Resource fair helps Hurricane Maria victims get back on their feet

<p>Hurricane Maria evacuees continue to struggle months after the storm struck the island of Puerto Rico.</p>

News 12 Staff

Mar 24, 2018, 5:24 PM

Updated 2,448 days ago

Share:

Hurricane Maria evacuees continue to struggle months after the storm struck the island of Puerto Rico.
A resource fair has been set up at Hostos Community College to help families with job searches, health care and social services.
Thousands of families have had to leave everything they knew and loved behind in order to migrate from Puerto Rico here to New York.

Puerto Rico was pounded by both Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September, which disrupted the power grid, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity or easy access to food.
Although progress has been made with more than 90 percent electricity restored on the island, according to FEMA, families who had their homes destroyed need help transitioning to life on the mainland.
At the resource fair, families can receive real time assistance with FEMA applications.
The federal agency has helped displaced families with a temporary housing program in the states, which has been extended until May. However, relief groups are looking to give these families a permanent solution.

Families also have access to mental health screenings. Suicide rates have reportedly gone up in Puerto Rico since the hurricane. Puerto Rico had a compromised state of mental health even before the hurricane because of economic decline.