Disaster Response Puerto Rico Project #44440

Disaster Legal Aid for Communities in Puerto Rico

by Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico

Project Report | Dec 24, 2022
Long term commitment towards a just recovery

By Ariadna Godreau Aubert | Founder and Director

When 2022 started, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico's team sat around a planning table to discuss if a permanent long-term disaster legal aid program was needed or if we needed to pivot the project instead. Although committed and involved in the attention of several hundred families still awaiting assistance after the impact of María in 2017 and the 2020 earthquakes, we felt it was time to shift our strategy, prioritize bolder demands and work on climate and housing justice for survivors. Hurricane Fiona, which im[acted on the Island in 2022, gave us a quick, condensed, and violent lesson about the relevance of these long legal empowerment and advocacy efforts. That's when we decided to reach out to you again and renew our strategy. We now integrate a more conscious racial perspective of disaster recovery equity and amplify bolder advocacy at federal and local levels. You answered. We wanted to finish this year with a report summarizing how your support and the support from fellow funders and donors have made a just recovery strategy new, more agile, and effective. This year, our just recovery program accompanied nearly 1350 families. We provided legal education and legal accompaniment and promoted advocacy next to survivors and groups that demand their right to equitable access to funds, dignified housing, and climate justice. We shifted our program to invest more in media, outreach, and policy reports that could create long and sustainable changes in procedures that impact survivors. Moreover, we were able to do more in less time. Your trust has been instrumental. We ask you to continue supporting this effort, even when an active disaster is not present. Instead of a long-term disaster legal aid program, we need a permanent commitment to Just Recovery.

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Aug 15, 2022
Sharing coordinates: 5 years after Maria

By Ariadna Godreau Aubert | Founder and Director

As we approach the fifth anniversary of the impact of Hurricane María, we are revisiting learnings and wins. Accompanying thousands of survivors across the year has shaped how we approach social impact advocacy and legal empowerment practices. We acknowledge that, in many cases, their conditions have not progressed according to expectations of a dignified life and secure housing. The intersection of multiple disasters - hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, the pandemic, Legal empowerment work is urgent with an official estimate of 3,500 blue tarps - and community numbers that considerably exceed that estimate- and with a slowed-down disaster assistance disbursement process.

At Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, we are working on a report that documents the outstanding debt to survivors on the Island and the required changes to shift this reality. This IV Towards a Just Recovery Report will analyze how narratives and assistance regarding housing and climate justice are shaping the possibilities of families to stay or return to their lands. Because the risk of displacement is latent - due to unsafe housing and unsuitable living conditions - understanding the role of the government, communities, and building power processes is crucial. This report, a document that has become a trailblazing platform for advocacy changes in its previous years of publishing, will be out in the first two weeks of September.

In preparation for this launch, last week, we had a chance to celebrate the 4th Just Recovery Summit in Puerto Rico. We brought together leaders, organizations, and groups from Puerto Rico and abroad to discuss climate change and the right to housing. This summit is a chance to demonstrate the relevance of these issues today for survivors of past disasters and the right to stay of the whole population.

Meanwhile, we are relaunching our projects at GlobalGiving. Beyond revamping the site, descriptions, and goals, we want to communicate to you and every donor the importance of legal empowerment and disaster legal aid initiatives. Please, stay tuned for more updates on this.

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Apr 13, 2022
Time is ticking: 3 months till hurricane season

By Ariadna Godreau Aubert | Founder and Director

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