Puerto Rico firm aids displaced families
Program provides new mattresses to evacuees in Central Florida
After arriving in Orlando from Puerto Rico, 29-year-old Juan Carlos Jurado faced the challenge of getting enough money to rent an apartment in east Orlando, where he moved Feb. 15, along with his pregnant wife and three children.
But he had yet to furnish their new place when Jurado’s family received an unexpected gift.
The Puerto Rico-based company Global Mattress, which is expanding its operations to Central Florida, gave the family four mattresses — a queen, one full and two twin-sized beds.
“This is just the beginning of a long-term community initiative whose main objective is to help families in Central Florida,” said Maria Isabel Sanquirico, a spokeswoman for Global Mattress. “The idea is to empower a group of local individuals to keep us updated.
“They will submit candidates on a monthly basis to be considered for free mattresses. They do not have to be Hispanic.”
On Wednesday, the company gave away about 50 mattresses to 22 different families in Kissimmee as part of their initiative.
Jurado is originally from Cayey, a town in the interior mountain region of the island.
Although his home had no major damage, he decided to leave with his family after his children suffered medical complications.
After the hurricane, hospitals on the island were not properly functioning.
“To think that I had to take my girls to a hospital where there was such an outbreak of different diseases and having a home without power … feeding ourselves with canned goods. I told myself, ‘I can’t give my family a life like this,’ ” he said. “I made that decision and we came here to have a better life for my children and not make them go through that situation.”
When the family first arrived in Central Florida, they stayed with friends for a month until they applied for and received a FEMA hotel voucher that was valid until Christmas Day.
Jurado explained that, thanks to housing aid from FEMA, he was able to find an apartment.
He pays $1,153 a month for three bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Although Jurado applied for the unit in December, he had to wait for the apartment to become available.
Global Mattress, which produces its beds on the island, is set to open five stores across the region in 2018.
One of the organizations that partnered with the company for the initiative was Latino Leadership, a non-profit organization based in Orlando that has offered social services to thousands of families in the Orlando area who were displaced by Hurricane Maria.
“We are still offering assistance in our Response Center for Puerto Rican Families, with clothing, food, housing guidance, job opportunities, government and health services, small business support, among other services,” said founder Marytza Sanz.