The Community Workshop we celebrated on July 28, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity and sponsored by the Interdisciplinary and Multicultural Institute of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, allows us to joyfully highlight that together we can achieve what might otherwise seem impossible. With proper transportation, security, and health measures in place, we managed to bring together 37 participants from places as far away as Adjuntas, Maunabo, Vega Baja, Ciales, Juncos, Manatí, and a variety of closer communities to contribute and make the Workshop a day of solidarity, learning, and strengthening for all.

We want to give special thanks to:

  • The participants, without whose bravery, commitment, and responsibility to Puerto Rico the Workshop would not have been possible,
  • The Habitat for Humanity team for the opportunity and for supporting this event, especially,
  • Dr. Alison Chopel, for appreciating the potential of the event, visualizing alternatives to make it a reality, contributing to its design, and serving as co-coordinator and facilitator,
  • The Interdisciplinary and Multicultural Institute (INIM) of the University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus, for welcoming us into their space,
  • Dr. Linda Colón for accepting the invitation to serve as facilitator and going beyond by making introductions and visits that allowed us to connect with INIM and the Faculty of General Studies,
  • Pathstone for collaborating with us and sharing our invitation,
  • The team that manages the use of the amphitheater and spaces, Gilberto Mojica and Rubén, who helped us at every step of the event with technology and materials,
  • The bomba and plena group that came from Loíza to celebrate the conclusion,
  • Our facilitators: psychologist Dr. Paloma Torres and anthropologist Dr. Rosa Corrada,
  • Our student interns who provided logistical support before and during the event: Gabriel Acevedo, Clara García, Adriana Hernández, Crystal Rodríguez,
  • James O'Malley who, in addition to helping with logistics, enlivened the Map Gallery in the afternoon by playing the guitar, and,
  • Juneilis Mulero and Liliana López for their hard backstage work to safely and effectively make this Workshop a reality.