Caribe Funeral Home

They lived out of the motel until a temporary apartment was found for them.After fleeing their village outside Aleppo, a Syrian refugee family seeks a new life in Tampa.Aug. 03, 2017Story and photographs by LOREN ELLIOTTTimes Staff PhotographerThe Days Inn on E Fletcher Avenue didn’t look like a pit stop on anyone’s path to the American dream. The chain motel, tucked into the elbow of a freeway exit in the north Tampa sprawl, was more than 6,500 miles from the Syrian village outside Aleppo that Momen Alsaloum and his family used to call home. Along with more than 4.8 million other Syrians, they fled the violence that killed some 400,000 of their countrymen. Now more than five years after leaving everything behind, even the family photo albums, they settled into a cluster of hotel rooms with cream-colored walls. Their American journey was just beginning.On a January afternoon, just days after they arrived, Momen stood anxiously in the doorway, unsure of what their future would hold. Inside, his wife, Nahed, pulled a sweater over the head of their squirming baby boy, Riad. Outside, traffic on Interstate 275 hummed by.LOREN ELLIOTT TimesMomen Alsaloum sits in his father's wheelchair while holding his son, Amin, 3, at a Days Inn in north Tampa on moving day. The family’s case manager later picked up them and their belongings for a move to a temporary apartment.The Alsaloums were a family in limbo.In 2011, their lives were normal. Momen, the fifth of seven children, was a 16-year-old student learning to be an electrician. He lived with his family in a one-story white house. Oranges, grapes and olives grew in the backyard. Then the bombs began to fall. Their neighbors’ homes were destroyed. A civil war was beginning. At first, the Alsaloums sought refuge on an abandoned farm. There was water to drink in the well, and aid organizations brought them canned lentils, tomatoes and beans, but only enough for one meal a day. Roughly three years later, they left for Turkey with only the clothes on their backs. “We... (Tampabay.com)

The VIP turnout was for Caribe's strong commitment to aid Caribbean and Latino families in their time of mourning. Roy Hastick, president/CEO of Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gilford Monrose, president of the 67th Precinct Clergy Council and state Assemblymembers Rhoda Jacobs and Helene Weinstein were among the attendees at the June 8 ribbon-cutting at Caribe, located at 1922 Utica Ave. between Aves. L and M. In addition to providing professional funeral services and two large state-of-the art chapels, Caribe utilizes Creole and Spanish speaking customer service representatives and offers live webcasts and videotaping to share funerals, memorial and graveside service with overseas family and friends. The home also coordinates funeral services in the U.S. and overseas “I have had the privilege of serving many families from all walks of life, honoring the deceased and comforting their families,” said Caribe Funeral Home owner Joseph Fanzai. “At Caribe Funeral Home, we are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to make a difficult time easier for the families we serve.” “We are delighted that Caribe Funeral Home has provided affordable funeral services for people of the Caribbean and Hispanic Diaspora who have specific needs and have created jobs right here in the community,” said Hastick of the firm, which has created 12 new full- and part-time jobs and plans to add more positions in the next 18 months. For information, call (718) 444-1818 or visit www. caribefuneral.com.Star-studded “Groovin’ in the Park' concert coming to Queens “Groovin’ in the Park,” the big summer concert starring Gladys Knight, Beres Hammomd, Jimmy Cliff, Boyz II Men and Beenie Man, come to Queens today, starting at noon in Roy Wilkins Park in Queens. General admission is $69.99 and children 12 and under will be admitted free (when accompnaied with a parent with ID). A $150 VIP admission includes special viewing and access to a hospitality lounge. Roy Wilkins Park is at Merrick and Baisley Blvds. For ticket info... (New York Daily News)