The OASIS Hub

Widely admired for its vibrant culture, stunning natural landmarks, and rich history, Puerto Rico stands as a beacon of hope in the Caribbean. For generations, community members have embodied remarkable resilience in the face of economic turbulence, political uncertainty, and frequent natural disasters. The country has united in solidarity to overcome challenges beyond their control.

Now, seven years after the devastation of Hurricane Maria, Puerto Rico stands at a pivotal juncture. While efforts to rebuild are still underway, Puerto Rico is experiencing a historic moment of economic growth and possibility, marked by historically low unemployment rates, a notable increase in workforce participation, and a surge in new businesses.

These encouraging shifts signal seeds of transformation in the island's economic landscape, a community brimming with hope and determination. By leveraging community partnerships, Puerto Rico is paving the way for a more resilient, equitable economy that has the potential to unlock endless opportunities for its residents.

Community development efforts are especially crucial in historically disinvested parts of the island like the Villa Prades neighborhood of San Juan, where 98.8% of the community identifies as Hispanic and 87% of families with children live in poverty.

Addressing the impact of Puerto Rico’s economic disparities head on requires the targeted support and joint efforts of local community organizations. One such organization is Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico (BGCPR), created in 1967 to promote the social, educational, vocational, and character development of young people living in low-income communities throughout Puerto Rico.

For over 55 years, BGCPR has worked with more than 90,000 youth and their families – and it has expanded to eleven clubs across the island. BGCPR's efforts have been central to closing the education gap, assisting clients in times of crisis, and increasing economic mobility.

Data from Instituto del Desarrollo de la Juventud’s Child and Youth Well-Being Index, a tool developed to assess the well-being of children and youth up to 21 years old in Puerto Rico, revealed that in 2022:

• 58% of children lived below Puerto Rico’s poverty threshold
• 14% of teenagers did not attend class because they felt unsafe at school or on the road
• 39% of children aged three to four were not enrolled in preschool programs

These statistics pointed to significant challenges in Puerto Rico’s economic and educational landscape and reflected a need for structural improvements to better support the well-being of youth and their families. BGCPR founded Vimenti School (Vimenti) in 2018, which marked the launch of the first public charter school in Puerto Rico. In addition to conducting their own extensive research, Vimenti's development process included valuable input from community focus groups comprised of children and their families to ensure that the school was built to support their specific needs. In the same year, the Government of Puerto Rico enacted Law 85, also known as the Puerto Rico Education Reform Law. Law 85 was established to enhance education in Puerto Rico by facilitating the creation of charter schools and expanding options for school choice, ultimately aimed at improving educational quality across the island. Through the years, Vimenti’s team has played a pivotal role in advocating for transparency and effective implementation of Law 85, helping to guarantee that resources are allocated to classrooms in line with the law’s intention to support every child.

Eduardo Carrera's connection to the mission of Boys and Girls Clubs spans decades, first participating in programs as a young person and eventually serving as Director of Operations, Executive Vice President, and CEO. Eduardo now serves as the founder and CEO of Platform for Social Impact (PSI), a nonprofit dedicated to eradicating poverty through strategic investments to community-based initiatives.

Eduardo shares, “I grew up at Boys & Girls Clubs of Las Margaritas and later had the opportunity to come back and work at Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico. Many of my friends and family were not as fortunate.

At that point of my career, Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico began to challenge the status quo. We asked ourselves: was what we were doing enough? The answer to that question kept coming back to us as ‘no.’ Our families and children needed more from us. Waiting for somebody else to address those needs was not an option.”

“What we were seeing happen in some of Puerto Rico’s low-income communities was the product of a [flawed] system that was not working for people.”

BGCPR’s extensive community programs continue to address the real-time needs of thousands of Puerto Rican youth and their families. In 2023 alone, BGCPR centers provided over 100,000 meals, conducted nearly 11,000 youth workshops, supported more than 3,000 families, and engaged over 9,000 participants in its programs.

Building on Eduardo Carrera’s legacy, Olga Ramos led BGCPR for seven years before Alma Frontera assumed the role of President in August 2024.

Says Alma, “The main ‘why’ for us has always been the children that we serve. It's the youth; it's also their families and caretakers. We understand the importance of family involvement in this process.

We’re dedicated to ensuring that our participants reach their full potential and are awarded the same opportunities as everyone else. And hopefully, we break some cycles – sooner rather than later.”

With a comprehensive approach to serving the community, the OASIS Hub will meet immediate educational, health, and economic needs of students, adults, and families in one centralized place while it plants the seeds for long-term stability and growth in the community. The OASIS Hub project will convert and reactivate an abandoned public school in the Villa Prades neighborhood of San Juan into a modern 136,000-square-foot facility, providing a permanent home and expansion for Vimenti. Each year, the Hub will impact over 500 K-12 Vimenti students and their families; provide workforce development for over 300 clients; deliver care to over 4,000 low-income patients through Vidalus Community Health Clinic, support over 100 entrepreneurs through Project Makers’ business incubator and accelerator programs; and serve over 550 youth through BGCPR’s afterschool programs.

By investing in these wraparound services, the new facility will play a central role in positively impacting Puerto Rico’s economy by fostering healthier, more economically secure communities that promote community wealth and well-being.

"When we talk about planning, it’s about being able to provide that chair for everybody. This is not a top-down approach. It’s bottom-up: developed within, with, and for the community. It needs to be community-based, participatory planning. Without community ideas and community buy-in, we can get the money, and we can build, but it won’t work.”

Vimenti knows that poverty impacts economic mobility for families. Access to high quality education as early as kindergarten creates better outcomes at every stage of life, including later in life. That’s why Vimenti’s 2Gen (two-generation) model integrates academic support with wraparound family services that invest in the holistic development and well-being of each family unit. This approach ensures that students receive a high-quality education with class sizes capped at 20 students while also providing families and the broader community with access to the food, healthcare, employment support, and social services that they need.

State assessments show that Vimenti performs at a higher level compared to neighborhood schools within the San Juan region and across Puerto Rico: 85% of Vimenti students have health barriers managed, parent unemployment has decreased by 17%, and 22% of families report an increase in their monthly income of over $1,000.

The new site will provide Vimenti with 90,000 square feet of facility space to serve 650 more students – a significant increase from the 275 students currently enrolled at its two current temporary sites. It will include roof-mount solar, a full-service generator, water recycling systems, and will be engineered to withstand catastrophic weather events common in Puerto Rico with seismic- and hurricane-resistant construction. Beyond its physical infrastructure, Vimenti is also embedding the importance of environmental conservation into its curriculum to increase community awareness. 

For six years, Vimenti's comprehensive programs have championed the success of over 1,000 families, including many single parent households. As an example of the type of support offered, Vimenti helped the mother of two students navigate the process of a difficult divorce involving domestic violence. As she sought stability for herself and two young daughters, Vimenti provided a nurturing environment and connected the mother to a case manager who offered the guidance she needed to rebuild and start a new life chapter. Today, as a thriving retail manager, her story is a testament to the profound change Vimenti’s programs can bring.

Vimenti’s executive director Bárbara Rivera Batista explains, “We used a human-centric design to develop the 2Gen model, which serves the children and their families together. By impacting both generations at the same time, we can more effectively disrupt the cycle.”

“This project is being anchored in a reclaimed public building that was built 50 years ago and was way ahead of its time.

It became a totally desolate and unsafe place in the community... it reflected a community that had been underinvested in. That’s the place we are reclaiming.

The most significant part of this project for me is a promise fulfilled for the community. We’re going to inspire others that it can be done. If we did it, they can do it, too,” Eduardo shares.

Says Bárbara, “The OASIS Hub is our permanent home. We are limited in the space where we currently are. True to its name, OASIS will bring opportunity in a desert. It will be a place of growth for the community.”

“The OASIS Hub project couldn’t be done without the connection between each of our organizations. This is the value of what we are doing with the OASIS Hub: connecting all the resources in one place for the community.”

When conventional financing avenues proved challenging, to finance the OASIS Hub, CDFI partners Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), Raza Development Fund, Low Income Investment Fund, Capital One, Civic Builders, the Department of Housing of Puerto Rico, the Department of Education, and NFF saw an opportunity to collaborate and support a vital project led by community nonprofits who are truly attuned to the needs of their own neighborhoods.

“When Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico encountered challenges securing local bank financing, Nonprofit Finance Fund and our CDFI partners committed to leveraging our unique expertise and experience to meet the project's niche financing need.”

NFF participated in a $14.8 million loan led by LISC that bridged a reimbursable Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) grant. The ESSER funds were granted to BGCPR to specifically support the expansion of Vimenti School, the primary tenant and reason for the OASIS Hub project. The ESSER bridge loan was needed to close on the $43 million project financing, which included $25 million of New Markets Tax Credits from Civic Communities and Capital One Financial Corporation, and a $15.2 million CDBG Disasters Recovery Program loan.

NFF’s $3.7 million participation in the $14.8 million loan was significantly bolstered by a Department of Education credit enhancement, which gives NFF the opportunity to provide loans to early stage, single- or multiple-site charter schools for acquisition and construction, with a focus on those led by and serving people of color.

NFF’s Charter School Program Director Anne Robinson comments, “Utilizing NFF’s DoE credit enhancement for this transaction reflects the spirit of the program. It gives our lending team the opportunity to provide community-based, public charter school financing in a new market where we otherwise would not have been able to.”

On September 9, 2024, Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico, Platform for Social Impact, and Vimenti School celebrated the groundbreaking of the OASIS Hub with their community. Attendees were invited to write their hopes and intentions for the project on rocks from the original structure, which will be preserved in a monument at the new site.

Community organizations like Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico, Platform for Social Impact, and Vimenti School help redefine what people believe is achievable.

As Bárbara puts it, “We have the unique opportunity of opening minds up to the full realm of possibility. This is our work – transforming the mindset of what is possible.”

Learn more about how NFF supports community ownership of assets.

See how we partner with charter schools.

Read about our commitment to investing in environmental justice.