WHY DO WE NEED OFFICIAL NAMES?

As everyone in Puerto Rico has known for decades, the lack of street addresses has caused confusion, wasted tremendous amounts of time (due to being lost), and led to the premature death or suffering of too many needless victims of illness and injury. 

As witnessed during our extensive Maria relief operations, communications were severed, and there was a tremendous amount of information that would have aided the effort if we had possessed access to it.  Emergency response resources were only reachable through a personal visit – impossible for many.  Land based telephone lines became history, and the 911 system was (and is) neither properly implemented nor reliable.  Locating people in need was extremely difficult as relief workers struggled to find locations without addresses on streets without names.  Absent data on residents’ conditions, it was laborious to connect individuals in need with necessary medicines and treatment.  It was almost impossible to notify residents regarding supply availability, water and rations distribution, medical treatment options, and other important events or relief opportunities.  Likewise, those whose requirements were great could not contact emergency services to request assistance. 

Recognizing that having only 50% of the streets in Puerto Rico named, the Federal Government has tasked several agencies to assist in naming the streets and implementing a house numbering system that is standardized. iCasaPR has been funded to coordinate 78 municipalities and assist them in the task of naming streets and ensuring that the data are incorporated into a central mapping system for PR conforming to standards that are consistent with Census & USPS Tiger Files, QGIS, Open Source Maps, and others.

With the establishment of the USPS approved addressing, home delivery service becomes a possibility. This service is contingent upon the postal system allocating the required funds to our local office.