Unidos por Utuado

Utuado After Hurricane Maria

After the catastrophe that changed the lives of many in 2017, Utuado was one of the towns most abandoned by the government and was categorized by the former president of the United States, Donald Trump, as one of the towns in the "major disaster area". The characteristics that could describe Utuado after Hurricane Maria and its residents are: anguish, sadness and fearfulness, but in spite of everything, willing to fight and move forward.

The greatest obstacles were the landslides that left many communities cut off from communication, rivers out of their banks, collapsed bridges, collapsed power lines, destroyed houses, debris everywhere, etc. This contributed to the lack of access to communication and external aid. The National Guard could not access the homes of the victims due to the amount of structural damage and impassable roads in the area. There was no access to electricity or potable water, two of the basic services for survival.

The lack of electricity caused anguish and uncertainty due to the darkness, which led to the identification of the energy system as an area of great need in this town. Bedridden people, children, mothers and fathers were greatly harmed by the lack of electricity. Unfortunately, the aggravating situation that Utuado experienced at that time took the lives of many residents. This was also due to the inaction of government agencies.

Similarly, the lack of access to potable water was detrimental to the health of these people as they were more prone to contracting diseases such as the deadly leptospirosis. The lack of strategic planning aggravated the situation of the people in these communities. The work of attending to the health situations of the residents was mostly provided by volunteers. Cash donations that were provided to organizations such as Fundación Banco Popular were channeled through supplies. A pharmacy chain donated a truckload of water and Banco Popular donated a truckload of food. No cash donations were made directly to Unidos por Utuado.

Formation of Unidos por Utuado

Unidos por Utuado is a non-profit foundation incorporated in Puerto Rico and is designated 501(c)(3) exempt at the federal level and at the state level which was created to assist and help residents in the municipalities of Adjuntas, Jayuya and Utuado to recover after the passage of Hurricane Maria.

One of the goals established is to offer help quickly and efficiently while developing different projects that bring hope to these communities. Unidos por Utuado has been instrumental in providing immediate assistance to cover the basic needs that many residents of these municipalities lack after the passage of a natural event.

Unidos por Utuado provided support in the 5 shelters located in Utuado focusing on 2, the Judith Vivas School and the Felix Seijo School. They identified the needs and raised funds for immediate assistance. This assistance included:

• Delivery of hundreds of Sawyer water filters in communities that obtained unpurified water, thus collaborating with the prevention of diseases such as leptospirosis.
• Distributed photovoltaic panels to people who had a bedridden patient at home, and mothers with newborn children.
• It was able to obtain the support of the Banco Popular Foundation where they brought food for more than 500 families, Walgreens also provided a tanker truck with 55 feet of water, which was taken to the La Fontaine School in Caonillas.
• With the support of various local companies and in alliance with foundations and non-profit organizations, Unidos por Utuado was able to bring supplies, medical attention and a message of hope to a town in despair.

Achievements

Unidos por Utuado has collaborated with various organizations and social movements in the aftermath of natural disasters such as “Acción Comunitaria del Vivir” (Community Living Action) and “Alas para la Mujer” (Wings for Women). This assistance has covered a variety of areas including issues related to electric power, women's needs, education and entrepreneurship, among others. In addition, the organization has partnered with the cultural sector of the communities, such as the Jesús M. Muñoz Cultural Center, to support their sports activities among other community needs.

Creation of the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña.

Once the recovery phase was over, Unidos por Utuado saw the need to create initiatives that would help these communities improve their economic development and make their energy more resilient. Unidos por Utuado, together with volunteers, shared ideas, studied and developed a project in which they could give the towns of Adjuntas, Jayuya and Utuado resilient energy that would in turn contribute to the economic growth of these towns. The Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña is currently focused on 3 main projects: Acceso Solar, ReEnFoCo y Microrredes de la Montaña.

Partnership with Be The Change Volunteers

Our alliance with Be The Change Volunteers was to contribute to the improvement of the physical plants and address the educational needs of schools in Adjuntas, Jayuya Lares and Utuado. As part of this collaboration, Unidos por Utuado has served the Be The Change Volunteers organization since 2018, offering them lodging in their communities during work time. So far they have been able to impact schools Judith Vivas, Domingo Pietri, Angélica Toro, Efraín González and Julio Lebrón in the creation and improvement of libraries, playgrounds, donation of computers and a butterfly garden among other infrastructure improvements with the purpose of helping the development of children.

Despéjate Jayuya, Despéjate Utuado and Despéjate Castañer events

The purpose of these events was to provide mountain residents with tools to manage the stress caused by the tremors and strengthen their mental health. Unidos por Utuado worked in collaboration with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and its Rolling Culture program, along with the Health Brigade of the School of Medicine of the Medical Sciences Campus of the University of Puerto Rico, Albizu University, and Mesita de Amor.

Delivery of books in Caonillas

Unidos por Utuado channeled a donation of school books from the Puerto Rican diaspora for the benefit of Utuado students. With the assistance of Scholastic International, suppliers of school books, the books were delivered to the Marta Lafontaine School in the Caonillas neighborhood of Utuado.

Alliance with the COSSAO organization

Alliance with the COSSAO organization to attend to the health needs of the residents of Adjuntas, Jayuya, Lares and Utuado. As part of this collaboration, a mammography clinic sponsored by Susan G. Komen was held to promote early detection of breast cancer.

Alliance with Pro Café

Alliance with the Pro Café organization, where workshops and orientations were offered to mountain farmers. They were able to be fully involved in Utuado and help agricultural sectors in the area.

Timeline

• September 2017

  Days after Hurricane Maria, Unidos por Utuado (UpU) begins to provide aid in Utuado, supplying shelters and communities with food, water, small solar panels for families with health needs, and more than 1,000 water filters.
• November 2017

  UpU officially incorporates with the Department of State
• February 2018

  UpU and students from Harvard University start to develop a conceptual design of an energy cooperative that they called “Utuado Electric Cooperative”. The group identified underutilized resources in the mountains, like the two central hydroelectric plants of Caonillas and Dos Bocas. This plan would later serve as the basis for the development of the Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña.
• May 2018

  UpU partners with BTCV organization to improve the physical facilities and library of Judith Vivas School
• November 2018

  UpU wins an honorable mention and $100,000 from the Puerto Rico Big Ideas Challenge
• January 2019

  UpU in alliance with BTCV improved the physical plant and library of the Domingo Pietri Ruiz school in Adjuntas.
• August 2019

  The first electric cooperative in Puerto Rico, Cooperativa Hidroeléctrica de la Montaña, is incorporated before the Department of State under Law 258 of 2018.
• January 2020

  UpU, in alliance with BTCV, improves the library and the physical facilities of the Angela Toro School in Jayuya.
• February 2020

  UpU, in alliance with the Institute of Puerto Rican Culture and the Teatro Rodante division, visits the communities to bring entertainment and psychological therapy to students and communities affected by the 2020 earthquakes.
• 2020 - 2021

  UpU and COSSAO bring Mammography Clinics to communities in Utuado
• May 2021

  UpU and BTCV improve the facilities and library of the Efrain Gonzalez Tejera School in Utuado.
• June 2022

  UpU and the U.S. Army Academy rehabilitate the Adjuntas Municipal Library.
• January 2023

  UpU and BTCV improve the facilities and library of the Julio Lebrón de Castañer school
• January 2024

  UpU and BTCV improve the parking area of the Domingo Pietri Ruiz school.

Onwards!