By Will Frechette | GlobalGiving
As the people of Puerto Rico continue to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Maria, we're proud to share stories from our nonprofit partners who have remained hard at work, leading ongoing recovery and rebuilding efforts in their communities.
The incredible generosity of GlobalGivers like you and more than 49,000 others who've come together to raise more than $11 million has helped make these stories possible:
In southeastern Puerto Rico, Programa de Educacion Comunal de Entrega y Servicio (P.E.C.E.S.) delivers programs to promote education, at-risk youth intervention and health, and economic and community development. To help their communities recover from Maria, P.E.C.E.S. is rebuilding homes in coastal areas where residents received little to no support from FEMA or insurers, as well as launching a series of workshops and events aimed at using arts and sports to help old and young folks alike heal from trauma experienced during the hurricane. And thanks to funding from GlobalGivers like you, they're now able to purchase a passenger van to transport elderly residents to doctor and therapy appointments, pharmacies, and grocery stores.
Asesores Financieros Comunitarios is strengthening the capacity of Puerto Rico's nonprofit community, which experienced severe downturns in their finances and staffing due to Maria. Through a series of trainings for nonprofit staff and board members on issues of administration, accounting, legal compliance, and governance, they aim to help nonprofits achieve sound administrative practices and improve the overall delivery of social services on the island.
In the city of San Antonio on Puerto Rico's northwestern coast, Proyecto La Nueva Esperanza works with elderly residents who live alone to ensure they have access to medical care, meals, and other essentials. They've recently been able to increase their meal delivery program from two days a week to five, achieve their goal for improving living conditions among their program participants, and have announced they'll be starting repairs on storm-damaged homes in the coming months.
Jovenes de Puerto Rico en Riesgo’s mission is to prevent youth violence and help at-risk youth complete their education and develop into leaders in their communities. Maria dealt a heavy blow to their organization, hindering its capacity to execute their programs. While their staff has finally been able to resume its programs for at-risk youth, the nonprofit has a long way to go to fully recover in terms of financial and organizational capacity. With a recent round of funding from GlobalGiving, Jovenes de Puerto Rico en Riesgo will be able to bring on development staff to improve their financial situation as well as creating and implementing a community response plan in preparation for the next hurricane to strike the island.
Instituto Nueva Escuela, which supports and promotes Montessori teaching methods in Puerto Rico, is working in the communities it serves to implement reforestation and renewable energy projects, expand access to potable water, and launch volunteer programs in Maria-impacted neighborhoods.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico's facility in San Lorenzo suffered extensive damage during Hurricane Maria, so much so that the building remains closed more than a year and a half after the storm. They've continued to provide their hot meal and educational programs to children in the community, but working out of a rented property has caused logistical challenges. With support from the GlobalGiving community, they will be moving into a former elementary school that will provide a safe, welcoming space for the youth they serve.
We're also excited to share that one of the leaders of our partners working on Hurricane Maria recovery efforts, Ana Yris Guzmán of Nuestra Escuela, was selected as a member of the first class of Disaster Feedback Fellows of the Disaster Recovery Network at GlobalGiving. She joined nine other fellows from community-based nonprofits to spend a week in Washington, D.C. this past October learning from each other, promoting their disaster recovery projects to peers and funders, and speaking at and attending the 2018 Feedback Summit.
Thank you again for your generous support of our community-led nonprofit partners who are leading recovery and rebuilding efforts after Hurricane Maria. Look for more stories of progress in your inbox in the coming months.
With gratitude,
Will + the GlobalGiving Team
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When a disaster strikes, recovery efforts led by people who live and work in affected communities are often overlooked and underfunded. GlobalGiving is changing this reality. Since 2004, we've been shifting decision-making power to crises-affected communities through trust-based grantmaking and support.
We make it easy, quick, and safe to support people on the ground who understand needs in their communities better than anyone else.
They were there long before the news cameras arrived, and they’ll be there long after the cameras leave. They know how to make their communities more resilient to future disasters, and they’re already hard at work. GlobalGiving puts donations and grants directly into their hands. Because the status quo—which gives the vast majority of funding to a few large organizations—doesn’t make sense.
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