Women’s Foundation distributes $600,000 to various feminist organizations
By The Star Staff
The Women’s Foundation in Puerto Rico (FMnPR) announced Tuesday, that it will distribute $600,000 from its Reproductive Justice, Mitigation and Economic Justice funds for the development of six educational community projects aimed at empowering young people and pregnant people about their rights so they can make informed decisions about their bodies.
The organizations that will receive the funds are Alianza Mujeres Viequenses, Caderamen, Campaña Aborto Libre PR, Mujeres de Islas, Nuestra Escuela and WetJustice. Educational projects will include those related to issues of abortion rights and access to contraceptives, the availability of midwives and doulas, and consent.
Some of the projects in line for funding are the development of training manuals for peer education in Vieques and Culebra; the realization of experiential workshops for young people from 12 to 17 years old and their caregivers for the recognition, exercise and defense of their sexual and reproductive rights; and the realization of a video on the right to abortion to promote community conversations on the subject.
“At this critical time, when our rights are under extreme fundamentalist attack, we have much more reason to support the Reproductive Justice movement,” said Verónica Colón Rosario, executive director of the Women’s Foundation in Puerto Rico. “We decided not to stay out of the situation.”
Colón Rosario pointed out that reproductive justice is about much more than bodies, but is an intersection of race, economic, and LGBTQIAP+ justice, and is about all the issues that affect people’s ability to live free from oppression.
Meanwhile, 17 organizations were beneficiaries of the Economic Justice and Mitigation funds, which, on this occasion total $560,000. The organizations are A Flor de Piel, Casa Juana Colón, Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos, Equilátera-Todas, Proyecto Matria, SIEMPREVIVAS RUM, SIEMPREVIVAS METRO, Caderamen, Capromuni I y II, Centro de la Mujer Dominicana, Colectivo Ilé, Coordinadora Paz para las Mujeres (Centro Paz para Ti), Hogar La Bondad, Hogar La Piedad, Hogar Nueva Mujer Santa María de la Merced, Casa Ruth for Battered Women and La Casa de Todos.
As part of its feminist philanthropy practice, FMnPR provides flexible grants to address the operational part of feminist entities and collectives, which is often neglected by federal or state proposals. The Economic Justice Fund seeks to strengthen the administrative structure of organizations to foster their long-term sustainability. It is aimed at paying salaries and funding professional services, and people specializing in submitting grant proposals and creating strategic alliances.