The Fund was created in 2017 as an instrument to advance significant solutions that typically go beyond the grantmaking possibilities of a single investor. The Fund’s first grantmaking round was used for its Phase #1, an emergency relief funding effort following Hurricane María. Phase #2 focused on recovery and reconstruction funding tied to the hurricane’s aftermath. For Phase #3, and as of April 2020, we are evaluating how the Fund fulfills the needs exacerbated by earthquakes in the South of Puerto Rico and the COVID-19 outbreak.

With half of its population living under the U. S. poverty level, Puerto Rico confronts layered challenges that primarily affect the island’s most vulnerable populations. The two latest being the COVID-19 outbreak in the Spring of 2020 and the devastation caused by earthquakes striking the southern part of the island beginning in December 2019. The latest crises occurred at a time when the island was already facing a huge economic collapse and a slow and highly controversial recovery process from the disasters caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

COVID-19 and the quakes aggravated already dire social conditions such as high unemployment rates, increased migration, precarious housing conditions, closed public schools, and inefficient and outdated public utilities, especially the electric authority.

With government services stretched thin and long before the hurricanes, earthquakes and the Coronavirus, community-based nonprofit organizations were always ready to step in and serve the most vulnerable populations. As organizations deeply rooted in local communities, they pursue equal treatment, advocate for the most vulnerable, create innovative initiatives, mobilize volunteers and address basic needs. Their proximity and knowledge of their communities and people enable them to quickly and efficiently provide necessary services, even in remote places