ESCONDIDO -- The Vehicle Store RV Center is located just two blocks down Mission Avenue from the Palm Tree Lodge. But for Rod Borders and Cheryl LaForge, the auto dealership's parking lot might as well be a world away from the motel.

For most of the fall, the 71-year-old Borders and his wife had alternated between living at the Palm Tree and on the streets of Escondido, sleeping in their beat-up 1981 Chevrolet El Camino.

In late January, the couple moved into a 1986 Pinnacle motor home tucked into the back corner lot at the RV dealership. Ed Hughes, the store's owner, told them he would sell them the vehicle at cost and let them stay on the property indefinitely.

"It's unbelievable," Borders said, as he stood in the narrow, light mauve living quarters of his 28-foot home on Monday. "Sometimes, I have to pinch myself."

The couple has been mired in financial troubles since the late 1990s, with Borders and LaForge, 52, each facing health problems, according to Borders, a tall, gaunt figure whose shoulders are slightly hunched from arthritis in his spine.

They were evicted from their Rancho Bernardo apartment in February 2004. When they could afford it, they have stayed in local motels, where weekly rates quickly eat up Borders' monthly $850 Social Security check. They were reluctant to stay in a shelter for the homeless because it would have meant abandoning their chihuahua, Poco.

The couple's turnaround came after they were featured in a Nov. 27 article in the North County Times examining homelessness among senior citizens in North County.

In response, dozens of readers and community members came knocking at Borders and LaForge's door at the inn, dropping off food and paying their rent through the first part of January.

With the relief afforded them, Borders said he was able to stash away $1,000 from his Social Security to help put a down payment on the $6,800 RV. Instead of paying $300 a month for a single room at the Palm Tree, the couple will pay installments of about $160.

Hughes has let the couple hook up to his store's electricity and water at no charge while they wait for some minor repairs to the vehicle, including replacing a fractured windshield.

"We're not making a nickel off them. We're just trying to help them," said Hughes, who said he learned of the couple's situation from the news article.

LaForge said Hughes' generosity has been just the latest link in a chain that helped pull the couple back toward a degree of normalcy.

"He knows what he's done for us," LaForge said. "But I don't think he knows the extent of what he's done for us."

Once their new home is up and running, Borders said he plans to head north to visit his daughter, after spending a few days camping at the beach, of course.

Contact staff writer David Fried at (760) 740-5416 or dfried@nctimes.com.