,'" said Herrick.
She and Tank now live in the spare bedroom of those kind strangers.
But the positive changes didn't end there. The convenience store she had frequently used to fill up her water jugs and wash off at decided to give her a chance too.
"I was just messing around one day with them, and I was like, 'Hey, you should hire me for third shift since you're hiring,'" she said. "[The manager's] like, 'Okay, well fill [the application] out' and I said ok. So, I did and here I am, now I work there."
She said she wants people to see that there is good in the world and that there are people willing to help you if you let them.
"Just think positive because if you think negative, it's going to be negative. Just think positive and one of these days, there's a time and a place for everything, and one day, your time and your place will come, and somebody out there will help you," she said. "It happened to me so it can happen to them too."
Herrick's next goal, she said, is to save up for a place of her own and a car.