Evicted trio gets help from good Samaritan

Stratford, Conn. (WTNH) - A good Samaritan generously put up three strangers who were evicted from their Bridgeport apartment after seeing their story on News 8.

Lisa Flack, Ruth Bihary and Chuck Wiberg were evicted from their apartment on Thursday morning. One of the women is wheelchair bound and Wilberg suffers from cerebral palsy and uses a walker.

The trio admitted to not paying their rent.

After getting evicted, they were left outside in the freezing cold hoping someone would help.

Wiberg said he tried to prevent that from happening by looking for low-income housing that accepted tenants with disabilities, but he said the system failed him.

"There's a building on East Washington Avenue in Bridgeport that said don't even come here because we're not taking applications for the next five years. So how does that make anyone feel? I don't care if they're disabled or not," he said.

He said he felt lost in the system and totally helpless.

"I'm glad that I had the nerve to call you people up and expose this," said Wilberg.

State agencies evidently couldn't find anywhere for these disabled tenants to go in Bridgeport after scrambling around trying to figure something out for 8 hours.

It took so long to figure out where to put the recently evicted tenants because they are handicapped, according to several sources familiar with shelter services in Bridgeport. Social services told News 8 that there is only one shelter in the city that is handicap accessible and that shelter was full.

"It's just been pretty overwhelming for me, I'm going to say this, I think that because I'm in a wheelchair, I'm kind of like a freak and people don't understand it," said Flack. "It's like they don't want to know you. I've learned that when you don't have money, and when you're different, people don't want to be bothered."

The state decided to put the trio up for one night at the Rodeway Inn in Stratford, but thanks to the generosity of one News 8 viewer, they'll be able to remain at the inn for the next few days.

Patricia Savanella, the President of Trinity Insurance Group, paid for their extended stay at the Rodeway, as well as meal expenses.

"You have people will special needs who are seriously underserved in the state of CT, and you have social services organizations that are understaffed, overburdened, overworked, and the ability to communicate between one another is not always there," she said.

On Tuesday, the private funds will run out. For those who would like to help out these people and others facing the same problem who are disabled call Savanella at 860-485-9119, or mail checks payable to The Homeless Fund to:

The Homeless Fund
c/o Trinity Insurance Group
179 Wildcat Hill Road
Harwinton, CT 06791

All money donated will go straight to the fund which has been established through the Bank of America. If you include your email address in the envelope, Savanella will email you a copy of the bank statement each month.