LANCASTER, Pennsylvania — Evelyn Colón kisses the forehead of her mother, whom she cares for in her small apartment in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where they arrived from Puerto Rico three years ago after fleeing the devastation of Hurricane María.

Like thousands of Puerto Ricans, Colón is grateful for the new beginning, but still misses her island.

“It made me very sad to have to leave Puerto Rico,” she explains, “I knew that I was coming to a place where one can do many things that perhaps could not be done in Puerto Rico, apart also for the health of my parents, plus, here I had my children and grandchildren.”

Colón, 69, was busy preparing a party for her mother’s 91st birthday with a cake full of candles.