Florida Woman Gives Homeless Mother Master Bedroom in New Apartment

Boca Raton — Boca Raton ranks among Florida's wealthiest cities, but even on its golden sands, some residents face financial hardship.

"I caught myself worrying about things that no kid really should," 26-year-old Ana Duarte told CBS News. "Like finances and housing and where I was going to lay my head down that night."

Ana says she and her mother were homeless as a child, struggling and constantly moving.

"She always wanted a home," Anette Duarte, Ana's mother, said. "She always asked me for home. We went through very rough times."

Anette worked long hours as a maid and took other odd jobs. She always felt they had each other — the two of them against the world.

That changed in high school, when Ana ran out of patience. She grew bitter, blaming her mother for years of struggle, and eventually left home.

"She would always get mad at me, she think I didn't care," Anette said. "And I did care. But my hands were so tied up that I couldn't do it."

"For my mom it was torture," Ana said. "But there was no other option, because I didn't want to keep living these patterns. I wanted to build my life."

Ana did just that. She graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a degree in social work and took a job with Food for the Poor, an international Christian relief organization.

She also rented her first real apartment and called Anette right away.

"I called her up," Ana said. "And I was just like, 'So I have an apartment. It's two-bedroom, two-bath. Would you like to come live with me?'"

Ana gave her mother the master bedroom.

"She not even saying anything," Ana said of Anette's reaction when she first saw it. "She's just looking around and like, 'Woah, I have a bed.'"

Anette had never had her own bedroom before.

"Yeah, it's something that's going to stay with me for the rest of my life," Anette said. "And every time I look at her I know."

Mother's Day honors deep parental love. The day also recognizes that mothers do everything they can.