by Jen Stevenson Zepeda
The driving got hairy! Climate change, and quite likely sand harvesting for industrial purposes, have caused one of the main routes to Loíza to flood regularly.
Hi everyone! Jen here. With a little extra time on my hands these days, I thought I’d write up a little thing about my recent trip to Puerto Rico. So glad I got there and back in time to shelter-in-place with everyone else (but by myself...you know what I mean)!
I drove out to Loíza in a massive rainstorm on Monday, February 24th to meet with three members of Comité Pro-Desarrollo Villa Cañona, our local partner. Rafa, Carlos and Mayra were kind enough to show me around the community center, which they’re nearly done rebuilding. Unlike my visit there in 2019, I was excited to see the building is now safe to enter.
First, there has been major cleanup of the debris that covered the property. The roof has been reinforced and totally replaced— it’s structurally sound enough for solar panels! They’ve sectioned off the main portion of the building into 3 rooms that will be separated by accordion doors. They’ve installed 3 bathrooms (one ADA compliant!) and the big communal kitchen hood. They’ve repainted the exterior a cheery yellow and the indoors a beautiful cream color. They’ve also had an electrician out to install a new meter and wire the building. I was seriously impressed by what they’ve done in a year (considering they all also have full-time jobs and families too). The small side buildings, one that will be their nonprofit’s office and one that will be a small business training center, have also been fixed up.
Left: In February 2019, Kael uses his drone to get some aerial footage of the property. Notice all of the debris covering the property.
Right: Fast forward to exactly one year later and the grounds have been cleaned up, there is a new roof and the building is in excellent shape!
So what’s next? They’re currently working on applying for funds to purchase the appliances and equipment that they need to execute their vision. I spent a while with them making a list of all these items that ranged from wall fans to refrigerators to ovens to printers. From our end, it’s important to know how many appliances they’ll be installing so we can get a better handle on their energy consumption. It will allow us to calculate the appropriate number of solar panels and battery storage.
Together, we hung up the banner I brought with me from MA that will give passersby an idea of what we are hoping to accomplish: a true center of resilience for Villa Cañona and surrounding communities. Did I do a little happy dance as this happened? Only the four of us who were there will ever know.
Our goal is for the center to provide folks with meals, refrigerate insulin and other medication, charge phones and provide wifi…and even emergency shelter if it comes down to that. And on regulary, sunny days they will continue to offer the same solid programming they already do. The Comité’s team does so much for their community and we are committed to helping them do that work!
If you’ve already donated to our campaign, thank you! If you know of anyone who’d like to learn more about this work, please pass along our story or share the GoFundMe link or provide us with introductions to people who can support us in this mission. As always, thanks for your continued interest!