Junta Ready To Help Hurricane Evacuees

As one of Fair Haven’s longest standing social service agencies prepares to resettle Puerto Ricans fleeing the wreckage of yet another hurricane, New Haven’s congresswoman has secured additional federal aid to help the island and other natural disaster-wracked areas rebuild.

Those messages were front and center Thursday morning during a press conference hosted by U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro on the front lawn of Junta for Progressive Action​’s headquarters at 169 Grand Ave.

Standing alongside Junta Executive Director Bruni Pizarro, New Haven State Rep. Juan Candelaria, Puerto Ricans United (PRU) Board Chair Joe Rodriguez, and Junta staffers Rosaida Maldonado, Cheila Serrano, and Jacqueline Gonzalez, DeLauro underscored several key provisions of the recently approved federal budget continuing resolution that should help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Fiona. As of earlier this month, roughly 100,000 Puerto Ricans are still without power because of the hurricane, which made landfall in mid-September.

At the top of the disaster-recovery-funding list, said DeLauro, who chairs the powerful House Appropriations Committee that authored the budget bill, is a directive to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) that gives that department ​“flexibility to access a full year’s worth of resources to respond to declared disasters.”

Normally, DeLauro said, FEMA’s budget for responding to declared disasters would be limited to the length of time covered by the continuing budget resolution — in this case, Oct. 1 to Dec. 16. Thanks to this section of the law, DeLauro said, FEMA will be able to tap into a full year’s worth of disaster aid, not just two-and-a-half-months’ worth, to respond to areas like Puerto Rico post-Fiona.

How much in actual dollars might that amount to? Tough to say right now, DeLauro replied. ​“The assessments are being made. I don’t know a number. We want to move smartly, quickly to get those assessments so we can get the number to FEMA and be able to get the money out.”

“That money is available in the continuing resolution now,” she stressed. She repeated that point several times over the course of the presser. ​“This funding is available now.”

DeLauro also said that the recently approved continuing resolution includes $2 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program ​“for the long-term housing, infrastructure, and economic recovery needs for areas impacted by a natural disaster in 2021 or 2022,” to quote from a summary of the bill.

“We acted swiftly to get Puerto Rico the resources it needs to recover,” she said.

All of the speakers at Thursday’s presser stressed that this is not the first time that Puerto Rico has experienced a natural disaster-induced crisis in recent years. Hurricane Maria wracked the island five years ago, followed by a series of significant earthquakes in 2019 and 2020.

Pizarro said that Junta helped resettle 2,000 Puerto Ricans who moved to New Haven in the wake of Hurricane Maria. Many of those city residents now have family and friends who have lost their homes and their livelihoods in Puerto Rico because of this latest hurricane. Pizarro said Junta is expecting an increase in Puerto Ricans moving to New Haven in the weeks and months ahead because of Fiona.

“The needs are insurmountable,” she said about what she saw during a recent weeklong trip to Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona. And yet, she continues, Junta is ready to do all it can. This is ​“not just social services for social services’ sake. It’s disaster resettlement with empathy. Our team members are primed and ready to continue to do that work.”

Junta Case Manager Rosaida Maldonado and Junta Director of Social Services Cheila Serrano said that the Fair Haven organization has helped resettle two Puerto Rican families so far who have moved to New Haven because of Hurricane Fiona.

“They lost everything,” Maldonado said about why those families fled the island. ​“They don’t have any jobs, no food. They don’t have any opportunities for school for the kids.” She said that Junta has helped those families with the same wraparound services it provides to all of its clients — helping them find housing, healthcare, and access to other public benefits like food stamps.

“Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory,” Rodriguez stressed during the press conference. ​“We must continue to keep Puerto Rico front and center.”

Candelaria agreed. ​“Connecticut will always open its doors to the residents of Puerto Rico if they need to come here,” he said.

Click here to read more about the federal government’s disaster declaration in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Fiona, and click here to apply for individual direct assistance.

And click here and here to donate to hurricane recovery efforts in Puerto Rico.