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October 13, 2017

Catholic community prepares to receive evacuees from Puerto Rico

REGIONAL
By Sharon Roulier

 

A woman carries bottles of water and food during a distribution of relief items Sept. 24 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, days after Hurricane Maria. (CNS photo/Alvin Baez, Reuters)

More than three weeks after Hurricane Maria tore through the Caribbean, most residents of Puerto Rico still don’t have electricity and many don’t have clean water or cell service. When the hurricane made landfall Sept. 20, it crippled the electric grid, which in turn impacted water supplies and telecommunications. The Catholic Church in Puerto Rico announced that it has already helped at least 50,000 affected by the hurricane with food and clothes.

Local residents refresh themselves with water from a pipe on the side of a road Oct. 4, more than two weeks after Hurricane Maria hit Ciales, Puerto Rico. (CNS photo/Carlos Barria, Reuters)

In the wake of the devastation, residents of Puerto Rico are beginning to migrate to escape their hurricane-damaged homes.

“A lot of folks will be making their way up here because of the devastation and the amount of time, energy and money it will take to rebuild,” said Kathryn Buckley-Brawner, director of Catholic Charities Agency of the Diocese of Springfield. In an effort to aid in the migration process, Buckley-Brawner provided recommendations in a question-and-answer format for parishes in the diocese to welcome the hurricane victims.

iObserve:  Who are we expecting to come to our diocese in the wake of the hurricane disaster?

Buckley-Brawner: We’re expecting families that are migrating north seeking assistance and maybe connecting with family and friends. These are people we would call internally displaced because all of them are citizens of the United States.

iObserve: When do you expect people to begin coming to our area?

Buckley-Brawner:  We are anticipating about 150 families coming into Massachusetts within the next month. And to some extent some families have already arrived.

iObserve: What will Catholic Charities’ role be?

Buckley-Brawner: The role of Catholic Charities will be to assist with housing search and rental assistance for any of the families that qualify. We will provide referral and case management as well.

iObserve: How can the parishes here in western Massachusetts prepare to be able to assist families?

Buckley-Brawner: Our parishes can assist by making sure they are keeping aware of who the newcomers are in their community and reaching out and providing clothing or food or other assistance that they can rally as a parish. For instance, parishes with food pantries should provide for extra food to be on hand. And we are heading into cold weather, so perhaps parishes could do a coat drive or warm clothing drive to have these items on hand in their particular parish. Because, obviously, people from Puerto Rico would not have had need for these kinds of items in the first place.

iObserve: What is the most helpful thing that folks can do?

Buckley-Brawner: We can be aware of who is entering into our community, welcome them and find ways to help them settle into the community. Making our churches centers of welcome and assistance for some of the very basic needs that they will come with is among the most important actions that we can take.

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