Research and Community Engagement

The second initiative of the Cayey Urban Hub Collective, the huerto solidario (community garden) became open to the public on December 21, 2021.

Permanent Alacena Solidaria: In January 2021, members of the Cayey Urban Hub Collective inaugurated the permanent solidary pantry. Members of the community can pick up and drop off donations.

Solidary pantry in Cayey's urban hub. Pictured: a pantry with watre, canned food, non perishable food.

Alacenas solidarias (solidary pantries): From July to October 2020, the Colectivo Casco Urbano de Cayey set up a tent to receive and receive donations such as: food, clothing, masks, hand sanitizer, gloves, books, for the Cayey Community. This initiative, as well as the Collective, emerged out of the participatory action research projects done throughout the 2019-2020 academic year. These projects were part of the course "Principles and Foundations of Participatory Action Research and Intergroup Dialogue" at the University of Puerto Rico, Cayey. The course was made possible through the Antonia Pantoja Research Mentoring Program at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research.

Dr. Santiago-Ortiz, pictured, next to a sign of Colectivo Casco Urbano de Cayey.

Proyecto historias orales cayeyanas: Vivencias y resistencias

http://historias-orales-de-cayey.herokuapp.com/

This digital humanities project was created during the course "Principles and Foundations of Participatory Action Research and Intergroup Dialogue." Students conducted oral history interviews 7 women from Cayey.

In this virtual exhibit, visitors can interact with the oral histories, with the map changing each time a clip is listened to and/or read.

The interviews were done collaboratively with participants. They discuss their experiences growing up, living in, and interacting with the urban hub of Cayey. See link above the flyer.

Virtual Community Center: Colectivo Casco Urbano de Cayey

Screenshot of the Colectivo Casco Urbano de Cayey's website

As a result of the interdisciplinary research course I taught during the 2019-2020 academic year, students, community partners, and I created a research collective called "Colectivo Casco Urbano de Cayey." The CCUC collective undertook a various participatory action research projects to understand the needs, concerns, and desired of the urban hub of the Cayey community.

The collective realized that there was a need for a physical space to meet and create community, as well as the need to support leadership development in the Cayey town center. Due to the pandemic, the collective created a virtual community center to share our research, provide educational tools for the people of Cayey, Puerto Rico broadly, and the diaspora. You can visit at ccucayey.wixsite.com/website.