VINA STORY: HOW TWO STRANGERS TURNED INTO ROOMMATES

All it takes is one right swipe on Hey! VINA and you might find the forever friend you never knew you always needed! Just ask 24-year-old Daniela, who is from Colombia. When she moved to Birmingham, AL for work, she was hit with major loneliness. “I did not know anybody my age, since people I worked with were much older than me,” Daniela explains.

Daniela downloaded Hey! VINA, where she matched with 25-year-old Jessica, who had also moved to Birmingham for graduate school. “I swiped right because based off her pic and description, I felt we had a lot of things in common,” Daniela recalls. “Plus, she was new in town as well.”

For Jessica, who was over 300 miles away from all of her friends and family, swiping right on Daniela was an easy choice. “Since I worked so much during the week, I never had a chance to meet people who I could hang out with on the weekends,” Jessica shares. “On the app, Daniela was super sweet, and she seemed like she enjoyed a lot of the same things that I did, like trying out new restaurants and enjoying the happiest of happy hours!”

So that’s what the two decided to do: Have a vina date at a local restaurant. “We met up for drinks at our favorite place and spent the entire time just talking and sharing stories,” Jessica says. Daniela adds, “We shared our experience of moving to a new state by ourselves and had a great time.”

Jessica and Daniela continued to hang out and even formed a new tribe together. “Jessica introduced me to four other girls she met at church and now we have a solid group of friends,” Daniela shares. “If it wasn’t for Jessica and Hey! VINA, I would’ve never met this group of sweet girls!”

Now, the two are roommates and love to break-out in random dance parties or go out for drinks.

Their best advice for vinas who are new to the community? “Take a chance to meet new people — you can end up with a best friend and roommate like me! Who knows?” Daniela says.