【Watch Friends】

The Watch Friendsisolated coastal region of Patillas, Puerto Rico, lost power when Hurricane Maria slammed into the U.S. territory back in September. It took several months to restore electricity to most of the region — and then suddenly, on April 18, an island-wide blackout put residents back in the dark again.

"It’s like the hurricane came all over again," says Norma I. Melendez, 55, who's lived in Patillas since age 3. "We have this feeling of desesperanza— no hope, a feeling of helplessness."

Despite the sense of despair, local residents like Melendez are organizing to provide the community essential resources, such as clothes, food, medical supplies, and access to medical examinations. That story of improvisation and resilience is common across Puerto Rico, despite slow-moving recovery efforts.

Though most of the island is back on the power grid, roughly 90,000 Puerto Ricans still don't have electricity, and those that do worry about and experience intermittent blackouts.

The power outage last month, caused by accidental damage to a transmission line, left most of the island's 3.3 million residents without electricity for a day. While all customers are expected to have power by the end of May, that's around when hurricane season begins, and activists say the island's infrastructure is woefully unprepared for new storm-related threats.

In Patillas, Melendez and her neighbors are still focused on recovery. She volunteers with and writes funding proposals for a nonprofit community organization called Guardarraya Unidos Por Un Patrimonio Educativo (GUPE), which partners with other groups like the Red Cross and Salvation Army to obtain supplies for local distribution.

GUPE has handed out solar lanterns, medical equipment, food, and bottled water to residents, many of whom are 65 or older and have severe medical conditions or disabilities. The organization operates out of an abandoned school, and it doesn't have the funds to buy generators or water tanks.

There are moments when the stakes and urgency of the situation feel daunting, Melendez says. But then neighbors will share medical equipment, food, or clothes with each other, often using GUPE as a conduit.

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"That gave us the energy to continue because we know that GUPE is reaching people and the people are reaching GUPE," she says.

GUPE is receiving logistical and material support from multiple nonprofit organizations, including the aid and relief group Mercy Corps. Karla Peña, emergency response program manager for Mercy Corps, says she frequently sees a spirit of cooperation and generosity across communities in Puerto Rico. Neighbors share refrigerators and keep an eye on people with few family members in the area as well as those who can't easily travel to get food, water, and gas.

Yet, that individual and collective resilience can wear thin in the absence of external support from nonprofits and the government. Indeed, there's a battle over how Puerto Rico will be rebuilt given that it has $74 billion in municipal debt, and the island's governor has moved to privatize the power authority. Community and labor activists worry that privatization will put Puerto Rico's fate in the hands of unaccountable private corporations.

As that fight unfolds, many Puerto Ricans feel like they're stuck in survival mode, says Peña. During the most recent power outage last month, Peña says lines for gas and water rivaled post-hurricane levels.

Even when the power is on, Peña keeps ice in the refrigerator and her "hurricane kit" — a camping stove and emergency supplies — at the ready. After months of use, generators break down often. Meanwhile, families have exhausted their financial resources to buy fuel. Those still without power rely on solar lanterns or, if they have one, a working generator.

"There's an emotion, an anxiety, that we can go back to that anytime, back to not having water and no electricity for a long time," Peña says.

Melissa Mark-Viverito, former New York City Council Speaker and campaign director to the advocacy coalition Power 4 Puerto Rico, lauds the recovery work happening in communities across the island, but says those efforts need more support.

Mark-Viverito envisions new investments in community-led projects to develop sustainable power sources, which could generate jobs and help stem the number of Puerto Ricans leaving the island to live in the United States. (Power 4 Puerto Rico recently wrote a letter to members of Congress urging them to adopt a "community-driven" approach to rebuilding.)

But Mark-Viverito says that without meaningful support for innovative solutions developed by local communities, "we're not going to be able to take advantage of this moment. What happened with the blackout demonstrates how vulnerable we are."

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Back in Patillas, Melendez is focused on one of GUPE's many projects: providing breakfast and lunch to dozens of elderly residents who are homebound. The need pre-existed Hurricane Maria but has become more urgent in the storm's wake. Though it'll take considerable local and outside resources to provide those meals, Melendez is confident the nonprofit — and its supporters — can make it happen.

"When we fall down, or something happens or someone comes to the facilities and we don’t think we have anything for them," she says, "someone else will say, 'I want to give you something if you need it.'"