A CONNECTICUT family lost most of their personal belongings due to rain damage after being evicted from their home. 

Elizabeth Rodriguez and her three children were kicked out of their long-time home last year, leaving themselves homeless for months on end. 

The family had been living in an apartment in Bridgeport, Connecticut, when they received an eviction notice in January 2022, according to the CT Mirror. 

At the time, their landlord said she didn’t pay rent for the December before. 

Rodriguez claimed that she did pay the rent and only owed the landlord late fees. 

As part of her income, the mother of three received Social Security related to her medical disabilities, most predominately including heart failure. 

She makes up the rest of her salary with part-time work. 

After receiving the eviction notice, Rodriguez sought help from the Connecticut Fair Housing Center, particularly to find alternate housing.  

The eviction case dragged on for months, and ended up swinging in favor of the landlord. 

Rodriguez and her family were then quickly forced out of the home in June, with many of their belongings being thrown outside. 

This resulted in most of their things being destroyed due to weather conditions. 

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The mother revealed to CT Mirror that most of their clothing was coating in mold due to rain, baby photos, her son’s toys, family furniture, and family heirlooms were also beyond repair. 

“My anxiety’s not well,” Rodriguez told the outlet. 

“My mindset is in a different place. I’m supposed to be worrying about my health and taking care of my health. All I worry about every single day is that my son’s gonna say to me again, ‘Mommy, I want to move. I want to go home.’”

In late last year, her legal aid attorney petitioned for her case to be reopened which resulted in her receiving a housing voucher that helps pay for part of her rent. 

As of December, Rodriguez was still searching for a home for her family. 

“I want to surprise them,” she said. 

“I’m going to just pull up to the place and tell them.”

In the months following their eviction, Rodriguez and her children resorted to sleeping in their car and staying at various family members’ homes. 

“It just makes me feel really bad because, you know, Mikey was so sad the other night, and I couldn’t make the situation better, and I’m supposed to,” the mother said. 

“He’s tired of sleeping on the floor.”

In 2022, Connecticut saw an increase in homelessness statewide for the first time in nearly ten years – rising approximately 13% from 2,594 to 2,930.

However, experts have suggested that those numbers might not be accurate and are actually higher due to the number of children staying with friends and family. 

That same year, the state recorded at least 558 unhoused minors.