DAYTONA BEACH — Every night for five years, Madeline Mendez had to push aside toys, books, DVDs and all the other trappings of her living room to clear a space where she could drift off to sleep.
Just a few feet away, her three kids would snooze in the two small bedrooms inside her cramped South Daytona apartment.
It was spartan living, but it was a step up from the eight months prior to that she was homeless and bouncing from one family member's house to another to avoid living out of her car, on the streets or in a shelter.