Disaster Legal Aid for Communities in Puerto Rico

As we approach the next hurricane season at Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, we prepare to respond to the potential impacts on low-income families. We are eager to share with you some of the main components of that strategy.

1. We continue advocacy efforts to ensure just recovery for survivors of previous disasters, such as Hurricane María, the 2020 earthquakes, and Hurricane Fiona. We are aware of the aggregated impact of catastrophes. The continuity of neglect threatens the right to housing and the right to stay of survivors elsewhere. Efforts include advocacy to extend flood insurance to at-risk communities, strengthening legal awareness efforts to ensure that owners with informal titles can access assistance, and monitoring how pending recovery funds are allocated and spent.
2. Update our dashboards and data-gathering tools to accurately narrate how recovery is moving along and who is left behind.
3. We are preparing a KYR agenda to visit and contact communities and organizations who collaborate in just recovery efforts as first response groups, supporters, and advocates. We are ready to start our brigades in June and visit different Puerto Rico areas.
4. Use our radio program and social media outreach to create awareness of the rights of survivors amidst disasters.
5. We included an initiative to support nonprofits throughout disasters, assisting those interested in seeking recovery assistance.