Interview with Angie Hernandez

Link to full recording of the interview: https://soundcloud.com/user-83889900/interview-with-angie-hernandez

Angie Hernandez came into the Loisaida Center with Chino Garcia on a Friday afternoon, only a couple hours before a rally for CHARAS community center on the anniversary of its members’ eviction 20(?) years ago. Angie and Chino had been longtime friends, both active members of the Loisaida Community for years. Chino was one of the founding members of CHARAS, which is an acronym for the founding members’ names: Chino, Armando, Rabbit, Angelo, and Papo(?). They had come into the Loisaida Center so Chino could talk through some logistics for the event later that night, but I began talking to Angie, and her story became the subject of my interest.

 

Angie had moved to Puerto Rico about five years ago after her retirement, because, “This is the dream of all old age Puerto Ricans of one day returning to the island” she said. In was in mid-September when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico and Angie had no other choice but to return to New York City, where her son still lives. Since October, Angie has been trying to rebuild her life in a place she had called home for so long, although re-entering has proven to be difficult. Angie has been homeless and is still searching for housing after almost a year. She is an example of what Hurricane Irma has done to Puerto Rico, as well as an example of the dire housing situation in New York. Because of these issues, Angie has found herself stuck in placelessness. Even though New York has been her home before, and has been part of her identity, she has lost the “home” and now exists in a world in between many.

 

Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico on September 20th, 2017 and left the island devastated. There has been some controversy over the death toll with some reporting up to 4000 and the official number given by the government saying 64, as of May 2018. A report from the Journal of American Medicine Assn. has put it at 1,139. On top of that, there are still places on the island that don’t have electricity.

 

This wreckage was why Hernandez decided she could not stay. She recounted that the retirement home she was staying in (Rio Piedras, San Juan) lost power, which was particularly tragic for the home since many residents needed medication to be refrigerated, and a number of people ended up passing away because of this. Luckily Angie was able to stay with friends on the other side of the island, in Arecibo, for the duration of the hurricane. It was on a four-hour journey on a public bus back to San Juan that Hernandez saw the reality of what had happened. She remembered seeing fallen bridges, destroyed homes and uprooted trees everywhere. The sequence of events left Hernandez traumatized, she said. She was originally going to go on a boat but because of her mental health conditions, she was able to get on an airplane.

 

Now that Hernandez is back in New York, she has had to manage the trauma of living through Maria, while also having to search for stability in New York, which is hard enough as it is. I asked Hernandez if there are exceptions for people in her situation that make it easier to get past long waitlists, and unfortunately, she hasn’t had much luck yet. She mentioned that she didn’t even bother with NYCHA housing, and she had looked to the Department for the Aging for help and through that was connected to “section 202” housing, but when she went there, she was told there was a five-year waitlist. Nonetheless, she had just learned of a service through an organization called “Community Access” that she can bring a psychosocial evaluation to and possibly go through there. She credits her son for helping her through the process, and has an optimistic outlook and credits God for protecting her and grounding her. She credits New York Disaster Interfaith Services for helping her through the way and says that something is coming very soon. Her faith in God has grounded her in a time of vulnerability, helping her get through very difficult times. If she ends up living in the Lower East Side, she has a church that she plans on going to, but for her, God does not need to be connected to a religion, which has set definitions of god, but rather it is acknowledging a higher power and a reason to stay motivated. Faith-based organizations are places for people to connect with others and build community, which is crucial in times of need.

 

Hernandez’ story is an example of the unfortunate reality that many displaced Puerto Ricans face. She worked her whole life so she could one day retire in Puerto Rico, but now at a late stage in life, she is forced to restart. Climate change has undoubtedly increased the likelihood of these storms and made weather more severe. It has displaced many people with very little social services and government funding to help. Communities should be able to take care of its residents no matter where they are coming from.