[ad_1]
Beard is very familiar with this process. When she landed in New York with her two children – aged 2 and 4 – in November, Beard waited several days outside of the facility for Preventive Assistance and Temporary Housing ( PATH) in the Bronx to be allowed to stay there. She has never been able to enter.
"And they do not accept me anymore?" said Beard, 25, who works in a Banana Republic store in Brooklyn and in the Transit Adjudication Bureau of the City as a cashier. Despite two jobs, she and her family were unable to access affordable housing in the area.
To save his children from uncertainty and the shelter system, Beard sent them back to Puerto Rico a week ago to stay with them. Grandparents while she finds ways to get a permanent home before her kids come back from Puerto Rico on August 25th.
FEMA gave Puerto Ricans like Beard the opportunity to return to Puerto Rico.
I'm frustrated because I think that at least if I'm on the street, there are shelters, but in Puerto Rico, if you're on the street, you're on the street, "said Beard
more than 1,500 displaced Puerto Ricans offer to pay for their plane tickets to return to Puerto Rico before J It was recommended that they research the shelter system in their state.
As of June 27, only 145 families had already booked their plane tickets or had already returned to Puerto Rico. But most families have decided to stay even though many do not have a permanent home.
"I have a job here and there are also better schools for the kids," said Beard, one of many people who refused FEMA. offer. "There is really no choice."
Puerto Rico is still recovering from the devastating hurricane and is still in shock from a multi-decade financial crisis.
More Than 130 Families Already Filing a Claim According to Mayor De Blasio's office, Maria Baez, another displaced Puerto Rican living in Florida with her grandson, received the same call from FEMA last week . Baez refused their offer to return to Puerto Rico.
She said that her 5-year-old grandson, Christian Dariel, who has cerebral palsy and needs full-time care, will soon be undergoing medical tests. The life of her grandson
"There are days when I'm really depressed," Baez said of his grandson's situation. "I want to do more for him and I feel like my hands are tied up."
Baez said that she did everything in her power to find a permanent home in Orlando, Florida since her arrival in November. She has applied for several low income apartment complexes in her area and is working with a case manager from a local Methodist church to help her find other housing options. permanent
. The office of Senator Victor Torres, D-Fla., Who represents Orange County and Osceola in central Florida, has called for several affordable housing in an effort to help them find affordable housing .