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Couple Living In Tents Under Uptown Viaduct Finds Permanent Home

(CBS) -- A few weeks ago we showed you how dozens of people are living in tents under viaducts in the North Side of the city. A few of them have now found permanent housing.

CBS 2's Sandra Torres shows us how.

For Joseph and Maria Murray, it still feels surreal.

"I'm still wrapping myself around it," Maria said.

Just one week ago they lived in a tent for months under a viaduct in Chicago's Uptown neighborhood.

"We were given a second a chance and to be able to give her a roof over her head," Joseph said.

The couple got married last November while homeless with the hope that one day they'd be able to get out.

"I panhandled enough because it's $70 to get a marriage license," Joseph said.

"I found the love of my life in the most unlikely place under the most unlikely circumstances," Maria said.

It's that love that drove Steve and Trish Farrell from Northwest Indiana to rescue them. Farrell met them when he drove by the Lawrence Avenue viaduct three weeks ago.

"Just really got to know their story and we left that night," said Steve. "That was hard."

Within a week he raised enough funds to get them out of the tents into a home in Northwest Indiana.

"I've committed three months to this family," Steve said. "Job offers are pouring in."

While the future is still uncertain, Joseph and Maria remain hopeful.

"If they hadn't come along... we'd still be struggling. We'd still be in that tent," Joseph said.

Steve and Trish are in the process of helping two other people who live in those tents in Uptown. Their goal is to keep going back and help as many of them to get into permanent housing. For more information and to donate, cisit www.whatdoyouneednwi.com.

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