Police officer sees a homeless woman living in her car — what she did next changed her life

A homeless woman in Las Vegas was living in a car for over three months with her two dogs when her life changed completely, all thanks to a police officer.

Las Vegas PD Officer Jennifer Parker was on a routine call when she ran into Rachel Dunlap. She asked Dunlap where she lived and was astonished when the woman explained that she was homeless. She had lost her job, changing the course of everything in her life. She had never expected to be homeless after being unemployed. However, she lost her home as well and was struggling to make ends meet and feed her dogs. Dunlap spoke to KTNV, "We were outside talking and she asked me where I was staying. I told her I was staying in my car."

Officer Parker was determined to help this woman and asked her family and friends to raise funds for Dunlap's housing, reports Goal Cast. They did find an empty house, however it was far from ideal as it had walls covered in bullet holes and splattered with blood. According to Dunlap, that was "perfect" and better than living in a car. This shocked Parker and she told KTNV, "When she said it was perfect, it just struck me. I was thinking to myself, what could be going on in her life that the house was perfect." 

Parker wanted to do something for Dunlap and her family and friends pooled in to furnish the place they had found for her. When Dunlap moved into her new home, the apartment had everything she could need. Dunlap said, "Everything that I would ever possibly need to move into a place, she brought me. I got couches, pots, pans, towels, everything."

Dunlap was so overwhelmed by Parker's kindness. She asked the officer why she had chosen to help her when she could have easily ignored her and gone ahead with her life. Parker replied, "I feel like at any point in time we can have a bad day or a bad week at work and we can end up in the same position." Dunlap added, "It's like the best thing that’s ever happened to me in I don’t know how long. I’m totally grateful for it."

Officer Parker's act of kindness helped Dunlap have a roof over her head and provided her with a safe and secure home. Dunlap was also grateful to all the friends and family members of Parker who were generous and helpful enough to contribute towards helping her.