The Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund is now closed and all funds have been committed.

On September 29, 2017, Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker and the Boston Foundation announced the creation of the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund/Massachusetts Unido por Puerto Rico. Hosted in partnership with the Latino Legacy Fund and civic leaders of Boston’s Puerto Rican community, this crucial fund is dedicated to the relief and recovery of Puerto Rico and the support of Puerto Ricans arriving in Boston and the Commonwealth as a result of the destruction left in the wake of Hurricane Maria.

Read the press release on the final grant making from the Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund. 

IMPACT

In the weeks immediately following the Hurricane, Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico made over $100,000 in grants to community-based organizations engaging in direct relief efforts: the procurement of solar-powered lights, the distribution of food and clothing and trauma-informed care for the sick and elderly. Through its recovery phase, Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico has given significant support to innovative projects involving economic empowerment, sustainable agriculture and green and solar initiatives. The fund also has assisted Puerto Rican evacuees by supporting Latino-led nonprofits that provide direct services to the evacuee community, with a focus on mitigating the housing crisis faced by evacuees. 

Through the generosity of individual and corporate donors, Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund raised over $4 million. In just one year, it has distributed more than $2 million to support immediate relief and long-term recovery projects in Puerto Rico and to assist with the relocation of evacuated individuals in Massachusetts. (See a complete list of grantees below.  View grant details here.)

The Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund is a field-of-interest fund dedicated to grassroots relief and recovery efforts in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, and to support grassroots organizations helping Puerto Ricans displaced to Boston and the Commonwealth as a result of the destruction. Established as a partnership between the Boston Foundation and the Latino Legacy Fund (which is housed at TBF), the fund is advised by an Advisory Board of local Latino leaders, public officials and experts from the Massachusetts Puerto Rican diaspora community.

Massachusetts United for Puerto Rico Fund Advisory Committee

Committee Co-Chairs
Aixa Beauchamp, President, Beauchamp & Associates
Vanessa Calderón-Rosado, CEO, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción
Juan Carlos Morales, Managing Partner, Surfside Capital Advisors

Committee Members
Josefina Bonilla, Publisher, COLOR Magazine
Ileana Cintrón, Chief, Family & Community Engagement, Holyoke Public Schools
Ivys Fernandez-Pastrana, Community Activist
Otoniel Figueroa-Durán, Dir., Commercial Division, 32BJ SEIU-New England D615
Betty Francisco, Co-Founder, The Latina Circle/Amplify Latinx; CEO, FitNation Ventures; General Counsel, Compass Working Capital
Phillip González, Senior Program Officer, Tufts Health Plan Foundation
David Morales, Founder & Principal, Morales Business Strategies LLC
Elsa Mosquera, Arts Program Director, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción
Vanessa Otero, Chief Operating Officer, Partners for Community
Jorge Quiroga, Reporter, WCVB-TV/Boston
Pedro Reina-Perez, Historian, Journalist, Professor, Univ. of Puerto Rico
Adrian Velazquez, JD, Research Analyst, Commonwealth of Massachusetts