A Kissimmee
church ministers to those in need by trying to connect displaced Puerto Ricans with the jobs and services they need.
Juan Carlos Jurado knows he’s one of the lucky few to find a job after fleeing Puerto Rico.
But the demands of working a full-time job seven days a week at a Sanford aluminum factory have created a strain on his home life as he tries to care for his pregnant wife and three young children while they adjust to life in a new place.
“My 4-year old daughter is the one suffering the most here. I come home at midnight, and she’s still awake waiting for me to give her a goodnight kiss,” said Jurado, 29. “My 10-year-old son is having a hard time with his dad not around all the time … he’s been used to having attention from dad, and now he’s not getting any.”
Sunday he was hoping to make connections at Iglesia Episcopal Jesus de Nazareth’s health and job fair in hopes of finding employment that would allow him more freedom to help raise his family, which also includes a 1-year-old daughter.
The fair focused on providing a place for job seekers to find work and families from Puerto Rico to get medical attention, such as HIV screenings.
“We’re trying to help people find jobs and meet immediate needs,” said the Rev. José Rodríguez. “They need a place to live. I have one family who has two jobs. They have the means to pay for an apartment, but the apartments aren’t available to them, or they don’t qualify for an apartment because the price is so high.”
U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park, addressed the church’s congregation with prepared remarks in which she spoke of the challenges evacuees have faced, and also her own story as an immigrant from Vietnam.
In an interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Murphy said she’s in favor of extend-
ing the federal government’s FEMA voucher program, and touted her efforts to get federal dollars to school systems that are teaching newly arrived Puerto Ricans.
“If you think about the conditions on the island, we haven’t recovered yet,” Murphy said. “We’re very much in a relief effort on the island.”
However, since arriving in Florida, things have improved for the Jurados.
Through the Episcopal Office of Latino Assistance, or EOLA, they’ve received some furniture for their three-bedroom apartment, as well as other help.
After settling into a threebedroom apartment, all five of them slept together on the same sofa bed. But through EOLA, they received donated mattresses so now the children all have their own place to sleep.
But not everyone even has that much, said Manny Ayala, the group’s director of community engagement.
“The aid will vary depending on the need,” Ayala said. “We want to make sure these families are getting housing and have jobs. We want to coach them through this transition.”
Though the family’s journey has been tough since the storm struck, he said they’re planning on staying in Central Florida and he’s happy with the schools his children have been able to attend.
“A lot of blessings we have received,” he said. “What we really need are towels, something to make coffee … I’d like to get a TV for my son … little things to help set up our home.”