Posted on 09/13/2018 5:04:36 AM PDT by McGruff
Like many Puerto Ricans who fled to the mainland after Hurricane Maria, Jose Santiago has been scrambling to find a place to live. The federal vouchers that pay for his hotel room near the Orlando airport expire at checkout time Friday.
He has visited apartment complexes, but his name gets put on waiting lists. He has applied for assistance for apartment housing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it won’t give him any money unless he has a lease. And he can’t sign a lease without money for a deposit and first and last months’ rent.
Santiago, 40, can afford to pay only $500 to $800 a month with his job driving cars for an auction house. At this point, he’s ready to just rent a room to put a roof over his head.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Yep, that was exactly what I was thinking. He’s probably been living the “vacation” life for a whole year now and hasn’t saved a dime.
The same thing happened after Katrina. We had people who were being housed here in West Texas. Most left before their temporary help ran out, moving back to NOLA, joining family elsewhere, or making other arrangements for permanent housing. A small handful did exactly as this guy did, though; they failed to make other plans or arrangements for themselves and had to be pried out of their “temporary” housing.
A year’s worth of free housing is pretty darned generous, and I have no doubt the recipients are informed well in advance that the help has an expiration date.
The “lack of planning” saying is entirely appropriate.
I TOTALLY agree!!!
There are STILL families in Central Texas living free in hotels from Harvey!!!!! Jobs everywhere, mobile homes available and lots and we still pay for them to wreck hotel rooms. Actually it is a two way street. Hotels get revenue from taxpayers and they are happy to do so. Illegals, excuse me, the illegals American baby, gets the family a hotel room for over a year and they can save lots of money and somehow afford a new truck.
FEMA was in our county for MONTHS after the storm BEGGING for people to apply!!!!! It’s the same ole taxpayer boondoggle that we have lots of money to go around.
During Carla in the ‘60’s. Refugees came to central Texas for two weeks and went home and rebuilt or relocated. Red Cross was the only free lodging. A cot and blanket. Now, they get hotel rooms some with breakfast, even though they get free food from Lone Star Card and food banks. It’s just a different kind of shopping experience. America is free to them in the wrong way, no personal responsibility.
There is a large job awaiting in PR.
There are about 5-7 MILLION bottles of drinking water that were abandoned on an airport runway that were paid for by USA taxpayers /FEMA that were stashed there & NEVER distributed to PR residents.
None are drinkable now, due to the hot sun, etc.
IF that water can be used for gardens, or some other use, fine.
Meanwhile, the alphabet news channels are saying “Those bottle of water need to be returned”. Returned to whom? The bottlers?
There should be no return to the bottlers. Why should they take a large hit on their business due to the malfeasance of the politicians of PR?
The pics of those pallets of bottled water need to be spread far & wide to show the world the complete incompetence of the PR politicians, and especially the San Juan mayor who still keeps blasting Trump.
They did a study and less than a third of them receive any kind of aid, and that’s mostly food stamps or aid (such as Medicaid) which they were already receiving before they came to the mainland. Most of them are middle class or better, and my building in Jax has gotten several prosperous Puerto Rican families (who are certainly not getting rental assistance!) and will probably stay here and not go back to the Dem controlled quasi socialist Puerto Rico. Too bad for PR, but until they get rid of the Dems, every day is a new hurricane.
However, the press wouldn’t mention this.
TIme to go home, I think. Use your homeowner’s insurance to rebuild your house, since the power is back on.
Oh, you didn’t have a house, and were living in some shanty, and didn’t have insurance because you were renting and the slumlord isn’t rebuilding?
Well, that’s the territory you live in, run by the government you elected. A year is long enough to get your life back together.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.