PRoTechos has a budget around $1 million a year, from government grants and donors, some of it going to train and pay local workers.īut founder Emily Roisman will tell you grants are released slowly, so it’s a struggle. “They’re on the phone crying,” says Luis Re. Some have kids with asthma, and the mold makes it worse. Gorbea's career path rooted in her native Puerto Ricoįolks tell Luis Re they are desperate, living alone managing illnesses like diabetes or heart problems in homes no longer tight to the weather. The requests come in through municipalities or Facebook - even direct calls. They mostly prioritize the elderly, the ill, and those with little means trying to take care of kids. Luis Re tells me PRoTechos has a long list of people who need help. “The rain comes in and the houses get moisture and mold,” says Luis Re. Watch Video: After Hurricane Maria, San Juan still floods during heavy rains But they are corroded and leak everywhere, often many times a day, because that’s tropical Puerto Rico - brief passing showers all the time. Luis Re explains that many are shy of publicity, embarrassed by their lack of means and need for help.īlue tarps, of course, don’t last forever, and the family has put up old metal sheets found lying around as roof cover. It’s the home of a mom and three kids who aren’t here at the moment. The family uses hung sheets for privacy, though the PRoTechos crew has decided to add an interior wall both for roof support and dignity. I walk inside and you can feel the poverty two mattresses with old bedding are part of the cluttered living area. Now in the Toa Baja barrio, I pull up to a small, scruffy home where one of the crews is working.įrom Katrina to Maria to COVID: The disasters that proved the US needed more emergency health care workers It has repaired over 100 roofs, a big step for a small nonprofit, but there are thousands to go.
Years later, PRoTechos is still chipping away. They had the means to repair, but afterwards, Emily felt called to do something for those who didn’t. It sounded to her like a loud train, and destroyed some of the building’s windows.
They rode out Maria in their San Juan high-rise. It was founded by Emily Roisman, an attorney from Connecticut who moved here with her husband a decade ago. View Gallery: Puerto Rico one year after Hurricane Maria: Before and after photos
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