Lorenza Cardenas and her two daughters, 8-year-old Alexis and 11-year-old Mercedes finally feel safe.
They're now living in a small apartment in Logan Heights – a stark contrast to the place they once called home.
"I feel good. I feel better than over there. I feel the hope again. Over there I had no hope," said Cardenas.
NBC 7 first met Cardenas in November 2014, when she and her daughters lived in a small storage unit inside of a junkyard located on Commercial Avenue in Logan Heights.
Several other people lived inside the junkyard, in makeshift dwellings and trailers. They all shared one bathroom.
It also was packed with unwanted cars and bicycles, along with discarded appliances, wood planks, and pipes.
Cardenas said she was worried about her two young daughters when they lived there.
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That's not the case anymore.
Mercedes said she's happy to live in a better environment, where she also has other kids to play with.
“I feel we don't have to be scared of going outside," the girl said.
The junkyard wasn't visible from the street because it was enclosed with a solid, metal fence and locked. Only residents could get inside.
Then last fall, the Cardenas family got help.
San Diego police officers responded to a radio call inside the junkyard.
Officers witnessed the living conditions and returned with an electric stove they purchased with their own money.
San Diego Police Department (SDPD) Officer Ricardo Rivas, a 16-year veteran of the department, said he had never seen anything like the living conditions at the junkyard.
"It was just devastating. It broke our hearts," Officer Rivas said.
The officers kept in touch.
They gave the family donated goods and even helped the family look for another place to live.
Cardenas said she and her girls are so grateful for the help from the officers.
"I never expected to be important to anybody else," the mother said.
The family moved out of the storage unit earlier this year, when Cardenas said she was told everyone had to leave.
She eventually found another place to live by walking the neighborhood. Cardenas said it took a while because she wanted her two daughters to be able to stay at their same schools.
"I think the continued support, me helping her, answering her questions, helped her, motivated her to continue fighting for her children," said Officer Rivas.
Police tell NBC 7 it's important for them to build trust and relationships in the community because what they do now can sometimes last for years, and even generations.
"Those kids, hopefully they'll grow up to be good citizens in our community too, from the positive contact with us," said Officer Rivas.
NBC 7 recently went back to the junkyard in Logan Heights. It's now empty, the graffiti on the fence covered with gray paint.
NBC 7 contacted the City of San Diego about that property. Police officers had responded to the address numerous times for nuisance activity and medical response.
A city spokesperson told NBC 7 that once the SDPD told them about the property, code enforcement officers at the Development Services Department began an investigation.
The property is developed as a single-family dwelling with a large undeveloped area in the rear, accessed by an alley.
"Reportedly, the tenants in the front dwelling had, over time, allowed numerous squatters and transients to occupy the rear portion of the lot," explained Lynda Pfeifer, the city's Supervising Public Information Officer.
"Our inspector immediately contacted the property owner who was seemingly unaware of the condition of his property. The property owner was ordered to take the necessary legal steps to evict the uninvited squatters and transients and to clean out the entire rear portion of the property," she added.
The illegal occupants vacated by June and the property owner cleaned out the rear portion of the property. The city closed its case in July.
