Wednesday, February 3rd at 3:00 PM EST/4:00 AST

Puerto Rico has suffered the compounded effects of multiple disasters since the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria in September 2017. At the end of 2019, the island was impacted with recurrent seismic activity in the southwest region, including a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on January 7, 2020. In early 2020, the current COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting health crises induced yet another economic contraction. All these disasters are underscored by a crushing debt crisis and a federally mandated austerity regime since 2016. Multiple natural disasters have exacerbated vulnerability and poverty; and public energy, telecommunications, water, health, and transportation systems have deteriorated and become even more vulnerable, causing systematic failures in social safety nets.

Post-disaster federal funding for economic recovery offers Puerto Rico a unique window of opportunity to restore its economy and infrastructure in a more resilient fashion while strengthening the nonprofit sector capacity for community planning, housing development and neighborhood revitalization. However, such an opportunity is contingent on implementing a comprehensive strategy for reforming public policy to encourage and support nonprofit developers participation in reconstruction programs, building industry capacity by strengthening intermediaries and CDCs, encouraging intra-industry partnerships and collaborations, and providing professional development for economic recovery.

Join us Wednesday, February 3rd at 3:00 PM EST/4:00 AST for a webinar to discuss the collection of studies included in Fall 2020 special volume of the Centro Journal showing evidence of how post disaster recovery is progressing in Puerto Rico, and the challenges and opportunities for local participation in reconstruction programs.

Event Cosponsors:

This webinar is cosponsored by
The National Puerto Rican Agenda, National Puerto Rican Student Coalition, IdeaComún,
Puerto Rican Student Association at NYU, Despierta Boricua at Yale, and Urbana Planifica

Presenters:

Entrepreneurial Dynamics in Puerto Rico Before and After Hurricane María
Marinés Aponte, Professor, Business Administration Department at Universidad de Puerto Rico, Recinto de Río Piedras

Centros de Apoyo Mutuo: reconfigurando la asistencia en tiempos de desastre
Roberto Vélez-Vélez, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, SUNY at New Paltz

Impact of Hurricane María to the Civic Sector: A Profile of Non-Profits in Puerto Rico
Ivis García Zambrana, Assistant Professor, City & Metropolitan Planning, University of Utah

Puerto Rico Community Development Industry’s Capacity for Disaster Recovery
Edwin Meléndez, Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies and Professor of Urban Policy and Planning, Hunter College

What is Possible? Policy Options for Long-term Disaster Recovery in Puerto Rico
Ariam L. Torres Cordero, Centro Researcher and doctoral student in Urban Planning (DSUP) at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Presenter bios can be found at this link: https://centropr.hunter.cuny.edu/education/instructores

Tools

Journal Abstract: CENTRO_Abstract_Fall2020.pdf
Journal Intro: CENTRO_Intro_Fall2020.pdf

A Profile of Non-Profits and Recovery PPP (PDF) by Ivis Garcia Zambrana

CENTRO: Journal Special Issue: Post-Disaster Recovery in Puerto Rico and Local Participation is available here http://www.centropr-store.com/centro-journal-vol-xxxii-no-3-fall-2020/

El webinar " Fondos CARES Act para iniciativas en respuesta a COVID-19: CDBG-CV y USDA " presentará las pautas de flexibilización para el uso de los fondos de subvención en bloque de desarrollo comunitario (CDBG) de la Ley CARES utilizados para respaldar la respuesta al coronavirus. Además se discutirán los fondos de respuesta al coronavirus asignados al USDA-Rural Development ante la crisis de salubridad y económica causada por la pandemia. La agencia de servicios de alimentación y nutrición (FNS) ha emitido una serie de exenciones para permitirle a los gobiernos estatal y locales incentivar las cadenas locales de suministros para continuar el abastecimiento de alimentos.

Lic. Luis Carlos Fernández Trinchet, Secretario Departamento de la Vivienda de Puerto Rico
Bio

Josué E. Rivera, State Director of Rural Development (RD) in Puerto Rico United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)
Bio

Caja de herramientas (documentos):

Información ofrecida por el Departamento de Agricultura de los Estados Unidos (en inglés, United States Department of Agriculture, USDA)

Nosotros en Desarrollo rural (RD) somos el componente de financiamiento comercial, vivienda asequible, e infraestructura para potenciar el desarrollo económico en las comunidades rurales, como usted conoce. La agencia recientemente abrió una ventana para nuestro programas de subvenciones de telemedicina y educación a distancia, programas vitales en momentos como este.

La agencia de servicios de alimentación y nutrición (FNS) ha emitido una serie de exenciones para permitirle al gobierno estatal y local continuar proveyendo alimentos.

En Rural hemos provisto una serie de medidas para ayudar a los prestatarios, flexibilizando las reglas, estableciendo moratorias, y extendiendo fechas de las subvenciones. Puedes leer las medidas aquí: https://rd.usda.gov/coronavirus

•  RURAL DEVELOPMENT COVID-19 Measures for Rural Communities PPP.pdf
  
  
• Guía de programas federales: https://www.rd.usda.gov/sites/default/files/USDA_COVID-19_Fed_Rural_Resource_Guide.pdf
  
  
• “Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc” guía enfocada en las ayudas para agricultores ante el COVID-19 (Abril 2020): http://www.flaginc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Updated-Farmers-Guide-to-COVID-19-Relief-April-27-2020.pdf
  
  
• Programas del Departamento en la cadenas locales de suministros: https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/FoodSupplyChainFactSheet.pdf ‘
  
  
• AMS: https://www.ams.usda.gov/content/usda-purchase-3-billion-agricultural-commodities-issue-solicitations-interested-participants
• AMS- Farmers Food Box: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box