PUERTO RICO HURRICANE RELIEF UPDATE MARCH 2020
TOTAL PROGRAM IMPACT Current Activities
7,829
LIVES IMPACTED
3,470
VOLUNTEERS
39,711
VOLUNTEER DAYS
1,673
JOBS COMPLETED
38,563 1,642
The devastation caused by Hurricane Maria brought great challenges to the people of Yabucoa. Throughout these past two years, we’ve focused our efforts on ensuring families have waterproof, hurricane-resistant roofs to weather any potential storms. We have also restored community centers, parks and baseball fields to bring back a sense of normalcy to the community. And just this month, we’ve surpassed 175,000 volunteer hours! The community continues to play a key role in the recovery process, therefore in the remaining weeks we’ve held community trainings, partnered with local NGOs and are looking forward to handing over a brand new community center to help build a more resilient Yabucoa. After the series of earthquakes, we partnered with World Central Kitchen to provide food to affected communities. All Hands and Hearts volunteers contributed over 1,600 volunteer hours and served over 400,000 meals. It has been over two years, multiple natural disasters, yet the people of Puerto Rico are determined to recover, no matter how long it takes.
Community Stories Ramonita has lived in her current home for over 40 years. She used to be a very active member in her community, often volunteering her time to teach others how to knit. However, after Hurricane Maria she lost the motivation to remain active. Her roof was ravaged by the elements and, over a year later, she continued to deal with a leaking ceiling and mold growing throughout her household. We were inspired by Romanita’s resilience and were eager to support. Romonita’s house is now leak and mold free.
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Disaster Profile On September 20th, 2017 Hurricane Maria’s 155 mph winds plowed through the island of Puerto Rico, resulting in one of the worst natural disasters in the island’s history. Hurricane Maria first made landfall over the municipality of Yabucoa, affecting the 37,000 residents who call it home. This area bore the strongest brunt of the storm, where hundreds of homes are still today in need of basic roof repairs and where we continue to focus our efforts.
Our Work Thanks to critical support from partners like Medtronic, The Giustra Foundation, and PRxPR, as well as other donors, the local community, and volunteers from around the world, we have run an impactful program since January 2018. Our work in Yabucoa includes mucking and gutting, mold sanitation, roof repair and critical home repairs. We are also focusing on community spaces in need of clean up/repair and will be alongside the community on the long road to recovery.
About All Hands and Hearts We effectively and efficiently address the immediate and long-term needs of communities impacted by natural disasters. We communicate directly with local leaders and community members and then deploy our unique model of engaging volunteers to enable direct impact, helping to build safer, more resilient schools, homes and infrastructure. We have earned a 4-star rating by Charity Navigator six years in a row and a Perfect 100. Less than one percent of rated nonprofits have received this distinction for financial and operational efficiency.
Our Partners in Puerto Rico
info@allhandsandhearts.org (508) 758-8211