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!