Army veteran spends 1st Christmas in new home

ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) - A U.S. Army veteran who spent several months without a home in a northern Illinois says Christmas came early for him this year.

The Rockford Register Star reported Thursday (http://bit.ly/1QP8KVU ) that Paul Paddock spent seven months homeless, going from the Rockford Rescue Mission to sleeping at a friend's apartment. He spent a few nights on the street.

But he's spending Christmas for the first time at his new one-bedroom apartment in Rockford. He got it through a federal program that provides housing vouchers and various services to homeless veterans.

The 57-year-old received the keys in October.

Paddock told the Rockford newspaper that having a place of his own "means everything." He calls homelessness stressful and says the new home make him feel there's "light at the end of the tunnel."

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Information from: Rockford Register Star, http://www.rrstar.com