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Quantavia Smith walks up the steps of a metro station next to the Santa Monica and Vermont Apartments, where she lives, in Los Angeles, Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

BOSTON – After years of living on the street and crashing on friends' couches, Quantavia Smith was given the keys to a studio apartment in Los Angeles that came with an important perk — easy access to public transit.

The 38-year-old feels like she went from a life where “no one cares” to one where she has a safe place to begin rebuilding her life . And the metro station the apartment complex was literally built upon is a lifeline as she searches for work without a car.

“It is more a sense of relief, a sense of independence," said Smith, who

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