SAN JUAN, PR – Vimenti, a non-profit organization that offers services to vulnerable children and families of the Ernesto Ramos Antonini Public Housing complex and adjacent areas, presented its impact results five years after starting the fulfillment of its mission of eradicating child poverty in Puerto Rico. During the fundraising event, Building Together: A Look into Economic Mobility, Vimenti announced to the organization's more than 260 guests, collaborators, and allies that 64% of Vimenti School families reported a higher monthly income, and 22% of these families reported a monthly income increase of over $1,000.
'Vimenti is a model that is trialing solutions to create economic mobility in families,' explained Bárbara Rivera Batista, executive director of Vimenti. “Through our Two-Generation Model, we provide access to comprehensive programs and services in education, social development, health, and economic development to break generational cycles of poverty and create significant changes in the lives of children and their families.”
Vivo Beach Club in Isla Verde was the setting where Greyshla Cruz, Melissa Ocasio, and Sheila Rodríguez, three Vimenti participating mothers, shared how the non-profit organization's services have allowed them to overcome their challenges to achieve their personal and professional goals. Benjamín Torres Gotay, deputy director of projects and special coverage of El Nuevo Día, moderated this panel.
Ocasio, who along with her daughter Atenas has been part of Vimenti since its opening in 2018, was emphatic, “your will will not always show you the way, that motto 'where there’s a will there’s a way' is not true. The reality is that you often want things but don't know how to organize yourself to get them. Having a case manager who asks you what you want to achieve, who tells you what your short- and long-term goals are, who guides you on what you are going to do to achieve them... Having small, short, and long-term goals and a whole support group to guide you as you achieve them is different.'
Rivera Batista shared some impact results five years into Vimenti's operation, such as the 10% increase in parents who entered with only a high school diploma and today have a technical or associate degree and the 17% reduction in parental unemployment. “The ultimate goal is to generate economic mobility, and after five years, we can celebrate that there was an 11% reduction in families living below the poverty level compared to their level before receiving Vimenti’s services,” explained Rivera Batista.
For the third consecutive time, the event featured Nicole Chacón as master of ceremonies. This time, she shared the stage with Jaycob López, a fourth-grade student at Vimenti School.
Vimenti has impacted over 1,000 participants from the Ernesto Ramos Antonini, Villa Prades, and other surrounding communities in its five years of service. The Building Together: A Look into Economic Mobility event would not have been possible without the support of sponsors such as Evertec, Walmart, The Mall of San Juan, Tote Maritime, Miramar Group, Insight Group, V2A Consulting, PharmPix, and Merrill Lynch. Entities that join with Vimenti to build opportunities of significant impact and catalytic power for Puerto Rican families.