For three years , John Helinski 's home was a cardboard box at a Tampa Bay bus stop . The 62-year-old had all of his personal identification stolen - so struggled to apply for a place at a homeless shelter . But when a cop and his case manger looked into his past , they found a previously lost bank account with money and enough social security benefits to buy his own house . Scroll down for video . John Helinski , 62 , spent three years living in a cardboard box on the streets of Tampa Bay . He then tried to apply for a place at a homeless shelter , but struggled because all of his personal identification had been stolen . A cop and a case manager then looked into his past , and were able to retrieve his social security number and his driver 's licence . After the amazing discovery , he told ABC Action News : ' I just managed on my own . Sleeping underneath the benches there and no one would see me . DACCO Case Manager Charles Inman told the Florida station : 'He needed to have an identification , but we could n't get an identification without a birth certificate . 'There was no other option to succeed . You know , the thought of putting a 62-year-old man back on the street was n't acceptable . He then recruited the help of Tampa Police officer Dan McDonald . ' I enjoy it because I like a challenge , ' he said . 'We first had to figure out that we needed a consular record of foreign birth or something like that . ' Helinski was born in Poland , but he is an American citizen , has a driver 's licence and a social security number . Then , as they kept digging into his background , Helsinki visited a Tampa bank branch and discovered an old account . It had n't been touched for years , so social security had built up , and he even had cash . 'At that time , it was Landmark Bank . Then it became Bank of America , ' he said . ' I guess I 'm exhilarated , excited , you know . ' Helinksi is now looking for permanent accommodation . His search is focused on a small apartment . Case Manager Charles Inman ( left ) and Tampa Bay police officer Dan McDonald were determined to find out more and dug further into Helinski 's background . Helinski walked into a Bank of America branch in Tampa Bay and discovered an old , forgotten account with enough social security benefits in it to buy a new house .
John Helinski , meanwhile , slept in a cardboard box in Tampa Bay for three years . He applied for homeless shelter , but struggled as he had no identification . It had all been stolen years earlier - virtually dumped him onto the streets . A case worker and a detective looked into his past and uncovered his records . Helsinki then checked into a Tampa bank and found a lost account . Enough money and social security was in there for him to buy a house .