La Fondita de Jesus in the Community

Dear donors:

Receive our greetings on behalf of the family of Corporación La Fondita de Jesús, with our wishes of a New Year full of blessings to everyone. This time, we are reporting you our achievements and challenges in the provision of services to vulnerable communities through “La Fondita de Jesús en la Comunidad” program, this time from October, 2022 through January, 2023.

During this quarterly period, with your donations you allowed us to impact 4,459 unduplicated people (42% more than those served during the previous period) in the following 91 communities (72 of those [79%] were impacted for the first time by our project). It should be noted that during this quarterly period, we impacted the lives of people not only in the Municipality of San Juan, but also in 14 additional municipalities, expanding our focus area.

The distribution per genders were as follows:

• Females = 52%
• Males = 47%
• Non-Binary = 01%

More than a half (58%, n=2,598) of the population served were older adults (ages 60+) from vulnerable communities, most of them at imminent risk of losing their homes given their needs and life circumstances and social determinants of health.

During this reported quarter, “La Fondita de Jesús en la Comunidad” delivered a total of 11,263 units of services to the communities served.

Workshops were developed on the following themes:

• Provision of Adequate Food and Community Feeding Plan
  Communication 101
• Falls Prevention: How to Maintain a Safe Home?
• Digital Gap
• Parts of a Tablet

Some of the most important achievements during this period were as follows:

• During this period, we have impacted more than 70 new communities in different municipalities of Puerto Rico incluoding Caguas, Arecibo, Carolina, Manatí, Bayamón, Guaynabo, Luquillo, Río Grande, Canóvanas, Loíza, Utuado and Toa Baja, among others.
• We have connected with private and non-profit agencies to provide information about our organization services and the Community Development Program.
• We have been able to give better access to social and health services, workshops, orientations in collaboration with our mobile clinic within vulnerable communities in Puerto Rico.
• The project impacted 72 new communities.
• Collaborative agreements were established with the following organizations/entities: Iglesia Episcopal Diocese of Puerto Rico, Proyecto Hogar Amparo SRO, Fundación UPENS Inc., and ASSMCA.
• We continue to support some families at risk of losing their homes with overdue payments for water, electricity, and rent, preventing them from being evicted.

Challenges:

• Digital gap that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on older adults in vulnerable communities, among other populations, is still a challenge for them to coordinate appointments and access social, clinical, and other services, due to the unplanned digitization of government and private processes.
• Little or no lighting in the streets, sidewalks, basketball courts, and parks, among others. This situation worsened after four months of hurricane Fiona, as there are still many communities without electric power.
• Government agencies continue with the social stigma towards vulnerable communities and the LGBTQIA+ population.
• Lack of family/social support and transportation for older adults, being a barrier for their medical appointments, looking for their medications at the pharmacy, and obtaining their groceries, among others.
• Many of the older adults continue to struggle with the effects of Hurricane Fiona in their homes.
• History of criminal incidents in some communities, which sometimes makes the community space unsafe and community members prefer not to participate in the activities.

La Fondita de Jesús reiterates its gratitude to our social investors, who continue to give us the opportunity to continue impacting the lives of so many people daily! For additional information or if you have any question on this report, please do not hesitate to contact us through GlobalGiving Foundation. Thank you!

To all our distinguished donors:

I salute you on behalf of the family of Corporación La Fondita de Jesús, with our wishes of wellbeing, safety, and health for you all. Once again, we are reporting you our achievements and challenges providing services to vulnerable communities of San Juan through “La Fondita de Jesús en la Comunidad” program, this time from June to September, 2022.

During this quarterly period, with your donations you allowed us to impact 3,128 unduplicated people (31% more than those served from February to May, 2022) in the following 32 vulnerable communities, five (5) of which (16%) were impacted for the first time by our staff (arranged in alphabetical order):

• Capetillo (new community)
• Casa Juan Ruíz Velez Elderly
• Casa Mujer Dominicana
• Colectivo El Hangar
• Comedor Social del Viejo San Juan
• Comunidad Abierta
• Condominio Emiliano Pol
• Condomino Bahía A
• Corporación La Fondita de Jesús (Social Development and Self-Sufficiency Camp)
• Égida Alturas de San Juan (new community)
• El Gandúl
• Esperanzas Unidas
• Juana Matos Public Housing Project
• La Inmaculada Elderly Center
• La Marina
• La Perla
• Las Casas Public Housing Project
• Los Peñas (new community)
• Miramar Housing (new community)
• Monte Park Public Housing Project
• Municipality of Cataño
• Old San Juan
• Plebiscito
• San Cristobal Apartments/San Sebastián Apartments
• San Martín Public Housing Project
• Shangai
• Tras Talleres
• Trujillo Alto (new community)
• Villa Clemente
• Villa Palmeras

The distribution per genders were as follows:

• Females = 56.9%
• Males = 42.9%
• Trans women = 0.1%
• Non-binary = 0.1%

More than three-fifths (65%, n=2,026) of the population served were older adults (ages 60+) from vulnerable communities in San Juan, and most of them were at imminent risk of losing their homes given their needs and life circumstances.

During this reported quarter, “La Fondita de Jesús en la Comunidad” delivered a total of 12,519 units of services to the communities served (11% more units of services than the last quarter, and an average of four [4] units per person).

Workshops were developed on the following themes:

• Law 121 of August 1st, 2019 (Puerto Rico's Law of the Bill of Rights and the Public Policy of the Government in favor of Older Adults)
• The importance of home vegetable patches
• Construction of home vegetable patches
• Creation of emergency plans to use during natural disasters
• Before, during and after a natural disaster
• Hurricane season preparedness
• Preparation and correct use of emergency backpacks
• Preparedness in times of emergency
• Nutritional self-care
• Anxiety management
• The importance of community cupboards and diners
• Art and sexuality

Other services provided were as follows: food – hot meals/lunches and snacks, emergency grocery bags, food assistance to other organizations, nutritional supplements, workshops, educational materials, COVID-19 prevention kits, COVID-19 testing clinics, emergency backpacks kits, emergency pouch kits, OTC medicines kits, and hygiene kits, among others.

Achievements:

• It continues to increase the attendance of people to participate in the workshops and/or activities offered in the communities.
• A lot of motivation, gratitude and commitment have been observed, specifically in our elders when they receive their hot lunches, emergency grocery bags, nutritional supplements, among others.
• All communities continue with the security protocols to prevent and manage COVID-19, by properly using masks, washing hands, and maintaining physical distancing. Most of these people have their COVID-19 vaccines up to date, and participate actively in rapid testing clinics and receive prevention kits.
• Five (5) new communities were impacted.
• Most of the communities have adequate and safe spaces where activities and workshops were offered to people.
• New collaborative agreements were established with the following organizations and entities: Centros Sor Isolina Ferré, NAICA PR, Methodist Church, and Museum of Contemporary Art. In addition, new community leaders, social workers and other collaborators were identified to continue supporting vulnerable communities in San Juan.
• It was possible to support some families at risk of losing their homes with overdue payments for water, electricity, and rent, preventing them from being evicted.

Challenges:

• The digital gap that the COVID-19 pandemic has imposed on older adults in vulnerable communities, among other populations, continues to be a challenge for them to coordinate appointments and access social, clinical, and other services, due to the unplanned digitization of government and private processes.
• There is little or no lighting in the streets, sidewalks, basketball courts, and parks, among others. This threatens the safety of our older adults as they enter and leave their homes. Also, there is little or no maintenance in the green areas of the communities, accumulation of stagnant water, garbage, and debris in busy areas, which makes it difficult for pedestrian access, and causes diseases such as leptospirosis, and possible falls or accidents. This situation worsened after hurricane Fiona, as there are still many communities without electric power.
• We have observed that, in some communities, there are divisions among the residents themselves, which makes it difficult to identify additional needs and priorities among them.
• There is still a lack of family/social support and transportation for older adults, which has a significant impact on their personal obligations such as: medical appointments, looking for their medications at the pharmacy, and obtaining their groceries, among others.
• Older adults have reported little or no response from municipalities, before and after hurricane Fiona. Several communities and elderly centers have been abandoned by municipalities and administration of housing projects, emphasizing that they do not have a plan for the elders.
• Government agencies continue with the social stigma towards vulnerable communities and the LGBTQIA+ population.
• Some community leaders are influenced by politicians and their interests.
• We continue to observe urban displacement due to the excessive purchase of properties by foreigners to convert them into Airbnb-type hostels.
• There are multiple external community groups with very good intentions, but whose work leads to the duplication of services and efforts, promoting the perpetuation of welfare and not allowing the development of self-sufficiency among community members.

Hurricane Fiona:

After the passing of hurricane Fiona through Puerto Rico, immediately the day after we continued distributing food to the homeless, as well as to people at imminent risk of losing their homes from vulnerable communities in different municipalities, especially older adults. We are delivering an average of 1,200 hot meals daily in our organization, and to date we have impacted the lives of over 8,000 unduplicated people. Also, we are distributing emergency grocery bags in those communities. As well, we are providing preventive and primary health services to promote the well-being and safety of people affected by the hurricane. Among the municipalities that we have impacted so far are Trujillo Alto, Loíza, Toa Baja, Cataño, Utuado, San Juan, and we continue to receive calls from other mayors and communities requesting help. We understand that, as we identify more areas in need, these numbers will increase.

We reiterate our gratitude to committed social investors like you, who continue to give us the wonderful opportunity to continue with our mission day by day! For additional information or if you have any question about this report, please do not hesitate to contact us through GlobalGiving Foundation or at eotero@lafonditadejesus.org. Thank you!