When Nicole Jones became pregnant with her daughter, the San Francisco Bay Area mom-to-be lost her job. She couldn't afford her rent and temporarily moved into a shelter. So when she discovered a 250-square-foot single-car garage for rent that fit into her budget, Jones says that she felt "lucky."

In high-rent Silicon Valley, CA, $1,000 per month covers a one-room (garage) living space and a minuscule bathroom with a shower and toilet. Jones cooks in a microwave or toaster, and she sleeps on a pull-out couch; her daughter has a small, portable bassinet. "This is pretty much all I could get," Jones told CNN [1]. Soon, the family of two will grow to three, as the single mom is now pregnant with her second child.

"I didn't know much about homelessness before," Jones told CNN. "Honestly, I 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."