Houston Latino Family Taped Eviction Receives Thousands of Dollars in Donations

Cops evict dozens of people in Houston 3:19

(CNN) ––

The security agents who evicted a young father and his family in Houston days later created a GoFundMe account, which has raised more than $ 180,000 to help him and other families facing the same situation.

Israel Rodríguez, 24, his wife and their two children, ages 4 and 20 months, were evicted from their Houston apartment last week.

Rodríguez owed thousands of dollars in rent after he lost his job to the pandemic, he told CNN as his belongings were thrown at the door.

• LEE: CDC expands protections against eviction amid pandemic

Just days later, a GoFundMe account raised thousands of dollars for Rodriguez and his family, enough to recover from the situation, the young father said.

Rodríguez thanked those who supported him during a press conference with the Harris County Police Office, which delivered Rodríguez's eviction notice.

"It's amazing how people have big hearts," said Rodríguez, holding back tears.

People didn't have to help me.

But people did it for their hearts.

At least two GoFundMe accounts have been created to support Rodríguez and his family.

An account hosted by former Houston teacher Patrick Tarnowski has raised more than $ 52,000.

The second account, created by the Harris County Police Office Precinct One Foundation to help families evicted from the Houston area during the pandemic, has received more than $ 181,000 in donations.

Israel Rodríguez, 24, holds her 20-month-old son, also called Israel

The funds will help Rodríguez support her children, who remained in a hotel after the eviction.

He and his wife will be able to shop for clothes: He told CNN that the two rarely change clothes.

"It's the best thing that could happen to me," he said.

Bennie Gant of the Harris County Sheriff's Office delivered the eviction notices to Rodriguez and seven other families in a single day.

The eviction was documented by CNN as part of a story about these events during the pandemic.

The county ordered 200 evictions last week, more than double what the county recorded in a normal week before the pandemic.

Harris County Sheriff's Office Precinct One Chief Alan Rosen said the department was "moved by the large number of offers of support and donations" since the CNN story aired last week.

"We care," he said, according to the GoFundMe page of the precinct foundation.

We are compassionate.

We are complying with the guidelines.

Evicting people breaks our hearts.

We hope that the generosity shown after this one story will start a movement in which we work together as a society that starts a debate on poverty, prioritizes kindness and encourages philanthropy, "he said.

America's Immigrant Nightmare: Eviction Notices 3:48

CNN has reached out to Rosen and Harris County Police Office Precinct One for comment and is awaiting a response.

Up to 40 million Americans are at risk of eviction

CNN's Kyung Lah followed Rodriguez when he and his family were evicted last week.

The young father told Lah that he had lost his job during the pandemic, and it took him months to find a new one.

He had a check for $ 361 in his pocket, but it wouldn't be enough to save his apartment.

An estimated 30 to 40 million Americans are at risk of eviction in the coming months, according to the Aspen Institute, a public policy research organization.

The pandemic has claimed millions of jobs and skyrocketed the unemployment rate.

The pandemic also occurred during a severe affordable housing crisis in the United States, according to the institute.

US: Unemployment falls, but recession puts millions at risk of eviction 2:01

By the first week of September, the U.S. economy was on the mend, with about 1.4 million jobs added and a slight drop in the unemployment rate, but millions of Americans are still on uneven ground in the face of a pandemic that has no clear end in sight.

Residential evictions were suspended last week until Dec. 31 as a public health measure, according to an order from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The order protects tenants who have lost their jobs or income due to COVID-19 from eviction, although its ambiguous requirements could make compliance difficult, legal experts say.

On the precinct foundation's GoFundMe page, Rosen wrote that evictions that meet CDC guidelines have been suspended.

covid-19 evictions pandemic