St. Mary’s volunteer Olga Gonzalez and Blessed Sacrament kitchen volunteers Kim Schoolcraft and Louise Bianchini helped with dinner on Thursday evening.
WESTFIELD – Volunteers have been stepping up to help families from Puerto Rico who arrived in Westfield over the last two months, serving hot meals at Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament twice a week.
After Hurricane Maria struck the island on September 20 and families started to arrive, Yolanda Mendez of St. Mary’s Parish first started volunteering at Enlace de Familias in Holyoke several times a week, bringing donations that she had collected in church. One day they asked her why she was travelling to Holyoke when there were families staying at the Quality Inn in Westfield.
That same day, Yolanda made a pot of soup, called her friends Olga Gonzalez and Jaquelyn Luna of St. Mary’s who brought bread and desserts, and went to the hotel, asking if they could invite the families down for a meal. The owner said they could, and the families joined them. There are 25 families who have been staying at the Quality Inn, 60 to 70 individuals ranging in age from the youngest, 9 months old to 81 years old, Yolanda said.
“We started on our own and reached out to our family members and friends at St. Mary’s and Blessed Sacrament,” Yolanda said.
After that first meal, they thought about where they could hold hot meals for the families on a regular basis. The first call they made was to Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, which is close to the Quality Inn. Jacqueline said the church answered yes immediately.
Andrea Cook-Hewitt of Blessed Sacrament supervises the kitchen volunteers.
Starting at the end of October and all through November, they brought the families to the church twice a week for a meal. They also bring donations of warm clothes that they wash and sort, along with non-perishable items for the families, who only have microwaves and coffee makers to use at the hotel. Yolanda said they ask the families what they need before they reach out for donations.
Since the beginning of December, the group has been packing up and bringing the Tuesday meals to the hotel, and keeping the Thursday meals.
“The church has been really great about it all. Their members are volunteering, and they help pack the food,” said Olga about Blessed Sacrament. “We go from room to room to deliver them. They have become a little community in the hotel, and help each other out,” she added.
Andrea Cook-Hewitt of Blessed Sacrament supervises the kitchen volunteers at Blessed Sacrament. “It’s great,” she said. She said a young girl of about 4 or 5 has been teaching her different words in Spanish.
Thursday’s meal was chicken with rice, pork, ziti, salad and brownies with ice cream, all donated food said kitchen volunteer Steve Cipriani. He said parish member and newly-elected City Councilor Nick Morganelli had cooked the chicken that day, but had to leave for another commitment.
At 9 months old, Edgardo, here with volunteer Louise Bianchini is the youngest of the new arrivals.
“I think it helps a lot, getting the kids here and letting them run around, and getting a home-cooked meal,” said Kitchen volunteer Kim Schoolcraft.
Blessed Sacrament pastoral council member Kathy Harrington said Father Dan Pacholec and pastoral minister Mary Federici have been very supportive.
Olga also reached out to the Mayor’s office, and to the Westfield Spanish American Association (WSAA) for information about services available in the community for the families, many of whom lost everything in the storm. This Saturday, Amelia Park Children’s Museum is opening their doors to the children for a few hours to come and play for free. Several of the children have also been skating at the Amelia Park Ice Arena.
Jaquelyn said the families are in all different situations. “Each family is different,” she said. Some are planning to stay long-term; others are looking to go back to Puerto Rico. Some have contacts here, and have enrolled their children in school, registered to vote and are seeking jobs.
The cold weather has been a shock for some of the families, who have to rely on buses to get around, and have found it difficult to navigate. “On Sunday, it was the first time seeing snow; a new experience for them,” Jaquelyn said.
Donations of winter clothes are washed and sorted and available to the families.
Osvaldo Mendez, Yolanda’s husband, said what the families are going to do now is up to FEMA, who is paying for the hotel. He said right now, FEMA renewed the number of days they can stay through mid-January. “Most of these families don’t have family here. Some are planning on staying permanently because they lost everything. Some are on the fence, some are looking for jobs. Some are standing in the middle, waiting to see what’s happening in Puerto Rico,” he said.
Yolanda said one of the families has been “the most blessed,” a woman by herself with three children who was able to get an apartment in Powder Mill within three weeks. The St. Mary’s volunteers, who also include Zoria Santos, furnished the apartment completely through donations from friends, “from spoon to cup,” Yolanda said, adding that the family had to stop taking donations. They still come to the meals to get together with the other families, she said.
Many of the families don’t speak English. One who does is LizMarie Diaz, who arrived on November 7 with her 6 and 8 year old children. She said it is her first time in Westfield, but she lived in Worcester ten years ago for one year.
LizMarie’s husband Raul Jimenez had come to the U.S. on Sept. 15 to attend his brother’s wedding. After Hurricane Maria hit on Sept. 20, he tried to get back home to Puerto Rico, but he couldn’t get there. LizMarie had been staying with her parents while her husband was away. When she returned to her apartment in Caguas after the storm, she said the windows had flown open, water had gotten in and everything was flooded. The family lost everything.
New arrivals LizMarie Diaz and Raul Jimenez were hit hard by Hurricane Maria.
LizMarie arrived with the children on Nov. 7, after her mother-in-law helped with tickets. The family now plans to stay in Westfield. LizMarie went to Westfield Public Schools to enroll her children at Highland Elementary and met Denise Ruszala, director of assessment and accountability and Aixsa Rivera, the translator. “They helped me a lot, helped my kids with winter clothes, material for school, and backpacks,” LizMarie said. Aixsa, who attends St. Mary’s, also connected her with the other families.
“It’s a blessing. I feel really overwhelmed sometimes. I never imagined how much these people were going to help us. They bring us food, give us rides to offices. They help a lot,” LizMarie said. She said they have started to apply for help with housing until they settle in and get jobs. “Tomorrow I have an interview,” LizMarie said.
“It’s a pleasure, an honor, a moral duty for me. The greatest thing ever,” Yolanda said about the volunteer effort. She said in January she will have to step back, because she will be helping her daughter who is expecting a child.
“I definitely see it as a gift. When the storm first happened, I thought, what can I do,” said Jacquelyn. She said she still has family in Puerto Rico, and has had to stop following the news every day, because the worrying was not healthy. She is also studying for her master’s in public administration at Westfield State University, and said the group of volunteers will be meeting on Monday to discuss their plans going forward, as they all have jobs and school.
Meanwhile, they are planning a special holiday meal on December 21 with Parrandas, which Yolanda said is special Christmas music that they sing from house to house in Puerto Rico. Like the caroling we do here, she said.
