Jose Villaruel, a man who used to work as a substitute teacher, has been living in his vehicle for the last seven or eight years.

Students have been referring to him as “Mr. V” for the better part of three decades, during which time he has worked as a substitute teacher. Early in the year 2020, Villaruel was compelled to resign from his employment because of the pandemic and the large reduction in the number of hours he worked as a result of the move toward distant learning in schools.

He said, “I came to the conclusion that the school environment had undergone a total transformation, and I concluded that my time as a substitute teacher had come to an end. I tendered my resignation in the month of May.

I was successful in completing all of the necessary papers and making all of the necessary preparations to get my pension. I received my check, but I was already in debt, so the money from that check didn’t last very long.

Villaruel made the decision to live in his vehicle many years ago because he realized that, with the salary that he could have, he would not be able to send money to Mexico to support his wife, children, and extended family.

Steven Nava, a former student of Villaruel’s, happened to encounter him in his vehicle about 5 in the morning as he was traveling to work as a welder. He saw the guy in the parking lot and believed to himself that he had seen him somewhere before. Nava then became aware that it was his previous instructor who had filled in for him.

When asked how he felt after viewing the living situation of his former substitute teacher, the 21-year-old said that he was “devastated and disgusted.” During Nava’s academic years, Villaruel was a significant role in his life.

He assisted Nava in working on his study guide and passing a math exam with his assistance.

According to what he stated, “He definitely struck out to me just because of the way he was so pleasant with his kids. He’d ask how your day was going, whether you ate, and other such innocuous questions about the minutiae of your life. When he was in charge of taking attendance, he was always hilarious.

Because Nava felt obligated to assist Villaruel, he partook of the three hundred dollars that he had in his possession at the moment.

“He gave me this huge old grin and said, ‘Thank you so much,'” he remembers the man saying to him. “As he was holding me, I saw a tear rolling down his cheek. He walked over to give me a hug.”

After that, Nava guaranteed him that he would assist him in escaping from this predicament in some way.

On that day, he established a GoFundMe campaign in honor of the much-loved instructor, and it was able to gather $5,000 in a matter of hours. The next day, he prepared a TikTok video about Villaruel, and it rapidly became very popular over the internet.

As news about Villaruel spread, a celebration of his life was held at the Fontana Community Senior Center, and it was attended by the mayor of Fontana, Acquanetta Warren, as well as previous pupils of Villaruel.

A surprise party was thrown for the former substitute teacher on March 11 and included the presentation of a cheque for $27,000 as well as other items. That day also occurred to be his 77th birthday, which helped to make the event an even more memorable experience.

Villaruel said that he had never anticipated getting this kind of money, “from the bottom of my heart, I simply had to resort to all of my self-control in order to not feel emotional about the entire situation and in order to not become frightened. It was a lovely and amazing surprise that turned out to be incredibly thrilling.”

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department became aware of Villaruel’s predicament on March 10, and as a result, they assisted him in obtaining a coupon for a hotel room. This provided him with a place to remain for the next thirty days while they worked on finding him more permanent lodgings.

Villaruel said that he had plans to spend a significant amount of time in Mexico visiting his relatives. He remarked, “It’s a nice feeling to have this change, and I still have to adjust to it so that I can make the most of it.”