Developing Program Efficiency for a Mutual Aid Organization in Puerto Rico Using Accessible and Sustainable Systems

Project Sponsor: El Centro de Apoyo Mutuo, Las Carolinas

Charito Arroyo, Brenda Lee Ortiz Ocasio, and Dimarie Fontánez

Team Members: Madeline Gagnon, John Howland, Madison Little, and Cristian Oliveira 

Project Advisors: Professor John-Michael Davis, Professor Sarah Molinari, Jessica Santos

Project Files

Abstract

Mutual aid organizations became widespread across Puerto Rico in the wake of Hurricane Maria 2017, to support their communities through grassroots peer-based means. Given the challenges around funding and volunteer labor, mutual aid organizations can benefit from accessible and sustainable systems that help maximize efficiency. Our project sought to outline the development process for accessible and sustainable programs at the mutual aid organization Centro de Apoyo Mutuo in Las Carolinas, Caguas through use of participatory observation, interviews, conversations, and workshopping methods. Our findings demonstrate how the implementation of sustainable and accessible solutions proves beneficial to the development and efficiency of mutual aid organizations.

Executive Summary

In 2017, Hurricane Maria left Puerto Rico in crisis. The power grid collapsed, supplies dwindled, and government aid was slow to arrive (Rodríguez-Madera et al., 2021). Left to fend for themselves in the face of devastation, Puerto Rican communities worked from within to lend aid to each other. These grassroots groups, who serve their communities as equals and peers rather than as distant institutions, are often referred to as mutual aid organizations. While mutual aid has a long trajectory in Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria provided the impetus for a distinct organizational model that inspired the work of new organizations. These groups serve the specific needs of their communities through personal knowledge and understanding of their people and neighborhood (Soto, 2020). The programs offered at a given mutual aid organization vary, as their goals adapt to community needs and shifting circumstances. Mutual aid organizations can be particularly effective in serving community needs guided by the principles of solidarity and reciprocity. However, the volunteer-based composition of these organizations limits their capacity depending on the resources and capabilities of their volunteers. Volunteers generally have personal obligations besides their volunteer-work, which can present sustainability issues for the longevity of an organization. Due to their communal nature, mutual aid organizations generally rely on donations. This presents sustainability issues as any programming dependent on donations may experience inconsistencies due to resource fluctuation. Accessibility issues can also arise from this community driven structure. While volunteers often come from the community itself with extensive local knowledge, challenges emerge around managing specialties such as accounting, digital communications, and project management. In addition to knowledge gaps, many of these groups exist in communities with aging populations in rural areas which provide additional accessibility concerns for organization programs.

One set of such organizations are the Centros de Apoyo Mutuo, or CAMs across Puerto Rico. The CAMs emerged as a direct result of Hurricane Maria and the failures of institutions to aid communities (Vélez-Vélez & Villarrubia-Mendoza, 2018). Our group collaborated with the CAM Las Carolinas (CAM-LC), which is a small organization in a rural community in Caguas, Puerto Rico with fewer than ten consistent volunteers. It is important to acknowledge accessibility and sustainability as potential issues for mutual aid organizations when designing systems or tools for them to use in order to maximize efficiency for the benefit of the staff and community. Utilizing systems that account for sustainability and accessibility allows organizations to adapt to the straining conditions that can arise from being volunteer and donation based. Our project sought to increase CAM-LC’s program efficiency through the development and implementation of accessible and sustainable tools.

Investigation Phase

Our project began by identifying challenges and opportunities to enhance current programs and operational practices at CAM-LC. To do this, we initially had conversations with CAM-LC staff to identify which programs were in need of optimization. We conducted four semi-structured interviews with relevant staff including Dimarie, the CAM-LC treasurer and administrator of their disaster response mapping system (DRMS), and Brenda, the director of the CAM-LC thrift store. Throughout the investigation phase and into the development phase we continued to have conversations with volunteers to ensure a holistic understanding of CAM-LC and develop a personal relationship with the staff. We also used participatory observation in a range of programs offered at CAM-LC, including lunch preparation and sorting clothes at the thrift store (see Figure A). We spent around ten hours per week throughout our eight-week project assisting with the CAM-LC programs. Our co-researcher, Keyshla “Kelly” López, helped us significantly with interpretation and her personal knowledge of the CAM-LC’s operations she developed as the CAM-LC fitness center director.

FIGURE A: SORTING FOOD DONATION FOR LUNCH SERVICE

Our conversations and interviews revealed three programs necessitating improvement: the DRMS needed to be overhauled, the thrift store needed a more effective inventory management system, and the CAM-LC’s social media presence and community outreach needed to be improved. Our interview with Dimarie identified that the DRMS was both confusing and required a lot of upkeep effort. This was neither accessible for her to use as she did not understand it, nor was it sustainable as she had not updated the system since its implementation in 2024. Our interview with Brenda showed that the thrift store’s inventory management system was time consuming and needed to be optimized. Brenda also wanted to make the thrift store more inviting to customers and attract community engagement. We discovered during conversations with several volunteers that a major goal of the organization was to increase community engagement with the programs offered at the CAM-LC. This would require improving both the social media presence and analog advertisement tools for the community.

Development Phase

Whilst in development we began creating systems that were both easy to understand and minimally time-consuming to CAM-LC staff. We continued to collect data through conversations and participant observation to ensure the accessibility and sustainability of our solutions. Using the data attained in our investigation phase, we researched mapping systems, inventory management tools, and communication strategies. To learn more about practical thrift shop systems we also conducted interviews with five similar thrift stores. Between the three programs discussed above (the DRMS, the thrift store, and community outreach) we developed ten systems or tools to help increase the CAM-LC’s program efficiency.

  1. Thrift Store
    1. Designed a bin and shelf storage system for storing and organizing clothes
    2. Developed an inventory system using the Sort.ly app with easy to scan barcodes for adding and removing items
    3. Created training videos for using Sort.ly
  2.  DRMS
    1. Updated map with increased automation and efficiency
    2. Simplified Google form with increased accessibility
    3. Created training videos on how to use and share the system
  3. Community Outreach
    1. Created an Instagram account and developed content and posting strategy
    2. Created a GoFundMe account
    3. Distributed posters outlining CAM-LC programs throughout the community at high-traffic locations including mailboxes, local shops and the Residents’ Association building
    4. Hosted a community event with the Residents’ Association at their community center that connected residents with CAM-LC and promoted their services

Each system was evaluated post-implementation to assess both accessibility to CAM-LC staff and the Las Carolinas community and for sustainability for their long-term use. In post-development conversations with Dimarie, Brenda, and other volunteers they were confident using and managing these systems and anticipated the systems to be sustainable given their time and resource limitations.

Two limitations of this methodology were data bias and a lack of time for long-term sustainability analysis. We were able to develop positive personal connections with the staff at the CAM-LC, which may have influenced their views of our systems. We also did not get a chance to confirm the sustainability of our tools, as much of our project was devoted to the investigation and development processes with only a week or so of having the tools properly implemented. The DRMS could only be adequately tested during an emergency situation, which did not occur whilst we did our project.

Final Thoughts

Our investigations into and development of the DRMS, thrift shop, and communication strategies could prove useful to other mutual aid organizations similar to CAM-LC. Groups who serve at-risk populations in disaster prone areas could adapt and benefit from the DRMS. Small thrift stores could introduce similar strategies to the ones we developed that are inexpensive and intuitive. Any group looking to communicate with a predominantly elderly, rural community could benefit also from our communication strategies.

Patterns and norms of standard professionalization models may not fit mutual aid organizations like CAM-LC, due to their limitations in resources and personnel, as well as their commitment to local support and reciprocity.  Our results show that small-scale accessible and sustainable systems are beneficial to their development.

FIGURE B: THE WOMEN WHO RUN CAM-LC