By The Star Staff
More than $1.3 million in funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) have been allocated to repair three senior living homes in the municipalities of Dorado, Ponce and Culebra. The projects, like similar ones, are focused on providing adequate and safe places for Puerto Rico’s elderly population.
The three centers will benefit around 300 senior citizens. According to the 2023 census, the population over 65 years of age in Puerto Rico is around 771,000 people.
“The elderly are especially vulnerable in times of disaster. For FEMA, it is vital to help them have care facilities and places of recreation that offer the appropriate conditions for their health and safety,” said Federal Disaster Recovery Coordinator José G. Baquero. “The repairs to these three centers not only benefit these seniors, but also their respective families. This is all part of our commitment to the comprehensive recovery of Puerto Rico.”
One of the homes that has already completed its repairs is La Nueva Aurora, Carmen Josefina “Cambu” López Rijos Senior Center in Dorado, with an allocation of over $779,200. The center serves 120 citizens aged 60 or older and another 130 people, including regular participants and others to whom food service is provided at home.
Voltage regulators were repaired there, and lighting fixtures, metal gazebo roofs, a water tank, exhaust fans and air conditioners were replaced, among other renovations.
According to the center’s director, social worker María Brito, the center has an arts and crafts room, an interior patio, a terrace, a dining room, a kitchen and a food pantry. La Nueva Aurora provides entertainment spaces for participants, as well as breakfast, snacks and lunch. Some 30 employees provide social work, nursing, recreation, housekeeper and transportation services, among others.
Another center where $69,000 in renovations have been completed is the Marcelina Díaz Pellot Senior Center in the offshore island municipality of Culebra. In Ponce, meanwhile, the Ernestina Rodríguez Senior Home is undergoing a nearly $489,000 overhaul.
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