Puerto Rico emergency relief / long-term recovery

Dear donor, 

Red de Fundaciones de Puerto Rico (La Red) would like to thank you for your recurring contributions to the FORWARD Puerto Rico Fund through GlobalGiving. Since we established the Fund in 2017, donors like you have given us the ability to continue working towards a fair and equitable reconstruction of Puerto Rico in the midst of a double crisis: an ongoing economic depression and the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria. 

How your donation helps Puerto Rico 

Your contribution helps us promote government transparency and accountability regarding the use of recovery funds to ensure they target the most vulnerable populations. It also helps us strengthen local nonprofit organizations that day after day face innumerable challenges to achieve this goal.

To date we have:  

• Supported 24 local nonprofits in their emergency relief work, which included collecting and distributing provisions for basic needs; promoting safety and public health; repairing and rebuilding of houses; promoting energy autonomy and related equipment installations; supporting the country’s cultural resources; and reforestation and habitat restoration, among other actions. 100,000+ people received immediate assistance through these grants.  

• Created a pioneering initiative to support the establishment of emergency reserve funds for 15 local nonprofits. Supporting the creation of reserve funds is part of La Red’s efforts to bolster fiscal stability of the island’s nonprofit sector. Extremely few groups have any sort of reserve funds for emergencies. After the hurricanes, the need for this kind of financial cushion became even more apparent.   

• Supported 6 local nonprofits that are advocating for more extensive and equitable disaster recovery and fiscal crisis relief efforts. These investments are of significant size and multi-year to enhance their potential impact. They support investigative journalism that tracks and publicizes the distribution of federal disaster aid dollars; help communities understand how to access these funds; track the changes and impacts of childhood poverty; help understand barriers and develop policy recommendations to advance land security; and support research and advocacy efforts to inform the public debate on public education and the transformation of the island’s electrical system. More grants like these are currently in the works.

Other efforts undertaken by La Red 

La Red is the island’s first and only philanthropy serving organization (PSO). We bring together organizations that make grants in Puerto Rico for joint learning and action, including collaborative and aligned grant making. We also undertake research on issues relevant to philanthropy to better understand the impact of our collective effort and identify key areas to support. Finally, we advocate for the strengthening of the nonprofit sector in order to enhance its ability to improve the lives of vulnerable populations on the island by advancing equity and social and environmental justice.  

Again, we are grateful for your continued support. You may find more info on our work in our website or by contacting us through our email or social media platforms.

We’d love to hear from you!  

All the best, 

La Red's Team: Anja, Annette, Glenisse, María Cristina and Rebeca 

Links:

• Follow us on Facebook
• More about la Red's work
• Look for us on Instgram