City to aid Maria vics after FEMA funds dry up

The city expects to house between 600 and 700 Puerto Ricans who fled here after Hurricane Maria through its homeless shelter system when Federal Emergency Management Agency funding for their temporary housing expires Saturday, Mayor de Blasio’s office said.

“The Trump administration abandoned the people of Puerto Rico. Our mayor will not. We will shelter our fellow U.S. citizens, and we will do all we can to help them to get back on their feet,” de Blasio spokeswoman Jaclyn Rothenberg said.

FEMA’s Transitional Shelter Assistance to storm victims is set to expire on Saturday — which would mean 108 households receiving help in New York City will no longer be able to stay in city hotels paid for by FEMA. The average household is composed of three people, the city said.

Those families will receive “direct transportation” from the FEMA-paid hotel to a hotel room operated by the Department of Homeless Services, City Hall said, without having to stop at the city’s homeless intake center first.

However, “culturally competent intake staff ” will eventually meet those families to help them formally apply for shelter, vet their eligibility to remain in the city’s system and to connect them with other benefits. They will receive case management services and housing assistance, the city said. Homeless Services will partner with the Education Department to ensure children can continue to access their schools from the hotels, and try to place young people in programs like Summer Youth Employment.

Immediately after the storm, the city opened a service center that helped about 2,500 households from Puerto Rico, City Hall said, and connected more than 1,200 households to housing outside of the shelter system. Some who fled to the city after the storm have since returned to the island, or have plans to in the coming weeks, the city said.

FEMA did not respond to a request for comment.