How an unassuming window in San Jose fills a crucial need for the homeless

Adelle Amador does a lot of bouncing around with her husband and six children. Without stable housing, the family of eight has been living in and out of motels for the past three years. Before that, they lived in their cars for more than a year even though both she and her husband worked.

It’s exhausting and expensive, costing the family about $1,500 a week after Amador searches for bargain rates. But their lack of a permanent address presents an additional conundrum that’s all too familiar to a growing number of people in the Bay Area: To become stable, they need to find housing, yet without an address, they can’t get mail updating them about their spot on waiting lists for affordable housing.