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Ponce Neighborhood Housing Services (NHS) is helping a group of residents transform an abandoned garden in the rural community of La Moca, Puerto Rico, into a community farm growing herbs for homemade “sofrito” that can be sold at market.
The lot was creating real blight in their neighborhood; it was regularly vandalized and used for littering and drug dealing. The residents organized and decided to take action. As they began to clean it up, they also started to envision its potential.
Led by a group of women and young people, they visualized themselves as a self-sufficient community with its own enterprise. To help fulfill their dreams, the municipality of Peñuelas facilitated the aquisition of permits for agricultural use. Ponce NHS and Social Action of PR helped the residents organize.
In March, 12 women participated in hydroponics and agricultural workshops. La Moca is a community with great challenges, but this project is building pride and a sense of empowerment for the people who live there.
Maria de los Angeles Rodriguez Maldonado is the president of the Moca Garden. “My motivation was to contribute to the community so lower-income people can be more self-sufficient using agricultural and gardening projects. I hope this can be completed in one or two years."
Nixida Batis Cruz, a 36-year-old mother of four children, is another active participant.
“I am unemployed. I heard about this project through some agricultural workshops provided by Social Action PR," she recalls. "I was very motivated for the simple reason that I wanted to learn to cultivate plants directly in my home. At the end of the workshop, a lot of ideas came to my mind and I started brainstorming. Why not work on the Moca Garden project? I know I can contribute with great ideas and be an example for the mothers who want to be employed. At the time, I thought of my four children. With time, I hope my children will be proud of me and say 'my mom worked in agriculture and helped to push us forward in life.'”
Maldonado, Cruz and their neighbors believe they are setting examples not only for their children but for other rural communities in Puerto Rico struggling with poverty. They are determined to be the best microentrepreneur community in the region.
The lot was creating real blight in their neighborhood; it was regularly vandalized and used for littering and drug dealing. The residents organized and decided to take action. As they began to clean it up, they also started to envision its potential.
Led by a group of women and young people, they visualized themselves as a self-sufficient community with its own enterprise. To help fulfill their dreams, the municipality of Peñuelas facilitated the aquisition of permits for agricultural use. Ponce NHS and Social Action of PR helped the residents organize.
In March, 12 women participated in hydroponics and agricultural workshops. La Moca is a community with great challenges, but this project is building pride and a sense of empowerment for the people who live there.
Maria de los Angeles Rodriguez Maldonado is the president of the Moca Garden. “My motivation was to contribute to the community so lower-income people can be more self-sufficient using agricultural and gardening projects. I hope this can be completed in one or two years."
Nixida Batis Cruz, a 36-year-old mother of four children, is another active participant.
“I am unemployed. I heard about this project through some agricultural workshops provided by Social Action PR," she recalls. "I was very motivated for the simple reason that I wanted to learn to cultivate plants directly in my home. At the end of the workshop, a lot of ideas came to my mind and I started brainstorming. Why not work on the Moca Garden project? I know I can contribute with great ideas and be an example for the mothers who want to be employed. At the time, I thought of my four children. With time, I hope my children will be proud of me and say 'my mom worked in agriculture and helped to push us forward in life.'”
Maldonado, Cruz and their neighbors believe they are setting examples not only for their children but for other rural communities in Puerto Rico struggling with poverty. They are determined to be the best microentrepreneur community in the region.
