Executive Summary

Established in 2009, Intercambios Puerto Rico advocates for the social integration of marginalized communities, including drug users, homeless individuals, those at heightened risk of HIV and hepatitis C, and people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. We recognize that societal stigma and punitive policies compound their struggles.

Intercambios delivers mobile primary and mental health care, syringe exchange, harm reduction services, and social supports to over 700 people annually. Based in Fajardo, Intercambios reaches 21 municipalities in eastern Puerto Rico, an under-resourced region with few social service providers and even fewer willing to work with these populations.

Intercambios was founded by members of the community it serves and continues to employ people of lived experience in outreach, case management, and leadership roles. Working from the scientific perspective of harm reduction, staff meet participants where they are at in terms of their drug use and willingness to access services. Through a nonjudgmental, noncoercive approach, staff build trust with participants over time, helping them take steps to improve their well-being when they are ready and on their own terms. Practicing this philosophy requires patience, compassion, and a willingness to internalize the struggles our participants face daily.

Intercambios also conducts public education, media outreach, and community mobilization to amplify participants’ voices to diminish societal inequities. Participants are trained to advocate for fairer policies. By empowering our community to engage in self-advocacy, Intercambios helps realizes a community that is defined not by its struggles, but by its resilience, rights, and equal access to opportunities.

Organizations may provide budget and employee data based on this proposal or the organization as a whole. For more information on this proposal or organization, please email us.