TODAY IN MISSION YEARBOOK
Mission Yearbook: How Presbyterian Disaster Assistance supports communities in Puerto Rico
During its recent annual in-person meeting, the Committee on Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) met with community partners in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The site visits allowed committee members to hear firsthand from people who have suffered from environmental disasters and people-made problems. MRTI staff and committee members listen and learn at these engagements and seek ways to advocate for communities as they work with companies on environmental and human rights issues.
Following its business session at the PC(USA) affiliated Seminario Evangélico de Puerto Rico, and presentations on the social, political, economic and theological environment by Emilio Pantojas, a sociology professor at the University of Puerto Rico, and Dr. Gonzalo Alers, a New Testament professor at the seminary, committee members met with two PC(USA)-supported community groups.
Beginning with Fideicomiso del Caño Martín Peña (Martín Peña Canal Land Trust) and Proyecto ENLACE, a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance partner project, committee members saw the effort that is restoring the canal connecting the harbor lagoons around San Juan. Environmental Affairs Manager Estrella Santiago Pérez described the dramatic turnaround that has happened because of the cleanup and restoration effort, and toured portions of the canal and surrounding communities with MRTI committee members.
“We have eight communities that are basically dissected by a T-channel called the Caño Martín Peña,” Santiago Pérez said of the area that has been home to San Juan’s working poor and had suffered a century of environmental neglect. “This project seeks to restore the environmental ecosystem of the Caño Martín Peña, which is also part of the San Juan based ecosystem through its dredging and channelization, but it also seeks to provide infrastructure housing and also promote socioeconomic development within the communities of the Caño Martín Peña.”
The project’s comprehensive development plan began in 2002 and encompasses infrastructure, sanitary, power, transportation, and stormwater improvements, as well as socioeconomic development and ecosystem restoration initiatives. Santiago Pérez says its goals are to restore the ecology of the Caño Martín Peña, reconnect the communities with the water, provide resilient and decent housing, and foster economic development opportunities for the residents.
Three primary project partners, including the “G8” governing boards from each of the affected communities, and 12 grassroot organizations expect the project to be completed by 2032.
“A beautiful element of this type of community planning tool is that it is a visualization of what the communities want for themselves,” Santiago Pérez said. “What these communities look like once the priorities are implemented will be a restored canal with mangroves surrounding it, similar to what it used to look like originally, because this is a wetland with recreation components. There are some proposed water plazas and recreation areas where the communities can enter the canal. Just imagine people taking a kayak from these communities all the way to San Juan or to Carolina.”
The land trust component of the project has purchased properties and resolved title issues that has allowed residents to remain in the community without fear of relocation. A surge in outside investment in response to a favorable tax shelter environment following Hurricane Maria has resulted in inflated land and housing prices. Through the land trust, residents individually own their houses and the right to use the plot of land where it is located. The trust also collectively owns 200 acres of land that was previously government property.
“The Presbyterian Church came at a very vulnerable time for the communities after Hurricane Maria. We were facing multiple challenges,” Santiago Pérez said. “We already had challenges before the hurricane, but definitely Maria exacerbated the vulnerability of the communities in terms of access to water and electricity.
“PDA came in when we needed them. … We deeply appreciate the commitment that PDA has shown the communities and that we know shows other communities throughout the U.S. and the world.”
MRTI was created in recognition of the PC(USA)'s unique opportunity to advance its mission faithfully and creatively through the financial resources entrusted it. MRTI implements the General Assembly’s policies on socially responsible investing — also called faith-based investing — by engaging corporations in which the church owns stock.
Gregg Brekke for the Presbyterian Foundation (Click here to read original PNS Story)
Let us join in prayer for:
Sunkyoo Park, Associate, Adult Curriculum, Korean Language, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Brent Paschal, IS Specialist, Presbyterian Foundation
Let us pray:
Lord of Creation, help us to live in Job’s words: “Ask the animals, and they will teach you … and the fish of the sea will declare to you. … In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being” (12:7–8, 10). Amen.