Forward Puerto Rico Fund
Fiona Relief
Supporting those who are supporting
Five years after Hurricane María, Hurricane Fiona has caused catastrophic rainfalls, major mudslides that have left whole communities inaccessible, rivers have overflowed causing tragedies and debris has blocked some of the main streets and highways across Puerto Rico. The hurricane also caused the fragile power grid to shut down, provoking an islandwide blackout that also left the majority of the population without access to clean water.
Filantropía Puerto Rico is committed to look FORWARD and provide long-term support to those most affected. The social sector has immediately mobilized to address the community’s efforts and once again, we want to support them.
Donations Received
$841,936.00

Donations Distribution
$720,000

Thanks to our donors!
Individuals
Mathew Marine |
Stacy Van Gorp |
Gita Gulati |
Juan Stolberg |
Pablo Santiago |
Jeralyn Cave |
Carla Wietgrefe |
Ann McQueen |
Axel Santana |
Vanessa Carter |
Jonathan Brack |
William Jordan |
Steve Auerbach |
Schuyler Ross |
Chini Sheth |
Judith Brown |
Nicole Negowetti |
Leila Zimbel |
M Boone |
Mahlet Getachew |
David Lewis |
Foundations
Ford Foundation |
Mellon Foundation |
Hellman Foundation |
Corporations
Fidelity Charitable |
Policy Link |
Maranta Power LLC |
Donations to the FORWARD Fund will support Mutual Aid efforts throughout the island. A grant of $720,000 from the funds raised will support 10 Mutual Aid Centers (“Centros de Apoyo Mutuo – CAMs”) around the island that sustain themselves by providing essential services to their communities in different municipalities. These community organizations reach out to the most marginalized communities.
Mutual Aid is changing and building social relationships that lead to new projects and understandings while taking care of themselves and others. In times of crisis, such as Hurricane Fiona, their proximity and knowledge of their communities and people allows them to quickly and effectively provide the services needed to move from crisis to solidarity. As the immediate needs of the population are met, the funds raised will be used to ensure that these organizations help move Puerto Rico forward.
Learn more about each CAM and the work they do on the island:

Apoyo Mutuo Agrícola
Donation: $72,000
Collaboration network with small farmers, inspired by food sovereignty, and mutual support. They support with equipment and tools for agricultural brigades. Provide materials and equipment for the preparation of Bio-ferments, Bio-preparations, Seedlings and grafts. And coordinate “Fair Market Hubs”

Asociacion de Comunidades Unidades Tomando Accion Solidaria (ACUTAS)
Donation: $72,000
Provides communities with tools to create a self-sustaining and self-sufficient system with the ability to lift the economy both personally and collectively. Through solidarity action, emphasizing the less fortunate and the most vulnerable. Offering tools to forge teamwork, unity and citizen participation.

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Bucarabones Unido (CAMBU)
Donation: $72,000
Supports the community of Bucarabones and other communities with self-management so that, collectively, they cultivate new and better relationships with present and future generations. Promoting the creation of a comprehensive and self-managed space for the development of educational, recreational and cultural experiences that support individual well-being and that of the community in general under democratic, supportive, compassionate and loving principles.

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Caguas Pueblo
Donation: $72,000
Caguas Pueblo is a self-managed food distribution initiative focused on social orientation and activism. They are serving breakfast and lunch on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to approximately 100 to 250 people per day. They have a group of 10 to 12 volunteers. On Tuesdays they offer acupuncture sessions to the community.

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Jíbaro Bartolo
Donation: $72,000
Mission: To support the community of Bucarabones and other communities with self-management so that, collectively, they cultivate new and better relationships with present and future generations. Promoting the creation of a comprehensive and self-managed space for the development of educational, recreational and cultural experiences that support individual well-being and that of the community in general under democratic, supportive, compassionate and loving principles.

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Jíbaro Lares Pueblo
Donation: $72,000
An initiative for the communities of Calvache, Mirasol, Vilella, Bartolo, Río Prieto and Cerro Las Avispas in Lares. Shortly after Hurricane María, people from the Bartolo community began the rehabilitation of an abandoned school to provide accommodation for homeless families. The CAMJI also serves as a storage and collection center for the collection of aid and the community kitchen. Currently the social housing project has six families.

Centro de Apoyo Mutuo Las Carolinas
Donation: $72,000
Mutual Support Center that has a Bazaar, a Relaxation and Well-being Space, an Art Therapy room and a dining room that prepares lunches for the most needy people at the disposal of the community in general.

Comité Pro-Desarrollo Villa Cañona
Donation: $72,000
After Hurricane María members of the community Villa Cañona in Loiza established a Community Kitchen in their community center. They were serving breakfast and lunch Mondays and Saturdays for approximately 150 people. They have a new space located in Villa Cañona I. in the structure of an abandoned Head Start on land that will be ceded by agreement to the community. These three rooms will be transformed into 1 whole big area for the head start, with a community kitchen serving every day a decent meal for older people in the community.

Iniciativa Eco-Desarrollo Bahía de Jobos (IDEBAJO)
Donation: $72,000
A community organization formed by a coalition of communities and organizations (environmental, fishing and agricultural) that works for the socioeconomic inclusion of the communities they serve, and for the protection of their natural and cultural heritage. Their work is based on the transformation of the excluded communities of the south east region of Puerto Rico through the defense of the natural and cultural heritage and the endogenous community sustainable development.

Red Regional de Apoyo Mutuo (RRAM)
Donation: $72,000
Mission: To build a space for inter-organizational regional collaboration that promotes Mutual Support in the western and rural areas of Puerto Rico as an instrument for the improvement and well-being of the communities that surround them. They understand that their goal is the cultivation of a practice of mutual support, from below and from within, through collaboration in common work and the exchange of knowledge and resources.
The FORWARD Puerto Rico Fund has spent the last five years supporting key nonprofit organizations and innovative projects that advocate addressing the layered crises facing Puerto Rico in an equitable manner, while increasing the resilience of vulnerable populations on the island.
Fiona Relief Landscape
We have a consolidated list in order to support alignment and coordination during this response. In order to better understand the funding landscape and to help understand were resources can be focused to.
Fiona Supporting Efforts
As we continue to mobilize the social sector’s agenda, we use our channels to expand their outreach and highlight the ways in which they contribute to the island’s recovery, including the use of databases, data gathering, supplies, volunteering, and search for available funds.