Our Programs
La Brega y Fuerza will focus on issues of importance to the Puerto Ricans on the island and within the diaspora’s existing and growing communities. To achieve this goal, we will create “Centros” that will act as centralized spaces for our engaged community to gather and brainstorm in our target states. These hubs will be focused on connecting the work back to the island, focusing on issues such as public health, affordable and sustainable energy alternatives, economic justice, and education infrastructure.
La Brega y Fuerza will engage communities through three programs:
Orgullo (The Pride of the Island)
Every Puerto Rican understands the word Orgullo. Pride, Legacy, Land and history is what drives the island. This is the work of connecting members of the diaspora to each other by developing “Centros”, or organizing hubs that will develop a community outreach strategy for engaging Puerto Ricans in advocacy campaigns and civic engagement. “Centros” will employ relational organizing to families and friends to connect one Puerto Rican community across the country —training them to raise awareness of critical issues impacting the island. This program will aim to train organizers and provide microgrants to relevant organizations, building out our “Centros” across the U.S.
Despierta (Wake Up NY)
Since the 1950s, New York has been ground zero for Puerto Ricans resettling in the states, giving it a unique distinction for having one of the largest populations on and off the island of Puerto Rico. It will be important to mobilize and focus on these communities across the five boroughs and suburbs on Long Island, Westchester, and Rockland, but also upstate in the Hudson Valley, Buffalo, and Syracuse. Our goal is to educate the Puerto Rican community by offering training on pressing issues relating to the island as well as educating and advocating for NY’s Puerto Rican residents.
La Brega – Way of Life
This project focuses on issue advocacy in Puerto Rico by cultivating an activist base while engaging existing organizations and leaders to add to the scale of work across the island. Working in communities to develop advocacy platforms with residents to run issue campaigns on and off the island addressing inequities in issues like healthcare, education and achieving economic justice. This is essentially the pipeline to Orgullo. We will offer microgrants to organizations on the ground that are already doing this work.
La Brega / The Raquel Fund
The Raquel Fund will focus on collecting and sharing stories of elders on the island. This fund, named for the founder’s grandmother, Raquel, is about building a legacy for elderly residents of the island, who have been fighting to remain from displacement and lack of primary care. This fund will support groups advocating for the fundamental rights of Puerto Ricans and elderly care.