Like many Puerto Ricans who fled to the mainland after Hurricane Maria, Jose Santiago has been scrambling to find a place to live. The federal vouchers that pay for his hotel room near the Orlando airport expire at checkout time Friday.

He has visited apartment complexes, but his name gets put on waiting lists. He has applied for assistance for apartment housing from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but it won’t give him any money unless he has a lease. And he can’t sign a lease without money for a deposit and first and last months’ rent.