This spring, ImpactAlpha’s Dennis Price visited the Platform for Social Impact, which is working to blend capital to fund projects that improve social infrastructure and services for residents of low-income and public housing communities in San Juan. The nonprofit has secured $43 million in blended finance to build a new center that will house the OASIS Project, a community center that will host Puerto Rico’s Boys and Girls Club, and provide job training, health and educational services, and social and family support.
The funding was provided by banks, public agencies and philanthropic foundations.
“Through integrated services, we have the capacity to break the cycles of poverty among vulnerable families,” said PSI’s Eduardo Carrera, who previously led the Boys and Girls Club.
Carrera is on a 10-year mission to advance social and economic progress for the US island territory, which is struggling to recover from natural disasters and decades of underinvestment.
“If we are really going to do this at scale, it [takes] the whole spectrum of finance,” Carrera told ImpactAlpha.
The OASIS community center could become a proof point: The Local Initiatives Support Corp., the Nonprofit Finance Fund, RAZA Development Fund, Low Income Investment Fund all provided debt capital to the project. Capital One and Civic Builders invested via the New Market Tax Credit program.
Puerto Rico’s Department of Housing is contributing funds through its infrastructure-focused Investment Portfolio for Growth, and the US Department of Education via Covid-19 relief funds.
Six foundations provided grant funding: Colibrí, I Am the Vine, Flamboyán Foundation, Peter Alfond Foundation, Michael Tennenbaum and the Banco Popular Foundation.
Community oasis
The OASIS Project will provide integrated services to low-income San Juan housing communities with more than 35,000 people. Components of thr project include expansion of its Vimenti services model, which has supported residents of San Juan’s Ernesto Ramos Antonini public housing community for six years.
A new community health clinic for primary and specialized care services will be able to serve 4,000 patients annually. The Project Makers incubator will provide training and resources to 100 business founders each year. The Boys and Girls Club will offer after-school tutoring, activities and health and life skills support to 550 youth in the community.
