GREENACRES, Fla. — Nearly a week after a Learjet crash killed nine people in Greenacres and forced hundreds from their homes, some residents are still waiting for an answer to the question that has consumed their lives since the crash.
For those who haven't been allowed to return, the cost of being displaced is adding up.
"When are they going to let us back home?" Joseph Santana Quiroz asked WPTV.
He hasn't been allowed home all week.
He told WPTV he has also had to miss work without pay.
"If you can't work, they can't pay you?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked.
"Exactly," Santana Quiroz said.
But even without a paycheck, the bills don't stop.
"We can't tell the bank we can't pay because this happened," Santana Quiroz said.
He is one of 31 people still sheltering at the Greenacres Community Center as the investigation continues.
Now, organizations are stepping in to help with everything from those immediate financial pressures to the challenges residents could face when they are finally allowed back home.
$1,000 cash grants for impacted residents
The Emergency Assistance Foundation, a West Palm Beach-based nonprofit, launched the People First Fund for Green Acres Mobile Home Community Learjet Crash to provide direct financial assistance to eligible residents impacted by the crash.
"We actually are ready and prepared to start taking in grant applications at this time," said Josselyn Hodges, director of the People First Fund Initiative at Emergency Assistance Foundation.
She told WPTV the organization normally responds to disasters and hardships around the world, but this time the need is close to home.
"We are a global public charity that does financial assistance to impacted individuals after disasters around the world. However, we're headquartered here in West Palm Beach, so we felt compelled to help our neighbors," Hodges said.
The organization plans to provide $1,000 cash grants to eligible individuals, allowing residents to decide where that money is needed most.
"Our goal is to be able to provide that financial assistance so people can take care of their most urgent self-assessed needs," Hodges said. "We understand that when people get displaced from their homes, you know, they experience financial hardship in seeking temporary housing, in seeking food and other personal hardships."
Hodges said the cash assistance is intended to complement the food, shelter and other services being provided by different organizations.
"While there may be other organizations that support with food or housing, you know, this financial assistance and cash assistance that will be, you know, landing directly into the hands of individuals is meant to be able to help those individuals, you know, take, you know, buy supplies or take care of whatever items are, you know, heaviest in their mind at this time," Hodges said.
Through donations from community foundations and individual donors, Hodges said the fund currently has enough money to provide $1,000 grants to 18 people.
But the organization wants to go further.
"We understand that there are about 68 impacted individuals from the mobile home community, the Green Acres mobile home community, so we are calling on to the community to come together and be able to, you know, turn that compassion into tangible support and help us reach every single one of these members," Hodges said.
Fund has enough money to help 18 people so far
Hodges said the goal is to raise enough money to provide a grant to all 68 individuals the organization has identified.
Residents looking for assistance won't simply have to navigate the process on their own. Hodges said EAF is working with members of the Emergency Operations Center to identify people with the greatest needs and provide them with a direct link to apply.
For residents who don't know when they'll be able to return home, Hodges said the goal is to provide some immediate relief while other assistance is still coming together.
"We believe in the power of community. We know that people wanna come together and help community members in the wake of hardships and disasters, so we have a way to be able to provide that immediate impact now while other resources are still mobilizing," Hodges said. "That is our goal, to be able to support people in the very first critical days of their recovery process."
Preparing for what happens when residents return home
The financial fallout may not end when people are finally able to return.
State Rep. Debra Tendrich is working through her organization, Eat Better Live Better, to prepare for another expense some families could face: replacing spoiled food.
"If you look at what's happening with their electricity being cut off and the power grid shut down, you're looking at people returning to their homes and having to throw out their entire refrigerator full of food that they might have just purchased or or that they need to fill now," Tendrich said.
For families already dealing with displacement and lost income, Tendrich wants to make replacing those groceries one less thing they have to worry about.
"I'm really working right now to make sure that we are able to help fill those refrigerators," Tendrich said.
Tendrich's nonprofit operates an affordable farmers market-style food pantry with fresh and healthy items.
She said her organization was already seeing an increased demand for grocery assistance before the crash.
"We, we've been seeing an increased need as is. My organization has received between 25 and 100 new applications every week needing grocery assistance," Tendrich said. "So to pile that up with having to now, have your entire refrigerator needs to be thrown out and then also replenish that just doubles down on how hard times are right now for my community."
For Tendrich, it's about helping families move toward some sense of normalcy after days of uncertainty.
"The last thing that you want to worry about is how are you going to feed yourself, your family and your children after a tragedy like this," Tendrich said.
Tendrich said displaced families are also dealing with needs that can easily be overlooked during a prolonged evacuation, including getting to doctor's appointments and accessing medications.
"Families with their children are trying to get to doctor's appointments, get their medications that they need, uh, we're really trying to make sure that people are accessing everything they need at this moment to get through this while they're displaced from their homes," Tendrich said. "We're doing everything we can between the county, the police, the fire and my office. We're working hard to make sure not only while you're, you're displaced, but once you get back home, we're trying to make sure that you're supported as much as possible during this, this tough time."
Help continues while families wait
While groups are getting to work countywide, help continues while families wait as other organizations are addressing needs at the shelter itself.
Many other organizations like the Red Cross, and community members have dropped off supplies this week.
Dare to Care has been providing mobile showers and laundry services at the Greenacres Community Center.
"They called us on Monday and said, ‘Can you come out?’ We've been here ever since," said Timothy Murphy, with the organization Dare to Care.
"My message to residents is that there are people who care. We're here for those in need no matter what," he said. "When crisis happen it just complies, so we're here to relieve some of the loss."
It remains unclear how long all of the impacted residents will be displaced.
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