Vouchers for those displaced by Maria expire

A federal program that temporarily housed thousands of families displaced by Hurricane Maria — hundreds of them at Central Florida hotels — expired Friday.

Hotel vouchers for the families still relying on the federal Transitional Sheltering Assistance program ran out at checkout time, despite outcry from advocacy groups that more aid was needed.

Two organizations, LatinoJustice and Vamos4PR, spearheaded a lawsuit that prompted a last-minute reprieve as the program was hours away from expiring in early July.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Hillman later rejected a request to extend the aid, adding that, while his Aug. 30 ruling was “the result that I am compelled to find, it is not necessarily the right result.”

“However, the Court cannot order that Defendants to do that which in a humanitarian and caring world should be done — it can only order the Defendants to do that which the law requires,” Hillman wrote.

At the time of the judge’s ruling, there were 322 families in Florida still enrolled in the program, down from 617 on June 30.

As the vouchers expired, advocacy organizations in Central Florida were finding alternatives for the families affected.

The Hispanic Federation hosted an event in Orlando on Friday morning, where they handed $1,000 to families displaced by the hurricane that hit Puerto Rico almost a year ago.

“We helped 55 families this week. We handed checks … 42 of them received checks. We’ve been working with the Abrazo Boricua coalition, and others, to identify apartments or homes for them to settle into,” said Yanidsi Vélez, the federation’s deputy director.

The checks were given to cover the costs of mattresses, vehicles, medical expenses and other costs not covered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Vélez said.

The funds come from a program the Hispanic Federation created for families displaced by Hurricane Maria. About $160,000 has been distributed to about 165 families, according to Vélez.