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00:00:30.000Hello and welcome to For the Wild podcast. I'm Ayanna Young.
00:00:41.060Today we are speaking with Estrella Santiago-Perez.0.99
00:00:45.020The reason why thousands of families right now are living in houses that have no roof,
00:00:50.120that maybe have no windows, that are completely damaged,
00:00:53.340because they have no access to the funds that are allocated for that same purpose.
00:00:57.800Estrella is the Environmental Affairs Manager of the Corporación del Proyecto Enlace del Caño MartÃn Peña.
00:01:07.780Enlace is a public corporation created under the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico's Act 489
00:01:13.520and is tasked by the coordination and implementation of public policies regarding the rehabilitation of the Caño MartÃn Peña CMP Tidal Channel,
00:01:24.720a 3.5-mile-long natural tide channel that is part of the San Juan Bay Estuary.
00:01:30.980The project is an initiative that links the public, private, and community sector
00:01:35.540to rehabilitate and revitalize the community surrounding the Tidal Channel
00:01:39.700in order to improve their quality of life, recover natural resources, and overcome poverty.
00:01:46.400Estrella holds a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of Puerto Rico
00:01:50.080and a Juris Doctor from the School of Law of the University of Puerto Rico.
00:01:55.180She participated as a speaker at the 2016 UIC School of Public Health
00:02:00.420Dean's Forum on Climate Change in the Caribbean,
00:02:03.220the 2018 NCSE National Conference and Global Forum
00:02:07.660on Science Policy and the Environment, and Bioneers 2018.
00:02:13.360Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
00:02:17.140Thank you, Adana, and thank you for giving us
00:02:20.080forum to speak about issues affecting low-income communities in Puerto Rico. And as you mentioned,
00:02:25.680these topics are not usually discussed at a national level in the U.S. So any forum that we
00:02:29.820can expose what are the challenges, but also the opportunities and what are the communities doing
00:02:34.480here in Puerto Rico is very important for us. So I appreciate giving us this space and I am
00:02:39.920very excited to talk a bit more about what we do here and also share some experiences and ideas
00:02:45.980with you and so that everybody that's listening to us also learns more about what we do.
00:02:51.100Thank you. And yeah, like you were saying, these conversations aren't being told,
00:02:59.280especially through the mainstream media in the US. And these are stories that we all need to
00:03:03.600understand globally so that we can have a better grasp of the situations we're in and how to
00:03:11.300support healthy, resilient communities moving forward. And I'm thinking about in the aftermath
00:03:17.740of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico lost about 80% of its crop value. Nearly the entire population
00:03:25.020lost access to power. Half of the island didn't have running water and hospitals were shut down.
00:03:32.820In doing research for this episode, I've come across stories of FEMA requiring geologists to
00:03:38.300inspect properties before handing out aid. Yet there were, or perhaps still are, only two geologists
00:03:45.060on the island doing this work, or stories of government controlled water and power authorities
00:03:51.340who continued to build residents while services weren't functioning. So mainstream media certainly
00:03:56.680loves to obsess over stories of chaos and breakdown, which leaves examples of resilience
00:04:03.340and resurgence untold. So I wonder what the story from the ground is. Did Hurricane Maria
00:04:10.360reveal the territory's vulnerabilities? Or how have you seen Puerto Rico respond to these
00:04:16.640shortcomings, especially given that on October 30th, an attorney for Puerto Rico's government
00:04:22.060admitted in a San Juan courtroom that there is no official hurricane response plan for the island?
00:04:28.060So what you're saying beautifully is what's happening in our communities. I can provide
00:04:32.620on samples in our communities of what was the situation like on the ground after the hurricane
00:04:37.620and what the situation is right now. So first of all, before I speak about the situation,
00:04:42.740I want to give a bit of background information on our communities. So El Lace works in eight0.97
00:04:49.620communities. And these are communities that are located in the margins of the Tidal Channel,
00:04:54.640which is the Caña MartÃn Peña. These are communities that are very low income, over half
00:04:59.420of our residents live below the poverty level. Forty-two percent of the residents are living with
00:05:04.960an annual income of average $10,000. So prior to the hurricane, we already faced a lot of economic
00:05:12.020hardships. In addition to these economic hardships, our communities are facing critical public health
00:05:17.940and environmental issues because the tidal channel is blocked and almost three of our communities
00:05:24.300lack a proper sanitary system. So when it rains, the stormwater system carries combined stormwater
00:05:31.620and raw discharges into the Caño MartÃn Peña. So any rain event in our communities can result
00:05:39.240in a flood event without having a storm or a hurricane in place. So even prior to Maria,
00:05:44.420we already had a lot of flooding in our communities because of the lack of proper
00:05:48.580infrastructure and because of the conditions of the Caño MartÃn Peña. So then September came
00:05:55.460and obviously Hurricane Maria exacerbated the conditions in our communities. Over 75 houses
00:06:02.040in our district were completely destroyed by the hurricane. Over 1,200 families lost their roof
00:06:09.680either partially or totally and over 70 percent of our communities got completely flooded in some
00:06:16.160areas for over four days. So obviously the damage was extensive and it was similar to other communities
00:06:22.240in Puerto Rico. Both first responders were the neighbors and the leadership. We worked very hard
00:06:27.580to coordinate with FEMA the first tarps to be distributed in the communities and we just
00:06:32.780called FEMA, picked them up and then also acquired other donations from private entities
00:06:38.180and distributed them into the communities the week after the hurricane. So goods were distributed,
00:06:43.500food and a lot of things had to be done with their own communities and coordination of the
00:06:48.200community leadership because, as you mentioned, there was a bit of miscommunication between the
00:06:52.500government and, you know, the extensive damage was just way too much to manage and to coordinate
00:06:58.980in time. So a lot of the immediate aid had to be provided by their own communities and secure to
00:07:04.180a lot of allies and collaborators that just reach out to us from Puerto Rico and from outside of
00:07:08.480Puerto Rico, too. But obviously, the conditions were very dire. And in addition to that, people
00:07:14.340had no electricity for over five months in our communities. There was access issues during those
00:07:20.940first days of the hurricane. We had to remove vegetation from the streets because it posed a
00:07:26.540significant safety and health hazard to our residents. And now we have a lot of families
00:07:31.740still with roofs made of tarps or blue roofs, which is the permanent temporary roofing provider
00:07:57.100So this channel that used to be up to 400 feet wide in the 30s,
00:08:01.880prior to the hurricane, lost its width and its depth
00:08:05.640due to the informal settlement process.
00:08:07.700So prior to Hurricane Maria, the canyon from over 400 feet wide used to be up to three feet wide.
00:08:14.320So obviously, it's severely blocked by debris, trash, and sediment.
00:08:18.360After the hurricane, the condition worsened because of the loss of vegetation in the channel and also sedimentation from other areas, trash, et cetera.
00:08:27.760And our communities, obviously, one year after the hurricane, we still have a lot of houses without a permanent roof.
00:08:33.740So one of the things that we had to do because we saw that a lot of the families applied for assistance and got denied due to various issues that we can discuss on the call, we had to just develop an initiative called From Tarps to Roots.
00:08:48.780And through this initiative, which is 100% donation-based, the G8, which is the group of the eight communities surrounding the Caño MartÃn Peña, and it's a non-profit organization that encompasses over 12 community-based organizations in our communities, they, through donations, implemented this project to identify families in critical conditions without a roof and construct a proper, permanent, using traditional materials.
00:09:15.340With this initiative, we've already completed 72 groups, and it's on a rolling basis.
00:09:20.560As soon as the GIT keeps continuing to receive donations, then they're going to keep continuing building groups.
00:09:26.760But definitely the conditions here have been worsened by the hurricane.
00:09:31.200And what we're trying to do is work towards a long-term recovery, just an equitable recovery in our communities,
00:09:39.160through all of these funds that have been assigned for Puerto Rico
00:09:43.440as part of the disaster recovery funding opportunities.
00:09:50.720And I'm really appreciative that you're breaking it down for us.
00:09:54.440And I was reading that over 20,000 residents live around the Caño MartÃn Pena
00:10:01.920and have long lived amongst waste and debris and sediment.
00:10:06.300and in fact over 3 000 structures in puerto rico discharge raw sewage into the channel
00:10:12.780and this surplus of sediment and water clogs the channel leaving the water stagnant and because of
00:10:19.180this residents who live around the channel have higher rates of gastrointestinal diseases and
00:10:23.800children frequently develop skin and conditions and asthma so i'm wondering if you could share
00:10:29.140with us what residents of the g8 have historically dealt with and how have such conditions magnified
00:10:34.500under storms like Maria? So as you was mentioning, these communities have a lot of public health
00:10:39.200stressors that are directly related to the conditions in which they are living. So you
00:10:44.740mentioned very well, we have a lot of communities here, almost half of our communities, out of the
00:10:50.240eight communities, lack of proper sanitary system. And the stormwater system is obsolete because it's
00:10:56.180carrying all these combined waters. So obviously there's a lot of issues affecting them. But you
00:11:02.100also mention something important. These are communities that were established in the 30s
00:11:06.920through an informal settlement process. So just to go a little bit back, in the 30s, Puerto Rico
00:11:12.240suffered two hurricanes. And in addition to that, it was passing through an economic depression.
00:11:18.480Oh, it sounds very similar to what is happening right now. In that time, most of the economy in
00:11:23.860Puerto Rico was agricultural economy, farming economy, but a lot of the land were from the U.S.
00:11:30.480mainland. So when the hurricanes hit and the economy dropped, a lot of these landowners from
00:11:36.140the States, they went back, left a lot of families that were the ones working the land without jobs
00:11:41.500opportunities in the rural areas of Puerto Rico. So there was a migration process from the rural
00:11:46.460areas of Puerto Rico all the way into the city. Once these families came to the city looking for
00:11:51.840better job opportunities and a better quality of life, they didn't find accessible housing.
00:11:56.640So they started filling the wetland and filling the Caño MartÃn Peña.
00:12:01.120As you may imagine, since a lot of these houses were constructed by their own families, well, a lot of them lacked connection to the sanitary system.
00:12:09.700And that informal settlement process also caused the Caño to lose its width and its depth and has resulted in the different conditions that you just explained and mentioned.
00:12:22.800Well, the first thing that the communities worked on was organizing themselves in the 90s.
00:12:27.760So all of the communities here have a community board comprised of community president and vice president.
00:12:32.940And all of those community boards and including other community organizations forms what is known as the G8.
00:12:39.120And the G8 and the leadership created legislation for the implementations of the projects needed to address all of these issues that they are facing.
00:12:46.940And that's why in 2004, through the Puerto Rico LAT 24 or 489 of September 2004,
00:12:55.200Anelase is created as a public corporation in charge of implementing all the projects needed to revitalize the communities,
00:13:01.980including dredging and channelization of the channel, but also infrastructure projects, housing and social and economic development programs.
00:13:10.700And all of these projects were actually incorporated in the development plan that was designed and developed with the communities, doing over 700 community activities that were performing the communities in order to just design this comprehensive development plan.
00:13:27.480So our responsibility is to implement all the projects included in this plan.
00:13:31.920But in addition to that, the same law that creates a LACE also creates a community land trust.
00:13:38.340Why is it so important and why is it so relevant, the land trust, specifically now that we're
00:20:09.280You know, I have a question about the relationship between Puerto Rico and the United States,
00:20:17.040because, you know, Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, although they can't vote in presidential
00:20:22.200elections and they only send one non-voting representative to Washington. So while America's
00:20:29.700colonial power has long withheld the island's sovereignty, Puerto Rico is virtually absent
00:20:34.500from the American imagination, with a recent poll stating that only 54% of Americans are even aware
00:20:41.820that Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens. So I'm wondering if you could speak to how U.S. imperialism
00:20:48.480has long exploited Puerto Rico's land and people. And then maybe a second part to that question is,
00:20:53.980I imagine that there, you know, of course must be a spectrum of varying opinions, but
00:20:57.660I would be interested to hear some of the common feelings Puerto Ricans harbor towards the U.S.
00:21:03.820Do people on the island identify as Americans and is there any desire to become a state or
00:21:09.580is there a greater consensus towards wanting complete sovereignty?
00:21:13.980Well, that's a very good question and a very complex one.
00:21:17.200From the first point, definitely the relationship between Puerto Rico and the U.S. and the lack of voting representation hurts us in a sense that, obviously, we have to work harder to get the attention of, you know, federal government or other entities or institutions in the United States, which in some part, after the European, we've gotten more attention.
00:21:39.120But still, you know, it's a very difficult situation when you have to almost identify what mechanisms can work, recognizing that you have no voting power.
00:21:50.500So it definitely affects everything from allocation of funds to priorities and type of assistance received.
00:21:58.260So it's something that basically impermanates through every aspect of the Puerto Rican life.
00:22:04.960And it makes it harder for us to be able to go to the states and justify the needs of all the communities in Puerto Rico when you have 4 million people living here, but that doesn't translate into voting.
00:22:18.980And unfortunately for a lot of things, voting is like a currency.
00:22:25.300And knowing that we're not in the loophole of not only the politicians, but also the people in the U.S., it's also hurting because there's so many issues that happen in the island and issues that were prior to Hurricane Maria, like the economic crisis in Puerto Rico, but also issues that have arisen from the hurricane after Hurricane Maria.
00:22:46.580And not necessarily that's in the minds of the majority of the people living in the States.
00:22:53.500And a reason can be because of that relationship and the status of Puerto Rico as a U.S. territory.
00:22:59.420So regarding the second question, how do people feel?
00:23:02.040Well, there are very polarizing questions.
00:23:04.020You can have everything in this country from people that are very in favor of statehood,
00:23:09.340people that are very in favor of independence,
00:23:12.020or there are people that are also just in favor of the status quo
00:23:16.060and remaining as a non-incorporated U.S. territory of the United States.
00:23:20.500And depending on who you ask, you're going to receive a different answer.
00:23:24.280And you can't have even family members, which happens a lot.
00:23:27.560In the same family, like different family members having different opinions on the subject.
00:23:32.720But I think that's something that was highlighted after the hurricane was that, you know what?
00:23:37.780it's unfortunate that we can't depend on the government
00:24:26.520But that's been basically the experience of Puerto Ricans.1.00
00:24:29.440They're not paying attention or they're not paying enough attention to us,1.00
00:24:34.020So we'll have to do this by ourselves or find ways in which we can provide immediate belief and design long-term recovery efforts. That's at least my perception of this issue.
00:24:46.040It's so horrifying to hear this lack of care and respect and integrity by agencies, especially when people are suffering, when people have just lost everything and they just need the bare necessities to continue on and they're even denied that.
00:25:05.320And I think that's something that also we think about it on a political voting level, but it's also the difference in the cultural differences in Puerto Rico and the context of Puerto Rico.
00:25:16.780We're very different from the rest of the states.
00:25:19.780Even our language, our main language is Spanish.
00:25:23.280So it not only affects us in terms of representation, but also in the aid.
00:25:28.560And I have to recognize, I've been working with FEMA staff, at least in the county communities.
00:25:32.820They've been very accessible, available, and I think that they also want to help but don't know.
00:25:37.840Maybe at the beginning, just we're trying to assess how they can work it out.
00:25:42.280In our communities, at least they've been managing to the leadership and coordinating, but it was not easy.
00:25:48.480First, we had to reach out to them, et cetera.
00:25:50.680But some issues that we've identified that has to do also with that situation of Puerto Rico being such a complex and different place and the states and the states not having that in mind.
00:26:01.380It's anything from applying process, application process for federal assistance.
00:26:06.360The language use, if it's not English, then it's a very technical Spanish, so there are language barriers.
00:26:12.920In our communities, for example, the first groups that came from FEMA or the foreign engineers mostly were from the U.S., so they didn't speak the language.
00:26:21.100We've had cases of families that received inspectors that were only English speakers.
00:26:26.280And obviously, that family didn't get the help that they needed because they were unable to communicate with the person inspecting the property who has the determination whether that family will receive or not assistance.
00:26:38.220But in addition to that, it's everything else.
00:26:41.020You know, land titling has been an issue for us because Puerto Rico has a very different way of doing transactions for buying and selling houses, especially in low-income communities.
00:27:03.920So when the agencies come here and they're asking families for land titles in order to
00:27:08.640give them aid, well, that it's a concern because a lot of people don't have land titles or
00:27:13.220they do like verbal agreements or just they have a house that has been passed on to them
00:27:18.260by generations, and that bars a lot of families, especially families living in low-income areas,
00:27:24.180from accessing federal assistance because it lacks a recognition of the way in which Puerto Ricans
00:27:30.680do transactions like buying and selling houses and the way property rights work in Puerto Rico
00:27:36.640and how it differs from the states. So there's other things that need to be taken into consideration,
00:27:43.800And there's other things that just evidence how, you know, the situation between U.S. and Puerto Rico affects the way in which federal aid is being given to the communities.
00:27:55.660But in addition to that, there are also other concerns, and not only federal level, but also local level, and more local level.
00:28:03.480And it's a concern that has to do with how do we invest all of these millions and millions of funds that the U.S. Congress has allocated for disaster recovery in the island.
00:30:03.380And it's our position that these funds can be used to invest strategically in the community
00:30:10.520through a community participation process in order to these communities located in flood risk areas
00:30:17.500or flood plain be able to reconstruct and do all of the projects needed to put them in a better
00:30:24.540position to mitigate and adapt future climate events. For example, give money to them to
00:30:30.660elevate the houses a few feet above the flood plain, invest in infrastructure projects that
00:30:37.040are also needed to alleviate the flood problems in communities, you name it.
00:30:41.640So it's important for us that all of the recovery funds are invested in an SOG way,
00:30:48.280but taking into consideration the historic permanence of communities and the community
00:30:52.640cohesion and involving the communities in this process of designing how the funds are
00:30:58.440going to be used, determining which projects are going to be projects for long-term recovery
00:31:02.520your project and also let them lead the way for their own recovery yeah so many times when i
00:31:09.340explained well yeah no you did and it's it's complex and i think about so many other conversations
00:31:15.300i've had with community organizers and leaders and so much of the time what is being said honestly
00:31:21.640all the time what is being said is let the communities lead themselves communities need
00:31:27.080sovereignty. It doesn't make sense for some foreign aid agency or some outside funder or
00:31:35.120basically anybody who's outside the community to come in and tell the community what money needs
00:31:41.140to be spent on. The community on the ground knows the issues the best. They're living them. It's
00:31:46.700lived experience for these communities. They need to have control and autonomy on how they recover
00:31:53.160from these disasters and how they're able to use the money. And I'm with you. I mean,
00:31:59.380I think it's just a rot system. Yeah. I mean, you definitely explained it and it's really
00:32:06.340challenging to understand and to get that across. And so I'm definitely thinking about
00:32:12.280this global foreign aid complex and just so many institutions have origins tied to political and
00:32:19.960military agendas. And so it's pointing to imperialistic powers wanting access to land
00:32:24.820and people that are easily exploitable. For example, a US shipment of rice following the
00:32:30.7002010 earthquake in Haiti arrived timely as the country's harvest season was beginning.
00:32:36.040And so this flood of cheap rice totally shattered the local food economy. And one could argue that
00:32:41.540this was actually a strategic ploy to pull Haiti into a greater reliance on corporate food.
00:32:46.960So I'm curious what your opinion is on global aid initiatives in this way.
00:32:51.760I know you've been talking about what this aid could actually be, how it could be helpful.
00:32:58.560But yeah, I guess I'm just wondering, do you think it's possible for foreign aid to ever be carried out with integrity in the context of global capitalism?
00:33:05.660Well, at least in our community, we've had the fortune that every aid that has been either from the local or federal government or from private nonprofit or institutional universities, et cetera, they've been very respectful of the social dynamics in our communities.
00:33:23.820But it's also because we've made them be respectful of that.
00:33:28.580And they've done it in a way which they respect that everything that we do here is first and foremost led by the communities.
00:33:35.660and involving the communities in the decision-making processes.
00:33:39.040So, actually, we've seen over 100 allies and collaborators
00:33:42.560that provided direct relief, even cash to families,
00:34:03.660And I think that it's because you also sit them down at the table with the leaders and that you have the leaders explain to them that, hey, you may have this idea on what recovery should look like, but this is how it's going to work here because we live here.
00:34:18.520We know what are the needs and how we can mitigate that.
00:34:22.520So you just can come to the table with us, but not having this savior complex like some people call it.
00:34:28.740So at least in our communities, we've had that positive experience with our staff and collaborators that respect how important for us it is to have the communities engaged and participating in all of these decision-making processes and long-term recovery efforts.
00:34:44.680In other communities, it's definitely an issue.
00:34:48.000You know, if you're not organized, it's going to be very easy now for anybody to displace you.
00:34:52.920I mean, if you don't have access to funds, if you are a family living in a floodplain
00:34:56.920area, for example, a low-income family, not in the county, in other communities, and FEMA
00:35:03.020denied your application because you don't have a land title, for example, you have no
00:35:08.180money to rebuild your house, and your house is damaged, what you're going to do, you're
00:35:12.780And then if that land is located close to unvaluable visitors, you can have people coming
00:35:17.900from outside buying the land at a really low cost and then gentrifying the area.
00:35:22.920So gentrification and displacement are very, has been very present in our communities, but it's now getting even more prevalent after the hurricane because there's so many families that don't have the means to fix their houses and are going to have to abandon their communities and leave all that valuable land accessible for all these other developers.
00:35:43.700That's why the land trust here in the Caño has been so essential because through the land trust, we're preventing that from happening here.
00:35:51.020But this is the only community land trust in Puerto Rico.
00:35:53.540So we have other tens and hundreds of other communities that are going to be facing these issues.
00:35:58.620And, you know, it's very important to now more than ever organize all these communities and engage them in all of these conversations that are happening regarding funds, recovery, et cetera,
00:36:08.700so that they are able to withhold any displacement or gentrification risk that they may face.
00:36:16.500Yeah, yeah. I mean, the property ownership and the legality surrounding in Puerto Rico,
00:36:23.580it stems from the Spanish colonial rule and custom.
00:36:27.260There are inheritance customs where ownership is informally agreed upon.
00:36:31.220And then many homes are built without permits on private farmlands or government land.
00:36:36.220and the Puerto Rican government only requires a deed if one has a mortgage or a condo.
00:36:42.300So these concepts clash with FEMA requirements, and we should note that many say that FEMA has
00:36:47.660applied these requirements more strictly after Maria. Regardless, over 300,000 FEMA applicants
00:36:53.860have been denied. So I'm wondering what are the intricacies between this disaster release FEMA
00:36:59.380and the reality of property ownership in Puerto Rico? And even further, if we are to think about
00:37:04.840disaster relief and the concept of Puerto Rico's economic crisis, or as a form of neocolonialism?
00:37:11.120You know, how is it working within communities who are in various phases of rebuilding and
00:37:16.840It's the responsibility of the agencies to recognize the property rights system in Puerto
00:37:23.660Rico and to change policies to adjust them for Puerto Ricans, recognizing this distinction
00:37:31.560between the federal regulations and laws and the local laws and regulations regarding property
00:37:36.700rights. And I think that they realized this after having all of these issues months after the
00:37:42.300hurricane. Unfortunately, that means that thousands and thousands of families probably got denied
00:37:47.560because they didn't comply with the federal housing requirements, you know, ownership,
00:37:53.040property ownership requirements. So we've had the help of different organizations like Hurricane
00:37:59.200Ayuda Legal Huracán MarÃa, composed of legal lawyers or attorneys or law students.
00:38:07.440And they already knew that this was going to happen in Puerto Rico because they learned
00:38:11.120from Luciana that has similar programs because they also have a civil code in their jurisdiction.
00:38:18.560And, for example, in our communities, we had affidavits, you know, and we helped the families
00:38:23.360sign these affidavits in which they basically state that they are legal occupants of the
00:38:28.920structure that they live in so that they have access to federal fundings. But this is a wider
00:38:34.400issue and this definitely, it affects all of Puerto Rico. So it's very important for the agencies to
00:38:41.020recognize this and change their policies to adapt it to the realities of Puerto Ricans. In terms of
00:38:47.340communities, there's not much you can do when you, you know, you've been living in this house for 30,
00:38:51.96040 years and, you know, your mother just died and gave it to you. So you don't, it's not alive to be
00:38:57.060able to do any type of there's no will there's no no way for you to do any type of contract
00:39:01.160so it's very limited what residents can do and they're also dealing already with the day-to-day
00:39:06.380challenges especially if you're living in a house that suffer damages as a result of Hurricane Maria
00:39:11.540but community organizations can be key on sitting at the table with FEMA with HUD with all of these
00:39:19.760agencies in charge of this funding and you know raise these issues and make them take these issues
00:39:26.540into consideration as part of their longer-term recovery efforts.
00:39:30.700But it's definitely a huge issue that concerns us,
00:39:34.600and I think that there's a need to stick down with these agencies,
00:39:38.640which we have already done and we've already provided to them, you know,
00:39:42.780how this is a concern, why this is a concern, and what can be done.
00:39:47.360So what can the agency do to alleviate these issues
00:39:50.780so that families get access to the funding?
00:39:53.280But it's very important that, you know, all organizations are able to be able to sit down and also raise the same issues.
00:40:00.640But it's definitely something that affects us.
00:40:02.900And the reason why thousands of families right now are living in houses that have no roof, that maybe have no windows, that are completely damaged because they have no access to the funds that are allocated for that same purposes.
00:42:49.420I appreciate you giving us this opportunity to just talk about cultural action items.
00:42:54.620In regards to our communities in the Caño, we still have the CARPS to Roops initiative.
00:43:00.560So if you're interested in supporting this initiative through donations or any other
00:43:04.940type of support that they may think of, they can contact us at 787-729-1594.
00:43:13.940That's our office number, and that way you can either support that Tarps to Roofs initiative or learn about other programs that we're conducting right now that may need some additional resources.
00:43:24.880For the rest of the island, I think that it's very important for people that don't know about Puerto Rico, that want to help, to reach out to community-based organizations on the ground.
00:43:35.100And you can very easily look for them on the Internet or even call us at Enlace and I can provide a list of different organizations that come up in my mind.
00:43:46.060But it's important that the first step is to contact the communities directly through these organizations just to know what their needs are.
00:43:54.200Because sometimes people want to help.
00:43:56.140The idea of helping is, OK, I'll just buy hundreds of bottles of water and hundreds of mosquitoes, which may be very helpful.
00:44:03.840they are, but maybe that's not what the community needs.
00:44:07.180So each community has different needs.
00:44:09.800There are many, many organizations like Taller Salud y Loiza, Casa Pueblo y Adjuntas, Estuario
00:44:17.040So there's so many organizations doing on the ground work in Puerto Rico that it's just
00:44:21.600a matter of contacting them first, know what their needs are, and work together with them
00:44:26.800to see how you can support them based on their needs and engaging the residents of the communities.
00:44:30.880Well, thank you, Estrella. We will definitely take that into our hearts and our minds and our
00:44:38.160hands and our tangible action steps and share this with the community. And yeah, I'm so grateful
00:44:46.160that you are who you are and you're holding this down for all of us because I think it's also
00:44:51.440really important to know that at some point, we will probably all be facing some type of
00:45:00.880This disaster where we live, whether we're in Puerto Rico, whether we're in California, look at what's happening with the fires right now. Nobody is immune to this, but we need to support the communities who are suffering from this right now. Because one, I think it helps us know that we're there for each other. And we can, on a grassroots level, support one another.
00:45:22.120I think it also teaches us preparedness no matter where we are in the world. And I know we have
00:45:27.560listeners all over the world that are listening to the lessons you've been learning. And these
00:45:32.900are important for all of us. And it's important for us to support the people that are suffering
00:45:38.600on the front lines from these issues and know that nobody is immune and we all really need to
00:45:44.480come together and learn from one another and be there for one another. And so I appreciate you
00:45:50.600And thank you so much for this conversation today.
00:46:49.560Thanks for listening to another episode of For the Wild Podcast.
00:46:55.120I'm Carter-Lou McElroy, and the music you heard today was from Los Hombres Calientes.
00:47:00.760I'd like to thank our host and founder, Ayanna Young, as well as the rest of our podcast production team.
00:47:07.460Aidan McRae, Andrew Storrs, Erica Ekrem, Aaron Wise, Francesca Glassbell, Hannah Wilton, and Melanie Younger.
00:47:19.560If you enjoyed today's conversation, please rate us on iTunes or wherever else you get your podcast.
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