Build Power: Community Paralegals in Puerto Rico

As I write this brief report on our Community Paralegals Legal Empowerment Project, I pause and reflect on the meaning of the word "trust." We are fastly approaching the 18th month's benchmark of this program, an initiative nurtured by the support and experience of community leaders and lawyers. The continuous relationship - meeting in the same place throughout these months, always on Saturday mornings, always sharing coffee or food - has solidified bonds based on togetherness. As participants return to workshops on climate & housing justice, share their stories, and obtain knowledge of basic legal concepts and processes, narratives of precarity start weaving with building power capacities. Together, we created a safe place. Together, we created a place to develop trust. Amidst human rights violations, the constant threat of displacements, and constant government-sponsored neglect of the communities' demands, the power and enthusiasm we feel among community paralegals is a gift.

The second cohort groups more than 20 people, doubling the first one. While most participants were new members of the Community Paralegals Program, four leaders who actively participated in the first round returned to engage as outreach liaisons and experimented with navigators of the know, use, and shape of the law curriculum. At this moment, we just finished the first part: discussing democracy, rights, legal systems, and rule-making. Now, we are engaging with the topics the community identified as priorities. Within the two main issues - climate and housing justice- it's time to talk about mitigation, floods, and community access. Security of tenure has also become a focus. Conversations are becoming increasingly complex because that is the nature of unmet legal needs and social injustice. This space has been able to hold people safe.

Thanks to your support, this second round will not last only a few weeks, as we preciously expected/feared. We are happy to say that we made a budget to ensure this will last till the end of the peak hurricane season (September). During the following weeks, community paralegals will learn about storytelling, interviews for complaint procedures, and more. They will also host a radio program and a panel. The keynote of our in-person IV Towards a Just Recovery Summit will be a beloved community leader and participant.

As this project sustains itself, we know trust has multiple roads. We are happy to have found a nurturing home among paralegals at El Ancón, Loíza. We are grateful for their trust, and we trust the power of their experiences, struggles, and wins. As well, and because you have made this possible, we are grateful for your trust.

Links:

• IV Towards a Just Recovery Summit (In Person, PR 4-5 August)

This month marks the first anniversary of our Community Paralegals program, and we are ready to celebrate with you. As we wrap up this cycle, we want to share key learning gathered along the way with you.

1. Communities want and are entitled to knowing their rights: During the first 2/3 of this experience, participants participated in legal workshops where they learned about the system of law, rights, regulations, and legal procedures. The experience of obtaining accessible legal information and materials was nurtured by the stories of community participants who served as history guardians and storytellers, who illustrated communities' relationship with actual legal barriers or issues. We became more aware and accountable by actively listening to them, pivoting our strategies in other localities to adjust to the reality voiced by these community stakeholders.

2. Communities want and are entitled to defend their rights: After the education phase, paralegals started developing the capacity to decide a legal issue to tackle and advance their common goals. Issues such as flooding and title clearance are at the top. Now, participants present access to information requests as a groundwork for the legal and advocacy actions to come. This phase is ongoing.

3. Advocacy, in the hands of communities, always wins- We want to highlight how Community Paralegals – together with Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico- hosted an official site visit of the United States Civil Rights Commission. Paralegals set up a space, invited other community stakeholders, and prepared testimonies that shared their experience in the aftermath of Hurricane María, as well as demands voiced in human rights terms. Issues of housing, climate justice, and the right to just recovery were amplified. We were able to see and hear how the trust and capacity-building processes carried out during the program had a tangible impact on the petitions of access to remedies.

On March 18, 2022, we will meet at El Ancón to celebrate and close this loop. We plan to continue working with these paralegals and invite others to join. We know the impact of law in the hands of communities regarding housing, climate, and land justice is irrefutable. If you know groups in Loíza that would love to learn more about the program contact us at recuperacionjusta@ayudalegalpr.org. Meanwhile, remember to donate and continue promoting this project. Every contribution is significant.