Amaury
Hi, My name is
Amaury.
COVID changed the course of Maury’s life in ways he couldn’t have anticipated. Job loss and family crisis left him scrambling, but some tenacity and a referral from his pastor changed everything.
Maury grew up in Cuba, was drafted into the Cuban Army in 1986 and sent to Angola where he served for three years. Serving in the Cuban army was a bleak existence that most of us in the United States couldn’t even begin to understand.
Upon returning from Africa to Cuba, a communist country, Maury worked jobs whose wages didn’t cover even the most basic of necessities. Realizing that life will never be different, Maury applied for political asylum and a U.S. Visa. His Visa was granted on March 18, 2000. Coming into the United States through New York, Maury settled in Minnesota and worked as a driver in the hospitality industry.
Then came COVID.
“Las cosas materiales son temporales, pero solo una vida. Everything material comes and goes, but only one life.
”
COVID changed the course of Maury’s life in ways he couldn’t have anticipated. He got laid off from his job as was the case for many hospitality workers. He could not secure employment. He and his wife moved to Nebraska. After a significant family crisis, Maury lost everything. Unable to retrace his steps back to Minnesota, or get employment in Nebraska, Maury relocated with just the clothes on his back to Philadelphia. Knowing no one in Philadelphia and having no resources of his own, he found his way to Philly House through a referral from his Pastor, Victor Calderon, also one of Philly House’s Ambassadors.
Maury has been living in our emergency shelter and immediately got to work. Already with a full-time job driving cars, Maury is working on his checklist securing his access to Medicaid, a bank account, housing and transportation. When asked what he wants people to know about his life, he says, Las cosas materiales son temporales, pero solo una vida. Everything material comes and goes, but only one life. For Maury, Philly House provided a warm and safe place to reset. It gave him the boost needed to get back on track. We celebrate Maury and his tenacity. It’s the world we want to see.
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