People, Power, Solidarity

The MarĂ­a Fund was created on September 2017 by the Center for Popular Democracy in partnership with Puerto Rican organizations Taller Salud and G8/Proyecto ENLACE to support frontline eorts in the aftermath of Hurricane MarĂ­a. Recognizing that vulnerable communities are hit the hardest by climate disasters and are far too often left underserved by relief agencies, the MarĂ­a Fund was conceived to move resources to grassroots initiatives and community organizations that are part of an infrastructure that has the capacity to full needs over the short and long-term.

We remember. Dedicated to the thousands of people who lost a loved one as a result of the unjust and cruel political, economic and social reality lived in Puerto Rico; the root cause of what was suffered during and after Hurricane Maria. We honor their lives living into our collective commitment to freedom, justice and dignity.

Index

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Remarks About the María Fund The Beginnings

17 21 25 33 37 41

People After the Fear Roofs It’s Time to Cultivate Baking Building in Time “The Door Came to Us”

48 68 70

Power Directory of Initiatives Funding Breakdown Geographic Reach

76 80 84

Solidarity María Fund’s First Convening Finances Supporters

Words from the María Fund’s Advisory Committee:

In the wake of September 20, 2017 – as Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico – you made an important decision: to show up. You made donations, calls, you organized events, you shipped emergency supplies, you volunteered at a donation center. You did what you could and more. There are more than 36,000 people, just like you, who made that choice. It is because of people, thousands of people, that The María Fund became a bridge of hope, love and resistance. That is the power of organizing. People.

Here in Puerto Rico, people were on the other side of that bridge, already in action: opening up roads, cooking for hundreds, coordinating relief and brigades to survive.

Community leaders and organizers moved into action Day 1 - and many haven’t stopped. They assumed the historical responsibility of responding for the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, without hesitance or doubt. They carried on their shoulders a reality that none of us could have prepared for. We were not waiting for anyone - we knew we had to save ourselves. The People of Puerto Rico - from every corner of the world, we showed up for each other, because it is what we have been doing for more than 500 years. That is our power - we are a nation without borders that at the most crucial moment in our recent history turned the love of our country into a movement. Many of us, felt that Power - and that will change us forever. We are powerful, and we know what it can do when we organize it.

The bridge we built together moved resources to 49 organizations, who supported more than 116,000 people in the first year. We could not have done it without a humbling display of Solidarity. We thank the leadership of the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), and of allies, who dedicated long hours to build the infrastructure and capacity for the fund to exist, grow and move with urgency; the networks of grassroots organizations that responded immediately to amplify our voices from Puerto Rico.

This is a story of people, power and solidarity, but this is only the first chapter. In Puerto Rico, the waves of imperialism and disaster capitalism continues to hit our shores. The images of 400 closed schools, or the thousands homes in risk of displacement, might not be on your television right now, but the situation is just as urgent. Join us for this next chapter - we are just getting started.

In deep gratitude,

Xiomara Caro-Díaz Director, The María Fund

Raquela Delgado-Valentín Administrator, The María Fund

Words from Center of Popular Democracy:

Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and was no natural disaster. Climate crisis slammed into a place that has been systematically stripped of foundational rights and the basic elements of a just, equitable and democratic system.

The experience of the CPD network from past disasters including Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy, Harvey, and Irma, showed us that communities are hit the hardest by climate disasters, are left underserved by relief operations, and are then plundered by aggressive disaster capitalism. In the case of Puerto Rico, we anticipated the situation would be worse because of its existing crises and political reality. The María Fund was a response to this learning — a people’s fund where decisions were made by Puerto Ricans, where frontline organizing groups were the ones to receive support, where that support went both to vital immediate relief efforts and to the long-term organizing required to transform the root causes of the crisis.

Nearly two years after Hurricane Maria, and it’s not over yet. There are major challenges ahead as post-Maria bad actors work hard to turn a profit, privatize public services, and displace vulnerable communities, as the people in Puerto Rico continue to face a daunting list of underlying oppressions, and as the climate crisis worsens. Fortunately, however, with tireless people building power in communities, collectively envisioning a more just future, and organizing for justice for Puerto Rican people, a more equitable future is advancing. The María Fund dedicated to the work of liberation have supported since the day Hurricane Maria hit, and we continue to do so. As The María Fund continues its essential efforts going forward, a more hopeful future is possible because of its ongoing work.

In Community,

Ana Maria Archila Co Executive Director Centro de la Democracia Popular

Andrew Friedman Co Executive Director Centro de la Democracia Popular

Investing in o and social ch the context o and political The MarĂ­a Fund was born in a moment of catastrophe, in recognition of the importance of urgent action while holding a long-term vision for change in the midst of uncertainty, of disaster. It responded to needs on the ground and moved significant resources to grassroots organizations in Puerto Rico. It has maintained a

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vision grounded in the reality that it was created after a deadly hurricane crossed through Puerto Rico, while maintaining a commitment to support the work needed for deeper social transformation as determined by the leaders and organizations it supports.

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organizing hange, in of a climate l disaster In the past year and a half, the MarĂ­a Fund has been able to support a local infrastructure of organizations and initiatives that are organizing towards justice, equity and sustainability islands-wide for the longterm. These organizations are committed to building power among directly impacted and historically marginalized people. As

a resource-mobilizing vehicle, the María Fund’s priority will continue to be rooted in the strengthening of a powerful and aligned ecosystem of social justice leaders, - organizations and initiatives that are building community power for the people of Puerto Rico, by the people of Puerto Rico.

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Organizing is critical

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20+ 100+

September 2017 – November 2017

hrs.

16-hour day operation

People organizing full-time

Puerto Rico

Volunteers in peak relief mode

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People.

Power.

Solidarity.

An Introduction by Xiomara Caro

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It was September 18, 2017, and the country was preparing. Just 2 weeks earlier we were struck by Hurricane Irma - less forceful, but just as devastating for towns like Loíza.

Our location in the Caribbean has made hurricanes a part of our lived experience in Puerto Rico, but a Category 5?! Not since 1928. We were all watching the projections for Hurricane Maria’s path, trying to anticipate, plan, understand.

Myself and a group of organizers and activists - who, in the months prior, were cocreating a new initiative called El Llamado or “The Calling” - held a meeting to think about different scenarios. We planned to have a conference call the day after the hurricane, we even set a time for it. We discussed worst case scenarios. Although it seemed at the time like an exaggeration, we made sure to exchange phone numbers of landlines close to us. We wrote them on pieces of paper. Like the old days. So if it became a reality, we could find each other.

Day 3 after Hurricane Maria made her devastating landfall, organizers of social and community movements began finding ways to contact each other - driving to homes they knew, showing up at community centers, using landline phones when and where available. One of our friends hitch-hiked from 8 hours away to find us. For others, it took 3 weeks to find out if they were okay.

One of our members called a landline I had at home and offered his industrial kitchen space - CUCINA 135 in San Juan - for us to meet and organize. It had running water and a working landline, exactly what was critical.

Little did we know that what we were trying to create with El Llamado - what we now see as a network, a hub for resourcing the talents, skills and assets of those of us deeply committed to social justice - would guide the principles that would drive the work of the following months.

Day 5. We showed up and word spread: CUCINA soon turned into a place in San Juan to connect with others, identify needs and coordinate immediate relief. Organizers would show up and share their plans: “We are going to cook for 300 people in our community.”

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“We are going to support a community of 100 that are still under water.”

and bomba music by Tambuyé made space for singing and dancing.

“We are organizing a brigade to reach a community where roads are blocked and we will have to walk for several hours or days.”

After several days, the work developed into a full-blown 16 hour a day operation of more than 20 full-time organizers, and close to 100 volunteers daily, in peak relief mode. This space, coupled with the nonstop fundraising efforts of those at the Center for Popular Democracy, made a just response possible for so many organizers and so many communities. The María Fund was born, and in these first months it channelled close to $55,000 in relief supplies, distributed through the movement-led infrastructure developed at CUCINA, to 44 different initiatives and organizations, 19 of which were later supported with additional grants.

Those of us who arrived first had a discussion about CUCINA’s space and its role: to provide support and coordination for self-directed collectives and movements that were organizing community-led responses to the disaster. Individual activists, members of El Llamado, and different collectives like Boricuá, El Hormiguero, and CEPA, among others, became the team that gave the space life.

We collected information to assess the needs of groups and designed a system to respond to these needs. Food, water filters, solar lights, batteries, first aid kits and other essentials. More than 160 deliveries were coordinated. Each of us lending whatever support we could to those who showed up. We provided supplies, a listening ear, and transportation. Open meetings were held every 2 days, offering a space to share, reflect and coordinate next steps.

What happened in CUCINA would not have been possible without the Wholeness of a group of organizers who stepped into the moment.

Communication between local groups and networks of allies was facilitated from CUCINA. The phone line became an important resource: calls were coming in from groups organizing supply drives in the diaspora and from media outlets wanting to get the stories that did not make mainstream channels.

Several organizers made sure it was a space for healing too. They understood that people in organizing roles also needed to vent, breathe, eat, cry, process - and they made it a priority in the middle of the crisis.

In CUCINA the kitchen always had food, weekly healing circles were led by CEPA,

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People

Stories by Alejandra Rosa Photography by Erika P. RodrĂ­guez

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Support goes to the frontlines and grassroots initiatives.

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116,200 182 People

Individuals Reached Communities Reached 17

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After the Fear Glenny Álvarez, 40, carries the energy of the sun in her voice. It never wears out; renewed between prayers, stories and dreams. For years her days have been lived in service. A few months ago she saw a poster with a cauldron. She thought of food. She did not know that, when she arrived at the event, at the activity, she would receive an entirely different type of nourishment.

The poster that she saw was an invitation to one of the Calderos de Ideas (Pots of Ideas), organized by Colectivo Ilé; a space to talk, to dialogue, to recount, and to vent about the individual and collective lived experiences of women through the passage and aftermath of Hurricane Maria.

The organizers convened women with the belief that the more these experiences are discussed, the more the emotional charge and power that the hurricane exerted - onto them is released.

Glenny is 5’2. She sits on the balcony of her house, in the San Antón barrio located in Carolina, Puerto Rico. Outside the sun is almost hidden but the air does not know it, because it illuminates like a summer afternoon. Glenny shares her impressions of when she arrived at that event.

“It’s self help. Many people don’t like to reflect on their experience or what is happening around them. I, for one, don’t like talking about my problems. But I realized

that if I don’t talk about them or act to take control of them, then I will not find solutions.

El Caldero de Ideas supported me in this way,” she says while surrounded by flowers, the ones she has been collecting since before the hurricane. The ones that remain standing upright with conviction, painting the afternoon scene with color.

For Glenny, who has participated in two Calderos de Ideas, sponsored by the María Fund, having access to this space was like reaching, for the first time in decades, a place where she could find herself and reconnect with her security, her power. “[The space] empowers you. It gave me wings to be able to dream, to do the things that I was afraid to do. It helped me realize that I can realize those dreams,” she says thoughtfully.

Aside from the Calderos de Ideas - held in towns like Carolina, Aguadilla, Rio Piedras, Loíza, Mayagüez, Guayama, among

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others - Colectivo Ilé has made possible study circles, workshops, assemblies, design events for community planning, implementation of action plans, and support for participatory educational processes for community organizers and attendees.

Now that some time has passed, for Glenny to sit in her balcony is to exist between desert flowers and crowns of thorns, yellow and red. In the past, succulents, her favorites, also made a habitat of her garden but... “the hurricane took them all.” The storm did not just take with it her favorite plants, it also flooded her house two feet, she estimates, and ruined all of her belongings. Glenny lived through the hurricane inside of that house: the majority of time she was draining it of water.

“Sharing personal experiences was a scary thing for me... I was also afraid, in a sense, to do certain things. I knew that I wanted to do something… but if I didn’t try I wouldn’t know if I’d succeed or fail... but even if I failed, I can keep going,” Glenny reflects out loud. In the background, the afternoon is almost night, while the sounds of birds singing in unison, echoing through the gardens of Puerto Rican households and always ready to interject into gatherings and conversations, accompanied Glenny like a sonorous curtain.

“The Caldero de Ideas is a: ‘come on, you can, don’t quit.’ I call it a revolution, it is revolutionary. We leave with a positive, empowered mind, eager to get ahead... that’s the hope,” Glenny stresses.

Colectivo Ilé is an organization whose mission is to educate, organize and carry out research to strengthen the anti-racist and decolonizing work that promotes and generates changes in the communal, academic, spiritual, psychological-social, cultural, economic and political landscape

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in and outside of Puerto Rico. After coming across the Calderos, says Glenny, mother of a 20-year-old, her family notes that she is different. Her words exhibit empowerment, an absence of fear.

“I left the first session with a lot on my mind, a lot of emotional stimulation. We were very exhausted, but kept pushing to get ahead, knowing that are no saviors coming to solve our problems, that we have to move,” Glenny recalls with a tone of action between certainties.

The Calderos are a meeting point to identify major, urgent and critical needs in the communities they serve. The initiative generated a network of support that, according to Glenny, provides a platform to stay connected, close to each other, to those faces and beings with similar stories and journeys, creating in it - and in all the participants - a sense of companionship and security. Because being in community is the same as feeling safe, capable, empowered. Colectivo Ilé knows this and other grassroots organizations do too.

Behind Glenny’s house is a lot where her mother’s home, destroyed by the hurricane, is being built. La Maraña, a participatory design nonprofit, is working to rebuild it, while also supporting the community as it transforms a neglected and abandoned school into a meeting space and cultural center for all.

In May of 2017, two months before the hurricane, the government closed the Carlos Conde Marín School. For Glenny, that closure was a mourning. Glenny had been a volunteer there for close to 13 years. Before that, she had been a coordinator of medical equipment. After that, she dedicated her days to teaching, serving food, cleaning, and ensuring the safety of the campus, the place where her daughter studied.

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“They closed it, and then not even two months later the hurricane arrives. With everything that was destroyed in the school... they used it as a temporary dump site, “ she recalls. But time passed, and with it came protests, community meetings, signs of resistance, ideas, actions.

reformulate, and implement. Glenny appreciates it. Everything she has learned at these gatherings nurtures her and, in turn, her community.

This is when the community mobilizes to rescue the school, convert it into a community center, a cultural meeting point. They organize cleaning brigades and processes to transform the abandoned space into a socioeconomic, intergenerational, educational and cultural project.

Thanks to the space cultivated at the Caldero de Ideas, Glenny has been exposed to techniques and strategies conceived by other leaders in spaces throughout Puerto Rico, as if the Caldero was, literally, that space where different elements are unified to create one dish. Each woman, with her experiences, arrives with ingredients some with concrete ideas for addressing a specific population, others recounting strategies that have not worked, many with desires to do, to learn, to replicate,

“It gave me wings. I learned to overcome fear. I call it a revolution” she says, to emphasize her thought. And she expresses a phrase that, before encountering Colectivo Ilé, was not part of her vocabulary: “I left confident, and to a certain degree, liberated.

I do not ask for permission anymore, I communicate.”

“I grew wings, and I’m perching on every flower. I’m moving, in flight. I’m working for my community, something I never thought I could do, and it is fulfilling,” she adds, while birds continue to sing in the background.

Birds as free as Glenny, in this moment.

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Roofs Don Raúl, 85, looks at what was once a roof, then sky, then a tarp, then another, and now, a year and seven months later, a roof again. He spent the morning of the hurricane with his wife, in his daughter’s house. When they returned, they found the space that had protected them for more than six decades, a home now exposed to the elements. He was born in this house, which once belonged to his parents, and where he and Antonia “Toña” Meléndez, 73, have shared their daily life since 1968. Without a roof, they decided to move to the first floor of the two-story structure, where their daughter used to live. Now they live there, waiting for a roof.

Raúl, who has been retired for 20 years, worked as a repairman, a factory inspector.

Toña, his wife, is the glue holding the household together. Both carry commas between their thoughts. They talk with pauses that we cannot see, and we listen closely - as if the air was his notebook and his voice the pen that writes his worries in the wind. The biggest worry during this time carries four letters: roof.

Until January 2018, rain dripped on his pillow. When Hurricane Maria took their

roof, the floor - which was the roof of the first level of the two-story structure where they lived, was left unprotected. Thus, when the couple moved to their daughter’s home, located under their own, to find a safe roof, they couldn’t escape the rain.

They lived like that for 16 months.

Until Proyecto Techos of G-8 Grupo de las Ocho Comunidades Aledañas al Caño Martín Peña, Inc. (Project Roofs, of the G-8 of the Eight Communities Adjacent to Caño Martin Peña Inc.) identified them

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and began installing a wooden roof in their home, a structure designed by the architects of the project to be a long-term solution, resistant to hurricanes, according to Carolina Paredes, co-manager of the project.

For the community, Proyecto Techos is an initiative dedicated to the transition from awnings and blue tarps to more permanent solutions in order to help them recover a sense of normalcy and resume their lives as soon as possible. As of April 2019, the project team has completed 95 roofs, 6 are under construction, and 7 are on the list for repairs and renovations, explained architect Paredes.

“I didn’t think I’d have a roof. They did it in two weeks,” remembers Raúl.

In the immediate hurricane aftermath, with financial support from the María Fund, The G-8 not only resourced the installation of roofs for residents of Caño Martín Peña, they also distributed kits with more than 6,040 mosquito repellents, 6,000 mosquito

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nets and 2,800 bottles of larvicide. 3,500 poison rodent traps were positioned at strategic points in the communities, including inside residences. Educational campaigns were designed using loose leaf sheets, stickers and bulletins with information grounded inn the strategy of popular education. Three community centers were simultaneously activated and became important spaces for individualized consultations targeted towards people like Don Raúl, who was able to complete his FEMA assistance forms with help from community volunteers stationed at one of these centers.

The funds also made possible the recruitment of a coordinator whose main task it was to ensure the smooth continuity of the organization’s work plans and a thorough follow-up of administrative duties related to the recovery of the community and the organization since the passing of the hurricane. A passenger vehicle was also purchased with the funds, making it easier to transport supplies, volunteers, leaders and residents to initiatives organized for the benefit of the community

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that Raúl and Toña have called home for more than seven decades.

Raúl saves photos of his roofless home.

He carries an album with several of them printed, to show them off, almost as if they exist to complement his words, words that are like a movie script recounting time. He remembers that after losing his roof, FEMA asked for an estimate of costs. His children went through hurdles to get that estimate, and even then, they were denied help. They asked others for help too, with no luck.

What exactly are we talking about when we talk about roofs? This question comes to mind when I look at where the balcony once was, the one used regularly, but not anymore. And I think that talking about a roof is talking about so much more than wood, zinc or cement; it’s like naming - or doubting - peace. It is fearing the rain, worrying about the drops that some can enjoy as they fall beautifully from their balcony, and for others, the drops that land on their bodies during a heavy storm.

These days, when the gray suddenly appears, they no longer fear. There’s a sense of tranquility that comes with knowing that droplets of rain will no longer sneak up on them while they sleep, making landfall on their foreheads. They carry in their gaze what many know but not many talk about: peace can sometimes comes in the form of a roof.

Maybe that’s the reason that Don Raúl names what is most uncertain of this moment, while his wife Toña looks at him and nods with her gaze, listening to him say aloud a shared feeling of two lives: “these years I have left in me, I want to have peace – for both of us.”

Time has passed and both Raúl and Toña look out from their daughter’s balcony.

They hope to return to theirs soon. When Raúl thinks about it, his eyes well up, and the drops that once fell on his head while sleeping make their way inside, and a tear drops.

“It was a joy, knowing that we weren’t going to get wet. Because we were really getting soaked. Sleeping was difficult with drops falling on me, and I had to get up and move.

Sometimes the entire level would flood… but not anymore... even if it pours… we’re dry,” says Raúl.

Toña looks at him, and nods in agreement.

The two tend to look at the sky together from the balcony. Clear blue skies are above them, only a few clouds in sight.

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It’s Time to Cultivate Iris Climent, 28, speaks in short sentences. Her confidence is evident by the conviction in her words.

The strength in her voice is in harmony with the way she articulates her dreams. Iris was born in Culebra, Puerto Rico. She left to study but was unable to complete her courses so she returned home.

Now she works everyday at Proyecto Siembra (the Seeding Project), an initiative developed by the organization Mujeres de Islas with the financial support of Americorps and other benefactors such as María Fund.

For close to 2 years Iris has been a sojourner in the main offices of SEVA (Sede de Experiencias Vivas de Aprendizaje , or Headquarters of Lived Experiences and Learnings, in English). She walks room to room meticulously reciting what happens in each one. Proyecto Siembra is one of the branches of the project Mujeres de Islas, which has as many threads of community work as this space has had chapters. In a former life it was a school building, and now it is a community center.

When you arrive to the former school, the smell of a familiar living room aroma welcomes you - which is no coincidence.

There’s something about spaces like these that bring our body home to a sensation of family. It’s a sunny Tuesday in April, sunny,

and a choir of voices detail the project and its umbrella organization, as if talking about a family member.

Places can also be family. And some community projects unknowingly do this: they take over and challenge biology, and create bonds of support among people who otherwise, if it wasn’t for this space, wouldn’t have been so profoundly linked.

These ties, at the same time, make it possible to support each other’s growth by creating models of service, support, listening and concern within the community.

Each year since 2015 Mujeres de Islas has selected 15 individuals to participate in Proyecto Siembra. Among many criteria, it’s typically required that the participants

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are primarily heads of households, although young men and elders have also been involved. They come here to serve and to learn through personal, academic and professional training. Coming here means dedicating a year of service to the community in Culebra, their space, while nesting energies, strengths, and resources so that, when the program or their role ends, they can finish their studies. Some of them finish their high school education during the program. Others, upon finishing, feel ready to resume and complete university or vocational studies.

Iris wants nothing more than to complete her studies. And she’ll soon be able to.

The participants of Proyecto Siembra attend art, farming, cabinetmaking, nutrition, and emotional well-being workshops, to name a few. At the same time, they design and test creative curriculums to share these learnings with the children that also grace the space; teaching them how to farm and harvest crops: to (re)connect with the power of the earth. Transmitting the knowledge

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of the land to a child is the same thing as cultivating an eternal watering time. It’s like a seedbed with fertile soil - so much can grow. Iris knows this well.

She is 28 years old, but she inhabits the space with a wisdom about the earth that is beyond her years. Shortly after participating in her first workshops about farming and nutrition, Iris put together a garden in her house. She wanted her children, ages 9 and 3, to know where their food comes from. It was also a way for them to start depending on a well-maintained garden at home instead of a fully stocked shelf at the supermarket.

That is also why, once a week, she arrives at la Escuela Ecológica (The Ecological School) with colleagues from Proyecto Siembra, where they play games with the smallest ones to teach what they themselves have learned: which food is best for health, what is the best way to nurture ourselves.

“We prepare a daily activity focused on nutrition, giving them health tips,” says Iris.

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Her involvement in the project has cultivated a deep desire to “teach children to plant, because some couldn’t tell you where an egg, a tomato, comes from… we do this so that they know that they can grow the food that they eat; that not everything has to be purchased.”

Iris’s daughter studies in one of the classrooms where she arrives each week.

Before Proyecto Siembra began their programming at the school, Iris remembers the violent incidents, the fights - mostly altercations between students. But, since the participants have arrived, with the wisdom of the earth and their motivation to make the game a form of service, the fighting has decreased. Some can, with their mere presence and community embrace, calm, soothe, and transform the space into a safe, tranquil, and optimal learning environment that every kid deserves. A peaceful place is a place more suitable to sprout knowledge, motivation, and dreams in children. This also makes Proyecto Siembra possible for Mujeres de Isla. A garden of wise joy and peace.

Both mother and daughter spend their days in this space - a sanctuary that is an extension of their home. Mujeres de Isla has twice as much impact on Iris’ life because of its multi-generational approach. On the one hand, her daughter and classmates reap the benefits of the programs and workshops; and on the other hand, Iris receives the training she needs to facilitate these workshops: all of which supports her personal, community and professional development.

When Iris mentions that there are no more violent incidents at her daughter’s school she smirks, and looks at the sewing room, where she has been coming for 17 months.

It is there that she learned to spin, not only as a pastime, but as a means for survival in a country in economic depression.

In addition to working with Proyecto Siembra, when she can, Iris sells wallets that she learned to sew in workshops offered here, in this room of t rectangular tables, full of threads, sewing machines, and fabrics that someday someone will wear. Beyond a new skill, sewing represents an additional source of income that helps her provide for her family.

Before meeting Mujeres de Islas, Iris studied nursing; then respiratory therapy.

She couldn’t complete any program became it was too costly.

“It was very expensive. I tried to finish it here, but they did not accept my credits… I had to practically start over again (...) I want to finish studying,” she explained.

At the end of a year of service, the participants of the Proyecto Siembra receive a stipend, which Iris plans to use to return to her studies. The program will allow her to finish a chapter that she started more than four years ago: the completion of her professional and academic preparation.

Until then, she is focused and present on this stage of development and service that without Mujeres de la Isla, she assures, would not have been possible. Iris walks through the space and in her voice carries the recipes of the land. She knows which roots will prosper and which ones will soon stop supporting the trees she often looks at.

There’s something about the earth. It always holds space for our silence. Sometimes, in the absence of the daily noise, we can transform ourselves into a garden of truths.

Sometimes it happens alone.

Sometimes it happens in a team. ...

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Chameira Villanueva, 20 years old, participates in Project Siembra since January 2018; in the same cohort as Iris. Apart from the workshop and service opportunities offered by Mujeres de Islas, Chameira has been transformed and moved by the emotional well-being workshops. It’s the first time in her two decades of life that she has learned of this practice.

She can barely put into words the impact these have had on her personal growth, perhaps because there are so many times that words cannot contain everything. Some experiences transcend words.

“I didn’t know how to manage many circumstances,” says the Culebra native.

“The workshop on emotional intelligence, [it’s] to know how to overcome those problems... any situation that I experience.”

“I started studying speech therapy in Fajardo, but the hurricanes happened, and I had to stay here,” she recalls.

Finishing her studies is another reason she now participates in the program. She also speaks in short sentences. Both her and Iris have lived in Culebra for decades. Both have reconnected with their communities in many ways since participating in the project.

“We work with the community. In one way or another, we’re always working with the community,” says Chameira, who still remembers how her relationship with the earth looked on September 2017, when Hurricane Maria made landfall on the islands.

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“We weeded with our hands, because there was nothing; we replanted everything, and more,” she remembers.

Project Siembra is just one of multiple projects managed by Mujeres de Islas, that has received grants from the María Fund since 2018. Resources have been invested in supporting organizational development and maintenance of school and operations centers which serve as headquarters for programs like Proyecto Siembra.

Mujeres de Islas offers its programming in service of the Escuela Ecológica, Casa de la Alegría, Asociación Educativa Pro Desarrollo Humano de Culebra, and the Center for the Aging of Culebra, while managing Proyecto Siembra, which carries out many projects simultaneously, and is now developing a new incubator program focused on developing small businesses.

In addition, they also carry out individual

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projects and events that sometimes extend over time.

The 2010 Census indicates that 1,818 people lived in Culebra. This number has changed since Hurricane Maria. Some of the people make their way to Proyecto Siembra, they see the project as a place of support.

“The women came looking for us to help them get out of here... they come here asking us to help them out of an abusive relationship, and we asked ourselves: what do we do? In a community where there is no social worker, where the abuser and the victim get on the same ferry, how do we alchemize all this?”,recounts Dulce.

within them their right for expression; it encourages them to use their voice, louder than the ocean, to articulate, despite the wind, to dream, within and outside of the soil, to be outraged, even if it’s against the current, to forgive themselves, with the divine healing powers of salt; to learn, tell their own stories, hold each other, empower themselves, as beings that know how to beat the wind. In short sentences, in verses, with whatever grows, knowing that they are - and have always been - theirs, keepers of the land, dream-cultivating leaders; owners of their time, incubators of their goals, plans, stares and silences.

Having lived through this, Sylvia Lleraz, one of the founders of Mujeres de Islas, assumed responsibility, and prepared herself. She left, and returned. And now, she keeps learning from the lived experiences of the participants of the emotional well-being workshops. She studies happiness and collects stories, piecing together the words of each experience in her memory.

“When I see an unfamiliar look, it throws me off. One of these women speaks a lot with her gaze. We were talking, to do some kind of evaluation. We divided the topics. In our own words, what do you remember, I ask them. When it’s her turn, she gets stuck. And she says: it’s that they’re looking at me. // And I ask: what do their stares evoke in you? // And she says: I cannot, I cannot think. // And what if you turn around? // And that’s how it went. // If she is not acknowledged while growing up, being seen now, is new. // Where is the root? // We are not looking at each other.”

Mujeres de Isla acknowledges them. And it doesn’t only acknowledge them, it listens and invites them to speak. It nurtures

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Baking Ramón Dumond holds a freshly baked wheat cake. He bakes this and other treats to welcome the children arriving at the space. His favorite is corn, but today there is wheat. Ebelix Rodríguez, community leader and Ramón’s wife, looks at the cake, and smiles, as if remembering in its smell the fragrance of joy that children leave behind when they leave the Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Unidos (CAMBU), in Las Marías.

They never want to leave. They always leave eager to return, Says Ramón, and he knows why: “they feel free”. He says it with certainty and I wonder what happens in the imagination of a child that holds a brush for the first time, and how many times we paint paths to freedom that make happiness, wanting nothing more than to live in that moment.

a table create a meeting point, to just be.

Outside there are murals on the walls, next to a second classroom, an art room, full of sculptures and elaborate creations made by children from the community who, thanks to this project, take art classes for the first time; among them two of Ebelix and Ramón’s nephews and two of their grandkids.

“Don’t hold back, eat, have a piece,” Ramón insists.

“We live here, at CAMBU, and are visitors in our home,” responds Ebelix, jokingly, when asked how often they’re here.

This wasn’t always the case.

Both he and Ebelix arrive faithfully Monday through Friday after having worked from 4:30 a.m. until noon at a food truck. But the part of their days they most embrace happens here. As they say this, they glance over at the space across from them, once a classroom, now a meeting room. There’s a kitchen on the right, with scraps of paper on its walls inscribed with plans and responsibilities. Two sofas and

In the early hours of September 21, 2017, a family from the neighborhood made the space a refuge, while Hurricane Maria lashed through Puerto Rico. They entered the place instinctively. As if their will, to turn these rooms, these walls, these streets, into something more than an abandoned school.

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Time passed, and with the support of Omar Reyes, 32, and José Bellaflores, 29, community residents like Ramón and Ebelix, transformed the Bucarabones School, in La Josefa sector, from an abandoned space to a meeting point and service hub for the community.

“17 days had passed and nothing, no one had arrived. I came here to document... there was a comrade living in a classroom.

That raised a flag, and we decided to return a second weekend with a brigade and supplies,” Omar recalls.

Now, 17 months later, they offer workshops on art, recycling, activities for the elders, and host meetings. They listen to the needs of the community, many of whom did not know each other before the hurricane, or at least it wasn’t regular for them to have the sensation of being unified in the same geographical space, and they address them.

In this process, the services offered have also included workshops on agroecology,

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music, volleyball, health, mobile and community cinema, distribution of supplies, solar-powered items, water filtration systems and community meals, theatrical presentations, live music, emotional health sessions, among others.

In addition to the services, the project is a meeting point that permeates the community with a sense of companionship that some - like Ebelix - understand to be healing, therapeutic.

“It’s like a therapy. We talk to each other. We take whatever love we had reserved and we give it to everyone. We share so much. We have created in this space a family. And if one of us doesn’t show up, we look for each other,” says Ebelix.

As the project grows it continues evolving with the needs of the community. First, recalls Omar, he thought of a communal dining hall, but the project leaders soon realized that this was not the community’s

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others. In just a few moments, the abstract becomes concrete.

biggest void. Second act: they observed the different personalities and profiles of the neighborhood, and they designed a plan of activities and services in tune with the experiences and needs that inform the identity of the community.

The support of the María Fund has allowed children, adults, and elders to enjoy these services, to alleviate their anxieties, to expand their horizons, and to acquire tools to navigate the blend of personal and collective problems that Hurricane Maria left for us with her departure.

— And what do these residents usually need?

— Companionship...

Listening to Ramón and Ebelix talk about CAMBU makes us wonder - how often do we, from a distance believe that we know what others need? But it is not until we get close, and allow for others to articulate, to express their needs, either through words or actions, that we can truly serve, from the most relevant places. This project has had this clear from the beginning.

Links between neighboring communities, such as Bryan, Buena Vista and Palmestrita, have also been strengthened.

Ramón, for example, remembers well how New Year’s Eve was celebrated with neighbors from different communities, and faces of all ages. He remembers that no one wanted to leave. There is something about that space that anchors, from the best of places. Ramón remembers the children by the light of a bonfire, under the stars. Ebelix, recalls how adults, meanwhile, planned their future encounters. So much happens when we convene faces that are hungry for company, for community, for presence with

From that convening, perhaps, came that piece of paper taped on the walls of the hallways of CAMBU, with a list of tasks, plans, and dreams. One of these plans: to build a library, one that gives the children access to books, so that they can do their homework. No such place exists at the moment.

“There is nothing here. We are alone, isolated. If the teacher tells a student that there is an assignment due tomorrow, that child has to go to the nearest town,and it depends on what time it is. Sometimes everything is closed,” says Ebelix as she sits on the sofa in a room where, in just a few days, students will arrive hungry for smiles.

For this reason and many more, the workload in this space never ends. The list renews every day. There’s no doubt, remembers Ramón, that since the hurricane the relationships among neighbors have strengthened, and so has the desire to see each other more often - be it at workshops, or while sharing meals. There is something about the kitchen that always returns us to the collective language. To cook for oneself is an act of survival. To cook for others, however, is a gesture of love, solidarity, caring, comradery, and so much more.

In the end, the energies of those who participate in the different branches of CAMBU, like the lingering aroma of the cakes that Ramón bakes for his community.

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Building in Time A sharp sound is heard, like a giant spoon scratching against the sides of a boiler pot. Construction machines. There are around 50 homes. The cooperative that makes up the community has 150 members. Of these, only a third have managed to start rebuilding. Those 50 homes are the ones producing that sound.

“That’s the never-ending sound you hear in this community (...) They move in and the work continues. You will see many houses that are recently plastered with people living in them,” explains Waldemiro Vélez, 33, Executive Director of Sol es Vida, an organization that serves residents of the Villas del Sol community in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico.

He says this because here, in Villas del Sol, residents move into their homes long before construction is finished. Here, the sound of cement pouring, of wood and earth making contact, is a daily operation. Here, ever since roads were paved with the support of the María Fund, there have been no more clandestine dump sites. Here is a reminder of there. And there, a reminder of here.

The community is made up of Dominican immigrants. The community was born from a rescuing of the land. Those that do not live here but are still members of the cooperative live in neighboring barrio Villa Calma, in the Dominican Republic, or outside of Puerto Rico in the United States..

The community is made up of children and adults, mostly in their forties or older, and 3 elders, estimates Waldemiro.

When Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico on September 21, 2017, the wind played against the will of this selfconstructed community, as if proposing an alternate route. Here, people have been hammering away for years, plastering walls, and raising structures to have a place to call home.

“When we went out - the streets - they were covered with zincs panels and branches,” recalls Jackeline, a resident of Villas del Sol since 2016, while reliving how the hurricane, in just one morning, tore down ceilings and flooded concrete floors, forcing backwards the hands of time.Now, they build again.

And still we hear the signs. One woman still rebuilding is Jackeline Caldero, 36, a Puerto Rican, who works as part of the supervision committee for Sol es Vida.

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“I was just laying down rebar for the balcony floor. The rods have to be installed at a specific distance and then tied together so that when you pour in the floor - it holds.

First, you fill it and then make sure it is level, so that everything is square… and then you install the rods”, she explains about her new home, that is “now made of cement. It used to be wood, with just a single room.

Hurricane Maria left it on the ground. The roof is still back there,” she recalls.

“I lived through the hurricane here, right over there,” she adds, as she points to the back of the community center, to Sol es Vida. It’s a rectangular room that now houses a row of computers used by the children of the community to do their homework. It is the same room that is the headquarters for the organization, which manages initiatives to promote the emotional, academic and social development of its participants.

With the hurricane’s passing, the entrances to Villas del Sol became landfills. Jackeline does not miss them.

Imagine a foul odor. Now imagine being surrounded by this odor every day. To go out to work, and to return to it, and vice versa.

Imagine repeating this routine in the dark, not knowing if you will have light when you make your way back home. These worries are clear as day in Jackeline’s memory and she appreciates that they are just that, memories, and no longer her daily life. But Jackeline’s story is not just about Jackeline.

Within Jackeline’s story live dozens more.

“With a mountain of garbage in front of my house came rodent problems, health hazards, not to mention the psychological and emotional torment. Entrances to your community are blocked by endless piles of waste,” explained Waldemiro.

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“This was a mud pit. But with all the help that has arrived, it’s gotten better. You would enter and it was like… you would have to wash your cars all the time. It was a mud pit, it was too much... But now the entrances look better, much better. “The change has been drastic; like night and day,” Jackeline adds, in a voice full of relief.

The changes to these life conditions was an effect of the grants that the María Fund provided to Sol es Vida. The financial support enabled the organization to install solar light posts, which Jackeline appreciates, to pave the roads, which were once made of dirt, dirt, that sullied car tires, dirt, that housed animals, dirt roads:, the excuse given by the municipality so that garbage trucks would not enter Villas del Sol. The reason for which, until just last February, there were clandestine dumps at the corners and the entrance of this community. And now, with paved roads, the trucks make their way in, and take away the community’s waste.

They come once every week.

I ask Jackeline to dream. I tell her to imagine that she has a magic wand that will grant any of her wishes for her community. She looks at me surprised, with distrust, laughs a little, settles in her internal thoughts, and stays silent.

I tell her to try, to tell me what she’s thinking.

She responds, “many things.” I ask her to name some and she repeats, “many things.”

“We’re in need of so much ... at least now the trash gets picked up on Thursdays... but if only they came twice a week, it would make things better,” she hopes, and she fishes for more words in the silence of Villas del Sol, a silence that’s really never so silent, but rather sounds of construction projects at different decibels, a compendium of sharp and thick sounds that orchestrate, as if by

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harmonizing organically, the sonority of a space that, although inhabited by dozens, is constantly under construction.

“The most important thing here is electricity, the water system”, adds Jackeline, finally.

“What we need is for the government to prioritize us as a community. To not leave us behind,” her request, knowing that she sees herself living here a good while longer, “the rest of my life” to be exact.

The ground sounds like gravel. A few steps away, lives Arquelino Laureano, a Dominican. He has been living in Puerto Rico for 26 years. He’s lived in Puerto Nuevo, Guaynabo, and now lives in Villas del Sol. His memory travels through time, and so he hesitates when he speaks.

“When I first arrived here, there were just three houses, nothing more. To get home I’d have to walk through here. Coming home one day my truck got stuck. They had to bring two more trucks to get it out.”

is doing well and he says “at least we eat.”

He lives with his wife, his eight-year-old grandson and two daughters, ages 22 and 19. In their free time, “we help someone who needs help.’’ He sees neighbors as family.

I asked Arquelino to dream. To go ahead and dare. He looks up and smiles, as if to say yes, he will dare, and he says it, he vocalizes his dream for his community, “a little park so that at least one can, when old, sit for a while.”

The sounds of rods securing floors on balconies fill the background. A distinct highpitched sound, most likely Jackeline finishing up. Close by, dozens more homes are being built until late afternoon and into tomorrow, never stopping, as if knowing that all could be gained or lost in the blink of an eye.

Here, hammer upon hammer, meetings among neighbors after more meetings among neighbors, little by little, the hands of time are returning to their immediate present, one closer to silence; and this one, the one they have and share, is one with much more light, and much, much less mud.

“So imagine, this is a great achievement we’ve made here, night and day. How it was when we first settled here - having to walk the roads in rain boots, and now, the difference is like night and day, drastic.”

“It’s not the same to walk on a paved road versus walking in mud. We sometimes left here and would be embarrassed to get out of our cars, with our clothes all filthy.

But now, thank God the light posts are up, because if the light goes out, at least the streets aren’t left in complete darkness.

Seeing something, is better than seeing nothing at all,” he says, affirming thoughts that are his own, and also Jackeline’s, and also of so many others: to have light is to move without fear.

Arquelino works in construction. I ask if he

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“The Door Came to Us” After a great violence, the sound that you once associated with your empty space, dies. A different type of silence arises and fills us all, from one corner of the islands to the other, about what shouldn’t be said. Some do not need to hear it before mobilizing to respond to the neighboring body in need. That was - is - her story. Her name is María Villegas Pizarro. They call her Telsa. Let’s call her Telsa.

She is 39 years old, with restless hands.

When Hurricane Maria destroyed and flooded different sectors of Loíza, on September 21, 2017, she grabbed a pot, cooked, and got on a small boat with family members. She navigated through streams of water that were once roads to feed members of the community, to distribute food to anyone they came across that may be hungry, while crossing through areas flooded with more than four feet of dirty water.

“I have a very big family. We have always been a family of leaders, and I said: well, let’s cook. There were about ten of us cooking - uncles, cousins, my mom,” remembers Tesla, and adds: “Fear did creep up, especially when there was talk about alligators in the waters. We were afraid, but still, our will to get food to people in need, was greater.”

Fear did not stop them. They kept going.

“When we knocked on doors and said: hey, we have hot food - thirteen, fourteen people would come out. People would always say: thank you, we have not been able to cook for days,” remembers Telsa,with glassy eyes full of stories without words. But her eyelashes, between silences, tell the stories.

That first family gesture, with the support of Taller Salud - a community-based feminist organization focused on improving women’s access to health, reducing genderbased violence in community settings and fostering economic development opportunities in Loíza - was transformed into something larger: a community dining room, which distributed food for six months, three times a week. Telsa remembers those days as journeys. They cooked rice with sausage, rice with ham, and made crab, tuna and

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chicken salads. They distributed fruit, water, and other basic necessities that arrived with the support of Taller Salud. They looked after children, teenagers, the elderly.

“200 to 300 people would arrive each day,” recalls Telsa.

That’s how dozens of meals became thousands; so many were able to eat thanks to her hands, her family’s, those of the community volunteers that made up Taller Salud, and all the other helping hands that supported, and still support, the work of this organization for this community.

Telsa started working with Taller Salud as a volunteer. But something happens when we reach a space, find a group of people, and that place recognizes us, listens to us, reconnects us with the forms of energy that we did not remember we carried inside, and nourishes us with useful wisdom to survive immediate disasters, other forms of violence, of aggressions.

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It wasn’t long before Telsa officially joined the community outreach team at Taller Salud. Months later she was left homeless.

It was this stability that allowed her to get back on her feet, to find a safe space to call her own.

“Taller Salud gave us more than we could ask for: gas, rice, oil, meat, beans, everything. We didn’t have to look for a door to help us, the door came to us,” says Telsa while her still restless hands emphasize in the air. She stops talking. Goes back to her desk, to work. To coordinate. But not for long, soon she returns to the streets, to work in direct contact with her community.

And because of Taller Salud, Telsa has the necessary tools to construct new connections with women in her community, to organize with them, to listen, and to care for them.

She, too, is a door.

And with the help of María Fund, so is Taller Salud.

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36 Organizations Funded

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Hurricane Maria disaster was not just a natural one.

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Taller Salud (Founding Organization)

Taller Salud is a community-based feminist organization dedicated to improving women’s access to health, reducing violence in community settings and fostering economic development through education and organizing. In the immediate aftermath, Taller Salud prioritized bringing resources to Loíza, where an estimated 3,000 homes were completely or partially destroyed. There they assembled into different work groups, each prioritizing 7 specific areas of emergency needs: water, food, medicine, personal hygiene products, cleaning supplies, plague control, and home rebuilding. In total they distributed 10,000 gallons of bottled water, 500 filters, 1,200 purification treatments, operated 4 community kitchens feeding close to

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1,000 people daily, distributed thousands of boxes of supplies, installed close to 100 roofs,1,500 vents and solar lamps and served as a trusted organization mobilizing resources arriving from the diaspora.

Taller Salud estimates that approximately 20,000 women and their families received some form of aid during the first 60 days of emergency response and another 2,000 received medical and psychological supports.

IG: tallersalud FB: taller.salud TW: tsalud www.tallersalud.com

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G-8 Grupo de las Ocho Comunidades Aledañas al Caño (Founding Organization) The G-8 Inc., Group of The Eight Communities Surrounding the Caño (The G-8 Inc.) is the umbrella entity that groups community-based, civic and recreational organizations of each of the eight communities surrounding the Martín Peña Canal. These communities, located in the heart of San Juan, have historically been marginalized by their condition of poverty.

Since 2004, the organization has prioritized promoting critical thinking among residents to provide them with pathways to combat the systems that oppress them. Post the storm, they organized their response based on the needs of their communities and developed specific work groups to lead various efforts. This included a massive project to rebuild 45 roofs, brigades that

distributed more than 6,000 kits with mosquito repellents, and powering up three community centers with solar energy to support residents with FEMA applications.

In total, an estimated 15,000 people were impacted through services and paid relief initiatives. Since then, G-8 has also hired a Coordinator and have strengthened their community engagement models to facilitate more space for leadership development, reflection and action.

IG: ProyectoEnlaceCMP FB: cano_martin_pena TW: CanoMartinPena www.g8incpr.wordpress.com

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AgitArte

Brigada Solidaria del Oeste

AgitArte, a collective of working class artists and cultural organizers, transformed their Casa-Taller (Workshop Space) in Santurce, into a vibrant hub for relief services. They served thousands of meals to local community members through their Comedor Solidario (Solidarity Kitchen), distributed aid arriving from allies in the diaspora, served as a center for communications, and disbursed close to $25,000 in aid to 14 comedores sociales (collective kitchens) across the island. The group also allocated close to $42,000 in Rapid Response Grants to 27 artists and cultural workers to support their response to the political and humanitarian crisis that followed the hurricane. Through their radical puppetry collective, Papel Machete, AgitArte also created the Cantastoria (picture storytelling theater performance), and Solidaridad y Sobrevivencia para Nuestra Liberación (Solidarity and Survival for Our Liberation), touring 18 locations to provide space of political discourse and dialogue.

IG: agitarte_cultural_works FB: agitarteculturalworks TW: AgitArte www.agitarte.org

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The Brigada Solidaria Del Oeste (BSO) is a self-managed community initiative comprised of individuals from various organizations, creative spaces, and social struggles; born as a response to Hurricane Maria. The first “recovery” phase of the work focused on securing basic supplies for marginalized communities in the west side of Puerto Rico. Thousands - in more than 50 communities - received water filter systems, boxes of food, medicine, solar equipment and other essential supplies in the first months. Simultaneously, community-led initiatives to restore agricultural landscapes, install tarps and revitalize affected areas were coordinated. Since then, the collective has also inserted themselves by amplifying the struggles in the defense of public education and human rights and have regranted funds to a handful of collectives that share their vision on social justice.

FB: brigadasolidariaoeste www.isrcr.be/bso

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Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Unidos

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Caguas

The Centro Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Unidos - CAMBU (Mutual Aid Center Bucarabones) builds and develops spaces to heal and collectively create opportunities for present and future generations in Bucarabones and surrounding communities.

During the peak of recovery efforts, Bucarabones and surrounding communities benefited from art and music workshops, agricultural and volleyball activities, health clinics, film screenings, and distribution of supplies that include: solar technology essentials, water filtration systems and community meals cooked by community leaders as a result of their work. Funds were also utilized for day-to-day operational expenses for the network of CAM (Mutual Support Centers) that formed to alleviate immediate needs in underserved communities including transportation and general operating costs. Flexibility of funds facilitated an autonomous process of power in decision making.

The Mutual Support Center in the town of CAGUAS (CAM Caguas) generated approximately 10,000 breakfasts and 22,0000 lunches in its first phase of relief.

Through a series of clinics staffed by volunteers certified as ear acupuncturists, over 300 people also received ear acupuncture treatments to manage trauma and other physical symptoms.

The purchases of paint, construction materials and equipment to improve kitchen operations were also made possible by funds granted to the center, including a large industrial stove, stainless steel table counters, a 500 gallon drinking water tank - all of which helped move massive relief efforts that took place there. At an organizational level, CAM-CAGUAS served as a convener and organizer of meetings with groups in alignment, and provided support during peak efforts.

IG: CAMBU FB: cambupr www.redapoyomutuo.org/ cambu

FB: Centro de Apoyo Mutuo www.cdpecpr.org

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Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Jíbaro

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo La Olla Comun

The Centros de Apoyo Mutuo Jíbaro (Jíbaros Mutual Support Centers (CAMji) were established between the municipalities of Lares and Camuy. The “Jíbaro” was included as recognition and celebration of the agrarian and ancestral character of the people that reside in the central mountain range of Puerto Rico. In October 2017, CAMji-CETA, CAMji Bartolo, and CAMji Camuy were born to address the needs of low-income communities in Lares and support the farm La Timonera. CAMji Bartolo, specifically, undertook rescuing an abandoned school and transformed 12 classrooms into apartments for 12 families who were left homeless. This space also became the inaugural place for the Café Teatro, a micro-company led by young people, and the Higuera Museum that exhibits collections of fig tree artists serving as an educational resource and work space for farmers in the region. CAMji CETA and CAMji Camuy have also been working on the construction of two Community Nurseries: El Bajadero and the FincaEscuela La Timonera.

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo - La Olla Común is a community-led kitchen that began as a collective response to the government’s abandonment of Río Piedras and the needs of people impacted by the housing, economic and health crisis. Community members lead the work of the organization, which served healthy breakfasts to more than 150 people a day and became a space for emotional healing, recreation and community socialization while also functioning as a collection and distribution center. Workshops on music, theater, health and food have also been offered. Fifteen months after starting the project, they continue operating their free breakfast program for approximately 80 people, four days a week.

FB: @camjibarolares www.redapoyomutuo.org/ camji-bartolo

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IG: camlaollacomun FB: La Olla Común www.redapoyomutuo.org/ la-olla-comun

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Caras con Causa

Casa Pueblo

Caras con Causas takes a community based approach to sustainable development with a focus on education, community, ecology and economic development. Similar to many organizations in Puerto Rico, during the first phase tarps were purchased and installed for homes whose roof was destroyed. Communities were surveyed to collect information that identified unmet needs. Repairs have been made to two homes, and to one of the tutoring centers they administer. Three tutoring centers were painted and restored to reopen their headquarters, and they offered art and music programming to the young people who found comfort in this space. A psychologist was also hired to tend to the emotional stress and anxieties that surfaced post the storm. Most days, more than 150 people used the space.

Casa Pueblo is a community selfmanagement project committed to improving and protecting natural, cultural and human resources. Soon after the storm they rushed to provide aid while also dealing with structural damages to their space and its community-managed forest reserves. Funds covered costs and wages related to operating and reopening the main building, which houses the cultural center, community movie theater, radio station, gift shop, butterfly garden and administrative offices, in order to maintain operations while recovering. Because of this, they were able to function as an aid center, helping to deliver 1,500 water filters, 8,500 solar lamps, and over 200 waterproof tarps for families who lost their roofs.

IG: carasconcausa FB: carasconcausa www.caraspr.org

IG: casapueblo_monarca FB: casapueblo www.casapueblo.org

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Centro de Periodismo Investigativo

Centro para la Mujer Dominicana

Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (The Center for Investigative Journalism) is dedicated to research, access to public information and journalistic training. In the aftermath, they became a key resource at the forefront of in-depth coverage of issues such as the hurricane-related deaths, health impact, contaminated water consumption, and the social and civil repercussions of the government curfew after the storms, in addition to covering extensively how the issue of public debt influences recovery efforts, among other relevant issues. The number of stories produced by the CPI has doubled since Hurricane Maria and their impact has reached the US and international media. The funds enabled them to recruit additional journalists to broaden the spectrum of thematic coverage and expand their audiovisual storytelling. Additionally, they were able to increase the number of stories translated into English to achieve greater impact in the diaspora and the United States.

Centro De La Mujer Dominicana is safe space that provides programming to address the holistic well-being of immigrant women in Puerto Rico. In the months after the storm, they organized support groups to work with victims of Hurricane Maria and then integrated them in educational and work teams that provided emotional, educational and nutritional services to neighbors also experiencing trauma.

The funds granted eased the burden of administrative costs, supplies for workshops, and supported medical studies, translations of documents for survivors, and helped the facilitation of peer-led support groups.

IG: cpipr FB: centrodeperiodismoinvestigativo www.periodismoinvestigativo.com

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FB: CentrodelaMujerDominicana

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Coco d’ Oro

Colectiva Feminista en Construcción

COCO D’ ORO focuses on using art as a tool to engage young people in critical thinking with an emphasis on investing in the development of their personal and professional goals. In the weeks after the storm, they made their way to the central part of the island in search of ways to lend a hand to communities in the mountain regions - those hardest to reach. They came across a small community in Comerío where 14 homes were completely destroyed and partnered with young community leaders to form work groups that distributed supplies, gutted homes, picked up debris from the river, and helped with identifying immediate needs. There they also financed the reconstruction of three homes, painted dozens of exteriors and revitalized a community garden. Funds also supported audio-visual workshops that inspired the start of the youth-led storytelling collective Lxs Mensajerxs de Palomas.

IG: coco_de_oro FB: Coco de Oro

Colectiva Feminista is a political grassroots project made up of feminists that fight against heteropatriarchy, gender violence and capitalism in Puerto Rico. Apart from setting up relief headquarters in an abandoned three-story building, the women focused on experimenting with collective healing processes. With the support of the María Fund, the collective hosted a total of 6 community healing circles for women in communities most impacted. These community healing circles focused on addressing the emotional and psychological trauma experienced - not just from the hurricane, but also from the unnatural disaster imposed on them - the lack of governmental response and accountability to Puerto Rico’s most vulnerable populations. At these workshops they were also introduced to tactical skills bringing in experts that introduced them to natural medicines and remedies that can be produced from herbs and fruits accessible in their communities.

IG: colectivafeministapr FB: Colectiva.Feminista.PR

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Comedor Comunitario Pedro Albizu Campos

Colectivo Ilé Colectivo Ilé has serves as a resource that advocates for the eradication of institutional, cultural and individual racism in and outside of Puerto Rico. Their work is centered on addressing the inequalities that stem from the marginalization and neglect of Black communities. Following the storm, this women-led group convened close to 400 women in over a dozen “Calderos de Ideas” (Cauldron of Ideas) across the island; meetings for ideation, reflection and dialogue.The women brought with them tools and processes to encourage participants to imagine a Puerto Rico that served their best interests. From this a support network of diverse women, with diverse interests and talents was born. To culminate their tour of the Calderos de Ideas, a day-long assembly was organized.

Participants from all regions were invited and experts lead a workshop designed to explore how their combined talents could shape long-term collaborations. To further cultivate their ideas, Colectivo Ilé opened up a grant and financed three pilot initiatives that came out of these sessions.

IG: colectivoile FB: ColectivoIle www.colectivo-ile.org

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A month after the hurricane, the Comedor Comunitario Pedro Albizu Campos emerged as a joint initiative of the groups “Se Acabaron Las Promesas”, “Papel Machete”, “Agitarte” and neighbors in Old San Juan and La Perla. These groups, made up of community volunteers, served an average of 70-90 dinners a day, 3 days a week. Under the slogan “Here We Serve Solidarity” a peer-education group was formed that organized dinner discussions about Puerto Rico’s economic and political crisis.

FB: @CAMPACLaPerla

María Fund

Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer

Corporación Piñones se Integra

Coordinadora Paz Para La Mujer (CPM) is a coalition of 35 organizations and 14 individual members committed to the eradication of domestic violence and sexual assault and mobilizing women to demand changes in their private, public and political lives. Emergency shelters, service organizations, universities, feminists and human rights activists who address these issues make up the coalition. Funds directed towards the coalition were regranted to facilitate rapid response to cover the basic needs of 12 of its member organizations to support continuation of services to their participants after the storm.

Through arts, culture and education Corporacion Pinones se Integra (COPI) aspires to transform the Afro-descendent community of Piñones into a space of greater cooperation, justice and solidarity.

Their community center, which serves as a hub for self-expression and preservation of the rich Puerto Rican sounds and rhythms - such as the traditional musical style of Bomba - experienced heavy structural damage from impact of both Irma and Maria.

In the midst of rebuilding their space, COPI also opened its doors to serve as a hub for relief efforts distributing more than 5,000 gallons of purified water and additional basic supplies to hundreds of residents of Piñones and neighboring barrios. Even so, the group - made up of long-time community leaders, activists and artists - prioritized the continuation of dance and percussion classes for the youth that made it to their space in search of a distraction in a time of chaos.

FB: @pazmujer www.pazparalamujer.org

IG: copi_centrocultural FB: CorporacionPinoneseIntegra www.copipr.com

Power

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Escuela Nacional de Circo de Puerto Rico

Fideicomiso para el Desarrollo de Rio Piedras

For five years, Escuela Nacional de Circo de Puerto Rico has been teaching circus art to young people, promoting it as a profession and a tool for social action. Their carp in Río La Plata - which housed their programs had to be dismantled and parts of it lost in the chaos of the hurricane. The land where it stood was flooded, materials and equipment ruined. With no functional physical space, the group launched a mobile circus and brought their Circos Sociales “Social Circuses” to 4 communities in different regions - reaching over 350 young people. These workshops not only served as a space for fun and laughter also integrating psychological and therapeutic processes introduced by a social worker that was added on to the team.

Río Piedras is organizing to recovering structures and land - unused or abandoned - for the development of affordable housing, small businesses, economic development initiatives, and investment in cultural and educational organizations in Río Piedras.

The goal: to acquire properties to use for the benefit of the community of Río Piedras and facilitate the reconstruction and assessment of urban space. Funds granted allowed the group to hire a coordinator to initiate the development of a long-term strategic plan, coordinate 5 in-depth meetings with potential allies and collaborators.

FB: @encpr

60

María Fund

Iniciativa de Ecodesarrollo de Bahia de Jobos

La Colmena CimarronaComedor Social de Vieques

Iniciativa de Ecodesarollo de BahĂ­a de Jobos (IDEBAJO) is a coalition of communities and organizations working on environmental, fishing and agricultural initiatives for the socioeconomic inclusion of the people that it serves. Their work is based on the transformation of the excluded communities of the southeast region of Puerto Rico. With designated funds they invested in the CoquĂ­ Solar project, an initiative that explores the benefits of alternative energy sources and making solar energy accessible for local residents. Resources were also funneled to Construyendo Solidaridad desde el Amor y la Entrega (Building Solidarity from Love and Delivery), a project that began long before Hurricane Maria to reconstruct homes in the region. In the immediate aftermath, the coalition prioritized the revitalization and development of home and community gardens that generated markets and other forms of economic development.

Comedor de Vieques is a project that comes from La Colmena Cimarrona, an organization that practices agroecology and beekeeping with the intention of flourishing food sovereignty in the archipelago of Puerto Rico. Currently La Colmena Cimarrona coordinates three projects: Finca Conciencia, El Panal and La Sambumbia, all with the aim of developing ecological agriculture in Vieques hand in hand with numerous grassroots community organizations. In response to the crisis generated by the storms, they developed El Panal with a group of women who gave them the task of organizing community health clinics, a weekly community kitchen, courses to train promoters in agroecology and health, energy sovereignty workshops, community radio, civic band, natural medicine and a garden. They also focus on promoting health for the residents with acupuncture clinics.

FB: idebajo.idebajo TW: IDEBAJO www.idebajo.wordpress.com

IG: colmenacimarrona FB: colmenacimarrona www.colmenacimarrona.org

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Mujeres de Islas

Nuestro Ideal

Since 2010, Mujeres de Islas has been organizing to save historical and cultural spaces in Culebra from the threat of privatized developments and have focused on identifying resources to invest in initiatives for the sustainable development of their land. They work out of SEVA - a rescued school. After hurricane, they ran a soup kitchen and safe haven for locals in that space. The infrastructure of the school suffered with the hurricane, but volunteers and residents quickly painted and reorganized the space to re-engage the community in Proyecto Siembra, an agricultural program teaching children the importance of food sovereignty and equipping them with the technical skills for planting, watering, weeding, harvesting and preparing and sharing food. To support this work Mujeres de Islas are in the process of designing and building green houses.

In October 2017, Nuestro Ideal In October 2017, Nuestro Ideal partnered with local chefs and purchased portable kitchen equipment to establish a mobile dining room. That month alone, they were able to reach more than 1,000 people in 4 communities. Since then, they have focused on doing research to support agricultural movement leaders in Puerto Rico with rethinking models that can support their long-term needs and goals.

FB: mujeresdeislas www.mujeresdeislas.com

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IG: nuestro_ideal FB: nuestroideal www.nuestroideal.org

MarĂ­a Fund

Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica

Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo ARECMA Mariana

Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica de Puerto Rico is a longstanding farmworker and food sovereignty activists organization that has a membership base and network of agroecological farms since 1989. Boricuá’s main mission is to promote agroecology as a vehicle to achieve food sovereignty and environmental justice on the archipelago. The organization is present in a diversity of regions and communities that practice and educate others about sustainable farming practices and social justice. Boricuá also protects and shares ancestral traditional “jíbaro-campesino” knowledge. Essentially, Boricuá is a platform to defend life, land, water, air, our seeds and our territories. Immediately after the storm they began collaborating with other social justice groups and began reconstruction and replanting brigades across small scale farms in the archipelago. They also took on the task of coordinating educational activities and offer direct support to farms and farmers that are a part of the collective.

Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo Mariana sprung about as a mutual aid space in partnership with ARECMA - an organization with a reputable history of radical social justice organizing in the Mariana region of Humacao founded in 1982. This selfsustaining community nonprofit owns La Loma - a piece of land on the edge of the mountains that served as headquarters for relief efforts. Immediately, after the hurricane, the community rallied to set up a volunteer soup kitchen and operated as a relief hub. The support of the María Fund helped with the construction of a roof for the community kitchen that served breakfast, lunch and dinner for more than 500 individuals a day.

IG: organizacion_boricua FB: organizacionboricua wwww.organizacionboricua.blogspot. com/p/quienes-somos.html

IG: @emergePuertoRico FB: arecma.org www.arecma.wixsite.com/ arecma/asociacion

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Puerto Rico Community Network for Clinical Research on AIDS (Puerto Rico CoNCRA) Puerto Rico CoNCRA mission is to improve the quality of life of people living with HIV / AIDS in Puerto Rico and at the same time prevent HIV infection - a marginalized and stigmatized population in Puerto Rico. They are a critical resource for those diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. They provide essential outpatient medical services that include access to internal medicine and treatments and ongoing monitoring and testing to ensure their patients needs are met. To ensure they could continue to provide quality services, funds were used to purchase electric generators to keep doors open and for the cleaning and disinfecting of facilities and direct service areas that were flooded.

IG: prconcra FB: prconcra www.prconcra.org

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Sol es vida / Villas del Sol Sol Es Vida offers programming designed to facilitate social development and the empowerment of the community located in Villas del Sol - a self-constructed community primarily made up of Dominican immigrants. After the passage of Hurricane Maria they have carried out dozens of community meetings to assess the needs and rebuild accordingly. Collectively - and with little support from their municipality - the organization was able to rebuild a dozen roofs, a park, and created a youth micro-company for screen printing and construction of concrete homes, among other things. Funds raised also supported the paving of the main roads - once dirt roads - to make garbage and debris collection easier, equipped the Community Center with solar energy, and made possible the installation of 15 solar street lights.

IG: solidaridadesvida FB: solesvida www.solesvida.org

MarĂ­a Fund

Asociacion de Pescadores Unidos del Sur de Vieques

Vieques en Rescate Vieques is a small island in Puerto Rico with 9,000 inhabitants. After six decades of military bombing, the island suffers from toxic contamination and also has an alarming rate of health issues. The cancer rates are 27% higher than in the rest of Puerto Rico. Vieques en Rescate is a medical center providing services for cancer patients. Through maritime and terrestrial transportation services they ensure that their patients arrive at their appointments and treatments, receive medical supplies, nutritional supplements, and support with payment of diets for their food, deductible for medicines, studies and psychological services, lectures and educational workshops. Funds raised supported the expansion of services and facility, purchasing of a patient van for flexible transportation, and the certification process for an onsite oncologist.

Since 1978, the Asociaciรณn de Pescadores Unidos (The Association of United Fishermen) have been effectively organizing Vieques fishermen, pushing for a just quality of life on their shores and protecting the maritime life that secure their livelihoods.

They serve as liaisons between fishermen, government agencies, and the local community while working to train and cultivate a new generation of fishermen with a conscience. With the grant received, they were able to support the purchase of equipment for fishermen to continue the work that was affected after Hurricane Maria.

IG: viequesenrescate FB: viequesenrescate

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Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico

Campamento las Cenizas en Peñuelas

Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico (ALPR) believes in access to justice in Puerto Rico through open and accessible legal information. In the months after the storm, ALPR recruited a team of volunteer lawyers and offered free legal services to roughly 2,500 people in close to 60 work brigades to support marginalized community with FEMA applications and processes. ALPR has also engaged more than 75 community organizations in a coalition of groups monitoring the use of billions of dollars in federal funds designated for recovery efforts to mobilize them against the potential threat of forced displacements. A total of 30 workshops were hosted, reaching over 600 attendees from 90 municipalities, and more than 420 lawyers and law students have been trained and equipped with resources and materials to activate themselves in their communities.

Campamento Contra Las Cenizas in Peñuelas is a community movement against the disposal, transportation and deposit of coal ash in Peñuelas. Their struggle has been highlighted by the work done in favor of environmental justice. The funding allowed for the continuation of their work in the control, monitoring, education, litigation and resistance, against the constant consequences of pollution of the environment, the impoverished relations of Peñuelas. Their work of resistance has allowed to safeguard the rights that the citizenry of Peñuelas has to have peace, health and a better quality of life

IG: ayudalegalpuertorico FB: ayudalegalpuertorico TW: ayudalegalpr www.ayudalegalpr.org

FB: nocenizasdecarbon

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María Fund

Proyecto Matria

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Utuado Centro Apoyo Mutuo - Utuado (CAMUtuado) see themselves as an instrument for the development of conscious minds rooted in uplifting popular education; a tool to build solidarity networks across Utuado and beyond. This Mutual Support Center is another service hub organized after the storm. Unlike other CAM’s, the collective functioned without a fixed physical space.

Instead, they partnered and worked in collaboration with groups already activated and organized - cooperating with local schools and initiatives to help meet their needs. With each visit they brought food, emergency supplies, and health clinics that addressed hygiene and proper use of medical supplies, and they also secured music and art workshops.

FB: camutuado www.redapoyomutuo.org/camu

Since 2004, Proyecto Matria has been supporting women who identify as victims of gender-based violence and discrimination.

Their work prioritized finding alternative housing and critical integral services to support these women in developing self-sufficiency. Resources secured from the MarĂ­a Fund helped them establish the Casa Solidaria Matria in Miraflores, a rural community in Orocovis - a town that is the geographic center of our Island. In this space they have carried out business incubation programming, agricultural workshops, and psychosocial services.

IG: proyectomatria FB: ProyectoMatria TW: proyectomatria www.proyectomatria.org Power

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Origicom

Instituto Nueva Escuela

Origicom believes in community development through sports, arts, and the cultivation of social spaces that aim to improve the self-esteem and emotional health of Puerto Rican youth. Before the storm, they hosted a skateboarding competition in the main plaza in ComerĂ­o.

Funds allocated to Origicom were used for continuation of cultural activities in the community in partnership with Casa MamililĂ­, an artistic space that promotes the local culture with strong community ties.

25 years ago the Juan Ponce de Leon school in the Juan Domingo neighborhood of Guaynabo, Puerto Rico was closed due to low enrollment. In response, the community organized itself to reopen the school under a different model, establishing the first public Montessori school in Puerto Rico.

The success of this community-led school caught the attention of schools across the island who wanted to replicate the model.

Instituto Nueva Escuela INE (Institute New School) was born in 2008 to respond to this and has since then partnered with more than 40 public schools to train and certify teachers and assistants in Montessori pedagogy. After the storm their priority was to ensure that all schools were operating with the personnel and resources necessary to keep the schools open and the programming running. More than 12,700 children and their families are a part of an INE program.

IG: origicom.info FB: Origicom.info

IG: institutonuevaescuelapr FB: InstitutoNuevaEscuela www.inepr.com

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MarĂ­a Fund

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Funded Organizations 2017 & 2018

$5,000–10,000 Asociación de Pescadores Unidos del Sur de Vieques Centro de Apoyo Mutuo de Utuado Centro de la Mujer Dominicana Colectiva Feminista en Construcción Coordinadora Paz para la Mujer Escuela Nacional de Circo Nuestro Ideal Organización Boricuá de Agricultura Ecológica Origicom

$12,000–25,000 Caras con Causa CoNCRA PR La Olla Común Sol es Vida

$30,000–55,000 Brigada Solidaria del Oeste Campamento Contra las cenizas en Peñuelas Comedor Comunitario Pedro Albizu Campos Corporación Piñones Se Integra (COPI) Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Jíbaro Centro Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Mujeres de Islas, Inc Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo Mariana, Humacao Vieques en Rescate

$60,000–80,000 Agitarte Ayuda Legal Casa Pueblo Coco de Oro La Colmena Cimarrona 70

María Fund

$100,000–200,000 Centro de Periodismo Investigativo Colectivo Ilé Fideicomiso para el Desarrollo de Río Piedras IDEBAJO Instituto Nueva Escuela Proyecto Matria Founding Organizations

$500,000 G-8 Comunidades del Caño Martín Peña Taller Salud

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50 of 78 03

60

37

59

14

Municipalities Reached

09

34

51

02

28 67 42

43 50

12

72 38

48

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14. Camuy 15. Canóvanas 16. Carolina 17. Cataño 18. Cayey 19. Ceiba 20. Ciales 21. Cidra 22. Coamo 23. Comerío 24. Corozal 25. Culebra 26. Dorado

55

01 76

64

62

78 30

41

57

58

39

33

Puerto Rico’s Municipalities 01. Adjuntas 02. Aguada 03. Aguadilla 04. Aguas Buenas 05. Aibonito 06. Arecibo 07. Arroyo 08. Añasco 09. Barceloneta 10. Barranquitas 11. Bayamón 12. Cabo Rojo 13. Caguas

5

20

08

35

47

06

27. Fajardo 28. Florida 29. Guayama 30. Guayanilla 31. Guaynabo 32. Gurabo 33. Guánica 34. Hatillo 35. Hormigueros 36. Humacao 37. Isabela 38. Jayuya 39. Juana Díaz

40. Juncos 41. Lajas 42. Lares 43. Las Marías 44. Las Piedras 45. Loiza 46. Luquillo 47. Manatí 48. Maricao 49. Maunabo 50. Mayagüez 51. Moca 52. Morovis

María Fund

53. Naguabo 54. Naranjito 55. Orocovis 56. Patillas 57. Peñuelas 58. Ponce 59. Quebradillas 60. Rincón 61. Rio Grande 62. Sabana Grande 63. Salinas 64. San Germán 65. San Juan

66. San Lorenzo 67. San Sebastián 68. Santa Isabel 69. Toa Alta 70. Toa Baja 71. Trujillo Alto 72. Utuado 73. Vega Alta 74. Vega Baja 75. Vieques 76. Villalba 77. Yabucoa 78. Yauco

A new Puerto Rico is possible.

26

74

70

73

24

11

16

31

21 05

22

61

46 27

32

04

23

15

71

54

10

68

45 65

69

52

17

40

13

53 44

66

19

36

18 77

63

29

07

56

49

25 Locations of the different funded organizations.

75

People

73

74

MarĂ­a Fund

Solidarity

Solidarity

75

The focus is on the long-term recovery

36,000 76

MarĂ­a Fund

Individuals Donated

56 252

Foundations Donated Organizations Donated Solidarity

77

Memories of María Fund’s First Convening

De norte a De este a o Esta lucha cueste lo q January 22, 2019

By Alejandra Rosa

The First Convening of the María Fund grantees, took place from December 7, 2019 to December 9, 2019, in Guanica, Puerto Rico. The event gathered voices from different places of the island, energies that all share one common element: a deep compromise towards the advancement of a more fair and social justice oriented Puerto Rico.

78 78

The structure of the event, organized by Xiomara Caro, Raquela Delgado and the popular education oriented non profit organization Pueblo Crítico, allowed participants to decide the topics they identified as priorities that needed to be discussed. As a result, with over 60 community oriented organizations

María María Fund Fund

a sur oeste sigue que cueste day, as dozens of community leaders listened to her words with an appreciative attention.

represented in the event, the three days resulted in a space for ideas, networking, partnerships and collaborations.

“We truly believe that the people that are doing the community based work in their communities are the people that know best what the country needs”, Caro said, the first

Participants included leaders from AgitArte, Auditoría YA, Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico, Brigada Solidaria del Oeste, Centro de Apoyo Mutuo- Caguas-CDPEC, Campamento Contra las Cenizas, Centro de Apoyo Mutuo-

Solidarity Solidarity

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Bucarabones, Centro de Apoyo Mutuo-Olla Común, Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Jíbaro, Casa Pueblo, Centro de Apoyo a Movimientos Sociales y Activistas, Colectivo ILÉ, Coco de Oro, La Colmena CImarrona Finca Conciencia, Federación de Maestros, el Fideicomiso de Río Piedras, el G-8, HASER, Inc., IDEBAJO, Instituto Nueva Escuela, Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades, La Maraña, Mujeres de Islas, Proyecto de Apoyo Mutuo Mariana, Proyecto Matria, Semillero de las Artes, Taller Salud, Urbe Apie, Villas del Sol, and Pueblo Crítico.

Something powerful happens when multiple energies come together in one place, and exchange their ideas, experiences, dreams and challenges. The group, in multiple instances, expressed their gratitude towards what they described as an opportunity that will allow them to keep advancing their work, strengthening their relations with colleagues around the island.

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Solidarity among the participants interweaved the three days of political discussions, reflections, activities and even musical participations. The groups Plena Combativa; Cristine, de Zurda Music and Ausuba, for example, gifted the participants with a language of resistance, through music, the last night of the encounter.

Dozens of ideas were born as a product of the event, that would probably not have happened if the space that the Fund enabled, had happened. Some of the initiatives include organizing social theater workshops in vulnerable communities, the development of strategies against the displacement of communities, documenting the history of contemporary activism in Puerto Rico, and initiatives to keep addresing and fighting back racism, homophobia, gender violence and colonialism in the island.

María Fund

The needs and goals of the organizers gathered by the María Fund are diverse, but as they articulated them during the event, one thing was evident: they all look forward to continue working on behalf of a more fair, safe and solidary Puerto Rico.

“From the liaison with other organizations, I expect collaborative relations that are respectful, that have participation as the axis, and that have a holistic education as a north”, said Ariadna Godreau, from Ayuda Legal.

“I aspire for everyone to understand the implications of racism and colonialism in Puerto Rico, in general, and the we can all affirm us as an independent country”, added activist Gloriann Sacha Antonetty, from Colectivo Ilé.

democracy”, reflected activist and lawyer Amárilis Pagán, from Proyecto Matria.

“A participatory climate is built when we listen to each other. And when we listen to the silence”, said, on the other hand, Dulce del Río Pineda, from Mujeres de Islas.

And, like them, many others, as the three days passed by, reconnected with their goals and horizons, recharged their energies, and prepared to continue their work, with the certainty that they’re not alone, and that dozens of other partners all over the island are working to advance of social justice.

“We want to keep building a base of equity in order for Puerto Rico to experience a real

Solidarity

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Expenses

40.9%

3.6%

54.0%

1.4%

Percentage

Activity

Capital

54.0% 1.4% 3.6% 40.9%

2017–2018 Grants and Programs Development Management & General costs 2019-2020 Budget

$ 3,827,086.00 $ 97,904.00 $ 258,515.00 $2,900,000.00

7,083,505

Total 82

MarĂ­a Fund

Income

56 36,000 252

Foundations that donated

Individuals that donated

Organizations that donated

Solidarity

83

Initiatives Funded 2019

Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico www.ayudalegalpr.org/ayudaparadesastre

Instituto Nueva Escuela www.inepr.com

Brigada Legal Solidaria facebook.com/brigadalegalsolidaria/

Instituto Universitario para el Desarrollo de las Comunidades www.facebook.com/instituto.comunidades

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Unidos http://www.redapoyomutuo.org

La Colmena Cimarrona www.hasercambio.org/alianzas/colmenacimarrona

Comisión Ciudadana para la Auditoría Integral del Crédito Público, (Auditoría YA) www.auditoriaya.org

La Maraña www.lamaraña.org Mujeres de Islas www.mujeresdeislas.com

El Ancón www.elancondeloiza.com El Hangar www.facebook.com/Elhangarensanturce Espicy Nipples www.espicynipples.com

Proyecto Matria https://www.proyectomatria.org Pueblo Crítico www.facebook.com/pueblocritico.inc Semillero de las Artes

Fuerte Fuerte www.fuertefuerte.com Federación de Maestros de Puerto Rico www.facebook.com/ federaciondemaestrosdepuertorico G-8 Inc. Caño Martin Peña https://g8incpr.wordpress.com

Sol es Vida www.solesvida.org Taller Salud www.tallersalud.com Urbe Apie www.urbeapie.com

HASER Cambio www.hasercambio.org

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María Fund

Our grantmaking has been grounded in the belief that organizing, as a way of building power among directly impacted people, is critical. Since the funds’ inception, we have raised a total of $7 million. The income of the María Fund has sustained the work of the first 18 months, and will allow us to continue moving resources for the next 2 years.

Grants disbursed have ranged between $5,000 and $250,000, and have gone to local nonprofits, including organizations that have local tax exemption but not 501(c)(3) status, allowing the María Fund to support organizations that were historically unfunded, but had a solid track record of community work. The remaining funds will be distributed throughout the next 2 fiscal years.

Center for Popular Democracy (CPD) played a crucial role by housing the backend of the fund; including legal and financial responsibilities. Vital support also came through the mobilization of CPD’s communications and development capacities to amplify messaging and fundraising through a network of over 50 affiliated community organizations, endless partners, funders, and media connections.

Our shared commitment to move resources to the frontlines meant an in-kind contribution of over $400,000 through July 2018 with more than twenty staff dedicating over 1,500 hours.

Solidarity

85

To all the

individuals, organizations, foundations, & community partners who have supported the María Fund’s work.

Thank you.

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María Fund

Supporters 2017–2018 # 2 Knick LLC - Cape House A Abby Lublin Family Fund Aberdeen Abi Karun Fund Adobe AG Foundation Ahdesigns LLC - Ann Hadley Albert & Helen LeBlanc Charitable Fund Alex’s Chimis Inc. Alice Shaver Foundation Allied Medix Resources Inc. Amalgamated Bank AMC Networks Andrus Family Fund Arca Foundation Artist for Creative Theater, Inc. Association for Indias Development

Common Counsel Foundation Community Music Center Cooking with Gabby Cornerstone Fellowship Baptist Church Courtney Cooperman Chai Fund Cox Inc Crane Family Fund CVS Caremark Cynamon-Murphy Family Fund D Daimler Cares (Your Cause) Daniel Family Charitable Fund David & Charlotte Pinsky Donor Advised Philanthropic Fund Distracted Globe Foundation Donegal School District Douglas Wetheimer and Beth Mitchner Dowling Minneapolis Kids Downeast CIder House LLC

B

E

Ball State University Banks Chapel Church Barker Avenue Bendit Family Foundation Berkeley Democratic Club Bhaskar Ghosh & Brinda Govindan BLN Garden LLC BLN Garden LLC Bloomingdale Township Democratic Organization BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Bridging Peace Fund of Tides Foundation Broadway Center for the Performing Arts Brooklyn Blends Buchberg Kaywin Charitable Fund Bundle of Holding LLC

Earthly Coffee Shop East Side Community High School Ebay Foundation Echelon Academy Inc. Edwards Deutsch Fund of the Community Foundation of Western Carolina Eight Foot Records Einhorn Family Charitable Trust El Museo del Barrio El Table Campus Exchange Emerson Unitarian Universalist Church Eule Charitable Foundation

C Canada LLC Caplan Family Foundation, Inc. Carol Pencke & Mary Laumer Castner Kilburg Charitable Fund Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Church Center for Spiritual Living DC Central Hope Champlain Valley Universalist Society Chapel of Unity Ministries Charitable Fund of Garrett Mracotte Charity Buzz Chasen Family Foundation Churches United for Fair Housing Clark Family Foundation Classic Slice Inc. Coblentz, Patch, Duffy & Bass, LLP Coho Realty Community and Housing Fund Colbyville Copy - Pack and Send Plus Coleman Family Charitable Foundation Collegiate Church Corp.

COMMED

F Fairport Central School District Faye and Mayer Krupp Family Charitable Foundation Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation Felicia B. Kizer Fight for Families Fellowship First Congregational Unitarian Church of Harvard First Parish Church - Framingham First Parish Church - Malden First Parish Church - Unitarian Universalist First Universalist Church FJC Florida Institute for Reform and Empowerment Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks Inc. Fox Theater Inc. Frances Greenburger Charitable Fund Frank Brosens and Deenie Brosens Foundation Friedrichs Family Charitable Fund Fukuoka Communication Center Fulcrum Media LLC

Solidarity

G Gamerjohansson - Duckduck Garden Club of Nyack Gaylord - Eyerman Family Fund of the Oregon Community Foundation Georgetown Friends Meeting Ghostly International, LLC Girl Scouts of NNJ - Girl Scouts of Bergenfield Girls Just Wanna Have Fund Glenn & Celene Voyles Grafix Unleashed Groundswell Fund H Hamburg Central School District Hargraves Family Charitable Fund Haverford Field Hockey Health Resources in Action Henry Crown and Company Hispanic Information and Telecommunications Network Home Box Office, Inc. I Impact Assets Instituto Familiar de la Raza, Inc. International School of Brooklyn Isaacson Miller, Inc. Ithaka Harbors, Inc. J J.B. Katz Charitable Fund J.R. Albert Foundation James and Jane Folger Foundation Janet Kodish and Dorian Newton JD Wine Concepts, LLC - Quantum Leap Winery Jeff & Debbie Andrews Fund Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta John Gore Foundation JP Morgan Charitable Giving Program Jumamosi Tour LP Justice Action Ministry K Kaufman Family Foundation Kellye & Kyle Wright Family Fund Ken and Mollie Traub Fund Kessler, Schneider & Scheltinga Kirkman Park Elementary School PTA L LaGuardia Community College - ASAP Lake Weir Middle School Lamont Family Charitable Fund Larry Ottinger and Cinthia Schuman

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Latino Justice PDRLF Latino Rebels (Julio Varela) Leland & Gray Union High School Levia Strauss & Co. (Your Cause) Levia Strauss & Co. (Your Cause) Linda Deer Nelson Fund Linde Family Foundation Lynnhurst Congregational Church

Robert C. Parker School Rochester 105 Inc - Bikram Yoga Ferndale Rochester Public Library Roger Stoll Ron McKelevey and Christine Saudek Ross Linderman

M

San Diego City College Foundation Schwalbe Partners Shaler Area High School Segunda Quimbamba Folkloric Center, Inc./Latino Justice Shared Prosperity Fund Sharma Family Fund Shoreline Unitarian Universalist Society Snyder Family Charitable Fund South Valley Unitarian Universalist Starboard Value Charitable Fund Starry Night Fund Stewart Mott Foundation Stowe Street Café LLC Stowe Street Café LLC Student Environmental Action Coalition Student Government Association Skidmore College Student Union of Stuyvesant High School Summer Midstream Partners Holding Sunlight Fund Surdna Foundation Susan Cohn Philanthropic Fund Sydney Robinson & Family Charitable Giving Account

MADRE Maestro Video Productions, Inc Make the Road New York Mandala Mankoff Family Foundation Maribette LLC Marnie Owen and Ethan Hausman Martha Matlaw Mary Ann & Bob Savard Charitable Fund Mary Westheimer Metro Justice ROCLA Meyer Family Fund Miami Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Michael Mendelsohn Charitable Fund Milwaukee Film, Inc. Monarch Impact Fund Myrtle Baptist Church N Nahant Woman’s Club Network for Good Network for Good Next Door North Shore Chiropractic Health Center Northern California Community Loan Fund Northshore Unitarian Universalist Church Northstar Asset Management Novo Foundation Noxon - Kohan Charitable Fund O Open Society Foundations P P.S.1 Contempora Pat and Tom Grossman Family Fund Patricia Segal and Stephen Segal Family Charitable Foundation Paul Mersfelder Paul T. Kalinich Percolate Industries Inc. Penn Medicine Pfizer Propel Northside R Rachel Kauder Nalebuff Ralph Ogden Foundation, Inc. Renaissance Charitable Foundation Resilient Futures Fund Reyes Charitable Fund Reynolds Auto Wrecking, Inc. Richard Hertz and Doris Meyer Gift Fund Riverdale Country School RM Tankersley Charitable TR

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T Tableau Software Temple Israel of Northern West The Anneberg Foundation The Bigwood Foundation The Center for World Networking The Cliffs at Long Island City The Dalton School The Dauber Memorial Fund (Sylvia Brandt & James Kwak) The EC Fund The First Unitarian of Hastings The Flora Family Foundation The Gerrish H. Milliken Foundation The Hill Snowdon Foundation The Jan M. and Eugenia Krol Charitable Foundation The JPB Foundation The Lampl Family Foundation The Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund The Libra Foundation The McNally Family Fund The Mooney Tripoli Family The Nancy Hoecker Charitable Fund The Nathan Cummings Foundation The November Fund The Oregon Community Foundation The Princeton University Chapel The Putney School The Red Hot The Robert Rauschenberg Fund The Rotary Service Foundation of San Mateo The Rothstein Foundation The San Francisco Foundation The Selz Foundation

María Fund

The Sobel Family Foundation The Springfield Renaissance School The Wilde Bunch The William and Mildred Kaplan Charitable Foundation The Wireless Alliance, LLC Thony and Serge Inc. Tides Foundation Tiz Media Foundation Triple Bottom Line Foundation U UNC Office of Sponsored Research Unitarian Church of Marlborough and Hudson Unitarian Congregation of West Chester Unitarian Universalist Area Church Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach California Unitarian Universalist Church of Nashua Unitarian Universalist Church of Saco & Buddeford Unitarian Universalist Congregation Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter Rock Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Danbury Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at Stony Brook Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Hartford County Unitarian Universalist Metro Atlanta North Congregation Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills United Steelworker, District 4 United Way California Capital Region University of Delaware W Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy Wake Robin Inn Walter and Elise Haas Fund Wells Fargo Advisors Wells Fargo Community Support Program WesBanco Bank, Inc West End Presbyterian Church West Forsyth High School Westside Unitarian Universalist Congregation William and Mildred Kaplan Charitable Foundation William and Susan Garratt Fund William Bernstein Williamsburg Middle School Winky Foundation WM CA - San Francisco Wobb Family Fund Y Yoga Lifestyles LLC Your Cause Corporate Giving Programs / AT&T

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2017–2018 Advisory Committee

Contributors

Yulissa Arce Teresita Ayala (Lah Tere) Laura Candelas Karina Claudio Betancourt Xiomara Caro Díaz José García Jesus González Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi Wilfredo López Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan Tristana Robles

Alejandra Rosa Writer

First Chair of the Board 2017

Visual Identity / Editorial Design División de Diseño™ Luis A. Díaz-Alejandro Luis A. Vázquez O’Neill

Iris Morales

Erika Rodríguez Independent Photographer Eli Jacobs-Fantauzzi Independent Photographer Mikey Cordero Independent Photographer

2017–2018 Staff Xiomara Caro-Díaz The María Fund Project Director Raquela Delgado-Valentín The María Fund Administrator

Printed by Kopa Printing Paper: Munken Lynx Typeface: Neue Haas Unica Monotype Foundry Hester Street Design and Planning Partner

Steve Dooley, Center for Popular Democracy Director of Partnerships

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María Fund