On January 7, 2020 PR was hit by an earthquake, which affected the southwest area of our island. We still feel tremors of smaller magnitude at the island level. Some of the residents in these areas lost their homes and others suffered significant damage to their structures, so they are mostly sleeping in tents, cars or outdoors. They are lacking blankets to cover themselves, with these funds we would be providing with 100 blankets for the people impacted by the earthquake in PR.
There are currently around 2,859 refugees, including 387 children. But in addition to refugees thousands of people are sleeping outside their homes for fear that they will collapse due to aftershocks. And others because their houses collapsed or left in uninhabitable conditions. The months of December, January and February are the coldest on our island, one of the biggest needs of families impacted by the earthquake right now is lacking blankets to cover themselves at night.
With this Project we will be providing blankets to cover the urgent need for shelter to people who are staying out of their homes until they are relocated in a safe place. These people (children and aging) do not have access to their belongings, as they cannot enter their homes because of the risk posed by the conditions in which their homes remained. They also do not have water and electric service, making it difficult for them to wash their belongings.
Through this Project we will be covering the urgent need for shelter for 100 people out of the thousands who are staying outside their homes as a result of the earthquake. Even if a blanket seems insignificant, in the face of the suffering and pain that these people are experiencing, in addition to covering physical need, covering them becomes in long term run, a show of solidarity and hope, that their needs were attended at the time when they needed it most.
