He pays $2,000 a month for a hotel room, and he can’t afford to move

PALM HARBOR — They drove, windows down, past the big box stores. Past the other roadside motels and hotels, where other families lived.

When they pulled up to the modest house on Guardian Avenue, Richard Rodriguez took a deep breath. He was 52, with kind, tired eyes. He didn’t want to get his hopes up.

It had been four years since the last time he’d toured a place for rent, when he and his family came to Florida in 2020.

At the time, the move made sense.