Disaster Legal Aid for Communities in Puerto Rico

Seven years into our first disaster legal response initiative, Ayuda Legal Huracán María (soon renamed Recuperación Justa), we are still amazed by the slowness of recovery and the inequities in disaster assistance distribution. We have now grown uneasily accustomed to the fact that disaster survivors accumulate the impact of several unattended catastrophes: those who lost everything to Hurricane María, lost their homes again to the earthquakes or the economic impact of the pandemic, and later on to Hurricane Fiona or one of the many episodes of heavy floods. It's the same people, losing everything again, fighting to obtain some aid through disaster response programs, and losing again, this time to the lottery of recovery. We have also gotten used to a lack of planning, accountability, and action. Moreover, we know firsthand that disasters go out of fashion once they are not latent. Organizations often lose the necessary resources to continue with the much-needed long-term response. We think we could do better; we all could.

As we start 2024, a timeline begins signaling the start of the new hurricane seasons. As we continue our work representing survivors at courts and administrative proceedings, as we continue our advocacy work, we call for supporters, donors, and those able to amplify to support recovery before disasters happen. When you support initiatives on behalf of survivors of disasters to come, you are supporting the structure needed to hold the government accountable to respond when a catastrophe happens. We don't have to wait till the next disaster; we have learned that prevention and rapid actions are essential. Your support is needed.