Vivienda y Mejoramiento Barrial
The project improves housing and environment in a sector of Santo Domingo (Los Guandules) inhabited by vulnerable families. A cooperative fund was created for this purpose, and a committee with representatives from key organizations of the neighborhood was formed at the start of the building process. During a visit of SELAVIP to the site, it was decided to include 50 families as beneficiaries of the project. 37 families would receive a soft loan to improve their houses, while 13 other extremely poor households living in critical conditions would benefit from an “emergency grant” to totally finance the construction of their houses. The project has built the 13 houses for poorest families and 33 houses with cooperative fund. They will complete the 4 remaining homes in November. Repayments of loans by the 37 families will form a revolving fund that will benefit other households in need of shelter in the future. Families of other poor districts and communities have applied for incorporation into next projects, and political authorities at national and local level expressed interest in learning more about this initiative to replicate it in other districts. The project has resulted in closer relations between organizations and poor communities, and allows showing the advantages of addressing habitat improvement with a collaborative approach.
