One day in May, while many people were celebrating the mothers and graduates in their families, several shelters dedicated to housing survivors of gender-based violence were mapping out escape routes to protect women in extreme danger who had been forced to flee their homes.

At the time, the nine gender-based violence shelters were facing a fiscal crisis resulting from cuts in federal funding and the Puerto Rico government’s lack of a permanent public policy and strategy to sustain their essential services. At the same time, Puerto Rico was experiencing its deadliest month for women in 2026: Over 31 days, 11 women were victims of femicide, including three victims of intimate partner femicide.

Rather than addressing the structural deficit affecting the shelters, which are operated by nonprofit organizations, the Gov. Jenniffer González Colón administration has responded by allowing the creation of public-private partnerships, or P3s, to operate shelters for survivors.

The new privatization model under recently signed Act 143-2026 makes projects involving the construction, maintenance and operation of shelters eligible under the Public-Private Partnerships Act, Act 29-2009.

Under the law, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority will determine, through an interagency committee, what type of partnership “is appropriate” for a shelter for survivors of gender-based violence.

The Office of the Women’s Advocate (OPM, in Spanish) did not answer questions from the Gender Investigative Unit — a partnership between Todas and the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) — about how this will affect the operation of the nine nonprofit shelters.

Funding Allocations Are Fragmented

After the $856,984.88 deficit facing the shelters came to light, the government announced new funding allocations and calls for applications in May. Since then, the organizations have warned that the aid falls short, is temporary and fragmented, and that their fiscal situation has forced them to cover essential expenses with their limited funds.

Several shelter directors and spokespeople said they still face uncertainty about the shelters’ financial situation. They no longer know how they will keep stretching their budgets.

In a May 13 announcement intended to inspire optimism, Women’s Advocate Astrid Piñeiro Vázquez promised “good news” to the directors of Puerto Rico’s nine shelters, all of which are part of the Red Nacional de Albergues de Violencia de Género. The good news was an allocation of $2.4 million.

But not all the state and federal funds went to the shelters. Some were allocated to other nonprofit organizations that provide legal, psychological and other services to survivors of domestic violence, sexual violence, stalking and dating violence, under the provisions of federal programs.

At the start of the new fiscal year on July 1, many of these funds had not reached the shelters either, several directors told the Gender Investigative Unit.

OPM Doesn’t Provide Specific Figures

In March of this year, the OPM had announced another $1.65 million, but the shelters also had to compete with other nonprofit organizations for tiny allocations.

The OPM announced Tuesday that it had awarded $1 million in state funds to 28 nonprofit organizations and municipalities “with the goal of having a direct impact on and strengthening the comprehensive care received by victims and survivors of gender-based and family violence.”

The allocation included five organizations that operate seven shelters: Casa de la Bondad, Casa Pensamiento de Mujer del Centro, Casa Protegida Julia de Burgos, Hogar Ruth and the Instituto Pre Vocacional e Industrial de Puerto Rico.

In her statement, the women’s advocate did not specify how much was allocated to each entity but said the funds may be used through Dec. 31, 2026. That does not address a funding problem the shelters have long raised: the lack of a permanent allocation that would allow services to continue and be planned over the long term.

Justice Department Provides No Clearer Picture

Justice Secretary Lourdes Gómez Torres, for her part, said only in general terms that so far in 2026, the agency has disbursed approximately $1.2 million to eight of the nine shelters specializing in gender-based violence.

“These funds represent an important part of the Department of Justice’s commitment to protecting and assisting victims. In addition to supporting the shelters, the agency also aids other nonprofit organizations that offer prevention, intervention, support and accompaniment services to people affected by gender-based violence,” the Justice secretary said in a brief written statement.

Like the OPM, the Department of Justice did not provide information on the specific amounts allocated to each shelter and did not identify which of the nine was left out of the allocation.

The Legislature Also Cuts Their Resources

And while the OPM and the Justice Department justify their cuts by pointing to insufficient funding allocations for shelters serving survivors of gender-based violence, the shelters have also seen legislative grants decline — a multimillion-dollar pool that the Legislature distributes to nonprofit institutions every year.

Over the past three fiscal years — 2024-25, 2025-26 and 2026-27 — resolutions allocating legislative grants show a pattern of cuts to most of the nine shelters. The total amount allocated to all the shelters in those years has been less than $800,000. In 2026-27, for example, out of the Legislature’s $19.88 billion pool, the House and Senate awarded just $605,000 to the nine gender-based violence shelters.

P3s Threaten Free Services, Shelter Network Warns

For Coraly León Morales, chairwoman of the Red Nacional de Albergues de Violencia de Género board of directors, public-private partnership projects could jeopardize the free services survivors receive, the federal funds allocated to shelters and victims’ safety.

“When there’s a public-private partnership, the entity that comes in expects to profit,” the network’s spokesperson warned, noting that when the amendment to the P3 law was approved, no official was able to explain to them how the privatized shelters would operate.

León Morales called for permanent funding allocations for the nine nonprofit shelters.

“The shelters have operated under precarious conditions because historically the state has not allocated enough money and the resources needed to do their work. Each shelter needs at least $1 million to operate,” León Morales stressed. “We continue to support a proposal that addresses the problem permanently,” she said.

The network spokesperson stressed that every time a femicide occurs in Puerto Rico, calls from survivors seeking guidance spike on shelter hotlines. In 2025, the nine shelters sheltered 570 survivors of gender-based violence, compared with 589 survivors in 2024.

“Unfortunately, this is a situation we have been warning about for years. This year has been more critical because of the way the cuts have been made, and we continue to push for a permanent solution. The service the shelters provide is a responsibility of the state that nonprofit organizations in Puerto Rico have historically taken on. In fact, community-based organizations are the ones that developed shelter services from scratch. The service didn’t exist,” she recalled.

Government Disregarded PARE Committee Recommendations

Proyecto Matria Executive Director Enid Marie Pérez Rodríguez, for her part, said the government did not prepare for the shelters’ funding crisis.

“They didn’t even follow up on what had been worked on since the state of emergency declared in 2022 by the Committee for the Prevention, Support, Rescue and Education of Gender Violence (PARE, in Spanish). They knew there was a challenge with the budget cuts, especially that organizations providing services were going to be affected, and they didn’t prepare for that. What they’re doing is responding with Band-Aid fixes, completely disconnected from reality, and we know that isn’t going to solve the problem of operating a shelter,” Pérez Rodríguez stressed.

This translation was generated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and clarity.