The head of a local organization that serves the Rochester Puerto Rican community is just back from a visit to that hurricane-ravaged island.
And Hilda Rosario Escher, the President of the Ibero American Action League, says there is still a crisis in Puerto Rico.
She spent a week in Puerto Rico, trying to help family members and other people in her hometown.
And speaking about the trip, tearfully at times, Rosario Escher says there are still too many people without basic necessities, power, clean water, and medical care. And she says she may make a return trip to the island.
“I left there, people with a lot of needs, that are going through a lot, and I felt that I could be of help, but I have responsibilities here , but I may go back," said Rosario Escher, who was interviewed by WXXI News via satellite phone during her recent trip because so much of the island is without cell phone service.
Rosario-Escher is worried that media attention is starting to move away from the ongoing problems in Puerto Rico.
“We don’t hear as much about Puerto Rico anymore and my message is that we are still in need, the families are still struggling. There are kids that are going to bed without eating; there are houses that have no roof.”
Rosario Escher says the Rochester Puerto Rican community, one of the largest concentrations in the U.S., is trying to work together to help families who may move here from Puerto Rico.
She hopes the Rochester community will rally around Puerto Ricans who leave the island to settle temporarily or permanently in this area.
On Thursday, Ibero and more than two dozen organizations will host a welcome reception for some of those families.
