Supporting Community Development in Puerto Rico

 As we continue to face financial hardship in the aftermath of multiple natural disasters and austerity measures related to bankruptcy, our community allies remain strong in their efforts to sustain self-reliance. As we previously reported, the community in Guayanés, Yabucoa had been struggling with the current difficulties that affect many impoverished areas in Puerto Rico.

This community had sought our collaboration in sustaining a project around the re imagination of a government-closed school into a community service center. This comes as a response that we understand poses as alternative means of self empowerment and resistance in dire times. Their proposed project aligns with our organization’s vision of working together toward transforming spaces in disuse and abandonment to become alternative for food sovereignty as well as constructing collective actions that can result in better quality of life.

We understand the importance of relying on historical knowledge of agricultural means and the intention of making this knowledge accessible for future generations, so we strive to assist the community in transforming the space into an educational hub. For this reason, we contributed with multiple brigades to transform the abandoned space as per originally determined by their own efforts. This is part of beginning phases of an intent to help recover common spaces that can steward self sustainability, reliance and growth.

We understand that imagining the spaces we want to inhabit is only a part of a long-structured process, but without actual tangible actions, these efforts can be overwhelming and distant. For this reason, we continue to work with Guayanés, and other communities on making the spaces inhabitable, sustainable and self serving, long from being public nuances. During this last trimester our brigades continued to help recover, paint and clean the rescued school with the intention for the spaces to be part of a positive community outlook for the future.

With your ongoing financial assistance we can strive to continue the efforts to help this project become even more sustainable.

In 2017, Puerto Rico declared bankruptcy, becoming the largest municipal bankruptcy in the history of the United States. This event brought a series of consequences, including significant cuts to essential services and a decline in local production to prioritize the payment of an unsustainable debt. As part of austerity measures, between 2016 and 2021, more than 600 schools were closed, leaving thousands of children and communities without educational centers and essential spaces for community services. Without an adequate reuse plan, many of these schools have become abandoned spaces, prone to issues such as illicit activities and illegal dumping.

The community of Guayanés, in Yabucoa, has been no exception. To address this situation, the community has organized to transform this closed school into a community service center. The remote location of Guayanés, far from the urban center, makes access to basic services extremely difficult, making this project essential to improving the quality of life for its residents. Through participatory design processes, we support the community in its efforts to rehabilitate the school and restore it to its role as an essential community space, as it once was.

In response to Puerto Rico’s overwhelming reliance on food imports—currently at 85% of consumed food—an innovative agriculture project led by agroecological farmers has emerged as a beacon of hope and resilience. This initiative aims to establish a center for distribution, education, and organization within the agricultural sector. The center will not only serve as a hub for coordinating the production and supply of locally grown, sustainable food but will also create a space for knowledge sharing, resource pooling, and collective action.

The challenges faced by Puerto Rico—stemming from economic austerity, school closures, food dependency, and the abandonment of critical community spaces—highlight the urgent need for grassroots initiatives and collaborative efforts. Through participatory design, we empower communities like Guayanés in Yabucoa and agroecological farmers to reclaim their spaces, rebuild their systems, and create sustainable solutions tailored to their unique needs. These efforts not only address immediate challenges but also lay the groundwork for long-term resilience and self-sufficiency, proving that community-driven projects are key to rebuilding a stronger, more equitable Puerto Rico.