The Puerto Rico Project
The Puerto Rico Project
We provide injection alternative kits for participants. These include smoking and snorting kits, which can be a less harmful way to use some drugs. Learn more
Our participants know what they need best! We take requests for special items that we might not think of on our own or regularly carry – such as tarps, hand sanitizer, batteries, containers, medicine, and other necessities. Learn more
Meal assistance is where we began! Everyone deserves a hot meal. Learn more
Shower Connect, our new mobile shower unit, will visit encampments around the city and offer an 8-minute hot, refreshing shower to any participant who wants one. Learn more
We collect and distribute clothing necessities, especially to combat the brutal Chicago winter. Learn more
We distribute new and collect used syringes for our participants. Syringe service programs reduce the transmission of illnesses and allow for safer use. Learn more
As of 1/1/2022 – 3/3/2024
The Puerto Rico Project began when Melissa Hernandez started distributing food to unhoused folks in Chicago with her two sons. Through her interactions with this community, she realized that the need ran much deeper than food. Melissa encountered people experiencing human trafficking, fatal drug overdose, and gruesome human rights violations among people who use drugs (PWUD). Recognizing that far too often, people who are unhoused are overlooked by the rest of society, Melissa decided to make a change. Through Melissa’s own experiences with some of these issues, she built The Puerto Rico Project to serve the underserved with dignity, compassion, and respect. The Puerto Rico Project exists to meet the basic, human needs of individuals impacted by stigma and harm.
