PASCO COUNTY, Fla — Just getting in and out of her temporary home is challenging for Zofia Zelazowski.
“God loves me,” she said, coming down the stairs of her trailer.
The 72-year-old’s Gulf Harbors condo was wrecked during Hurricane Helene.
“The whole condo got flooded like four feet up. I lost everything. It’s stripped to nothing,” she said.
She was living in another condo but was recently evicted as part of a legal dispute over the property’s ownership.
“And I was so distressed. I was so sick. I couldn’t really concentrate and understand what was going on,” Zelazowski said.
Zelazowski said she was forgotten by the system but was saved by Shady Hills Mission Chapel, the church that connected her with Pasco Hope.
That’s the temporary housing set up in Holiday for people displaced by the hurricanes.
“The church is the only one who took me in. What happened to 50 years of labor, three jobs, three properties paying taxes? I can’t understand how a human being is being treated like that,” she said.
Pasco County says more than 20 people are living here and getting assistance from Catholic Charities to find long-term housing.
Once all the hurricane victims have moved out, Pasco Hope will be transitioned into housing for the homeless.
Zofia says she is thankful to be here, but managing independently is difficult.
“it’s ok. But it’s tough for me.”
Eventually, Zelazowski hopes to return to her condo once repairs are finished.
She just doesn’t know how long that will be.
“We need to listen to the voice of the people, right?”
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