Taller Salud is a feminist, non-profit organization serving the Lo�za municipality and the northeast region of Puerto Rico; founded in 1979 with a 44-year trajectory dedicated to health promotion and violence prevention. Taller Salud taps into Loiza's collective ancestral survival power to foster healing and transformation for the communities of color with limited English proficiency in the island's northeast region, including Loiza, Carolina, Canovanas, Fajardo, Luiquillo, y R�o Grande municipalities. Tu Paz Cuenta is the only community-based program that provides culturally specific services to Hispanic (Spanish-speaking), Latinas, and Afro-Caribbean adult victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking in the northeast region of Puerto Rico.
This grant will help to strengthen the capacity and further the leadership development of Taller Salud to address sexual violence and domestic violence in the East region communities. With this grant, Taller Salud, through the Tu Paz Cuenta program, will continue promoting the partnership and collaboration in the Mesa del Este task force and identify factors and strategies for a culturally specific, trauma-informed, and evidence-informed regional response to domestic violence and sexual assault. The expectation is that the task force generates approaches to reduce traumatic stress reactions in survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and their children in the East region through knowledge of the context in which gender violence manifests itself in the area, the risk factors, and the protective factors. Also, with this information, the task force will implement interventions, policies, practices, and collaborative models to improve services for individuals, children, and families who have experienced trauma.
The objectives of the program are: (1) Provide advocacy, case management services, and information and referral services concerning issues related to culturally specific sexual assault and domestic violence services through the 24-hour support hotline. (2) Reduce traumatic stress reactions for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and their children from racial and ethnic-specific populations, underserved, and historically marginalized communities by providing Economic Emergency Assistance. (3) Enhance mental health outcomes for survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence and their children from racially and ethnically diverse, underserved, and historically marginalized communities by providing culturally competent psychological services and trauma-informed care. (4) Develop regional research with the Mesa del Este task force members to examine the dynamics of culture and its impact on victimization and healing after domestic violence or sexual assault.