‘It’s wonderful,’ says Sadie Cohen of her $200-a-month room. ‘I’m so grateful.’

Sadie Cohen, the 80-year-old rolling homeless woman who sought shelter riding RTD buses, has come in from the cold.

Cohen, whose predicament was reported in a recent Times article, has moved into a low-cost Los Angeles women’s residence.

Time will tell how permanent the arrangement will be for the independent-minded Cohen. But she said Monday that she is pleased with her room, which she described as “clean, solid and safe.”

“It’s wonderful,” she said. “I’m so grateful.”

Cohen, who has spent much of the last two years sleeping in movie theaters and on buses, said she likes the people at the residence. However, she asked that the residence not be identified because “of all the things that have happened to me.” Part of the reason Cohen was driven to the street and buses was a fear that people were out to kill her.

Numerous offers of shelter and assistance were received by The Times after the Thanksgiving weekend article was published. But Cohen brushed them all aside. Instead, she followed up on a reporter’s recommendation and contacted the women’s residence, which specializes in helping homeless women.

“I don’t want (help). . . . I’ve got to get going myself,” she said Monday.

The director of the residence said Cohen appears to be doing well. “Sadie needs a real balance of support and autonomy,” the director said. “She’s a very independent woman.” Cohen’s room costs less than $200 a month, which she has said she can afford. She may keep the room as long as she likes, the director said. “We’ll do everything we can to provide her the support to stay.”

The director said she was impressed with how businesslike Cohen has been. A recipient of some government assistance, Cohen insisted on getting a cashier’s check and paying for her room the first night, even though workers at the residence assured her that it could wait.

Citing Cohen’s fixed income and her fears, the director said Cohen is “symptomatic of the whole affordable housing (problem). . . . I’ve seen this with other older women. Something happens to their housing that’s beyond their control and it’s very difficult to get themselves back into a stable situation.”

Cohen’s chief complaint was not that she was homeless. It was that RTD buses would pass her by in the wee hours of the morning. Late one night, a reporter watched three buses pass her by, apparently deliberately. One driver said he did so because Cohen sometimes argued and caused trouble.

Leilia Bailey, the RTD’s transportation director, said she has issued instructions that Cohen be picked up. Also, bus drivers working the late-night shift on Wilshire have received “cautions,” a first-stage warning under the district’s disciplinary procedures, Bailey said.

In addition, a notice has been sent to all RTD drivers reminding them they must pick up all patrons who have proper fares. Passing up the homeless, even if they sometimes cause problems, is “not our policy,” Bailey said.

“You brought it to our attention on Wilshire, but we want to (correct) it if it is going on any place else,” she said.