Once the immediate needs were under control following Hurricane Maria in late 2017, the Rotary Club of San Juan started to think about long-term relief.

“So much of the damage isn’t only to the infrastructure; it’s to the spirit,” said John Richardson, a member of the San Juan club and a past district governor. To address mental health after the hurricane, fellow member Bob Bolte suggested the club do something unconventional: apply for a grant to support youth theater.

Eventually his theater group became an unlikely alternative to gangs in his neighborhood. “When boys reach a certain age, it’s very easy for them to join the drug gangs,” said Antonia Morales, now a 37-year-old actor and director. “We told them, ‘Come join our club, not them.’ Even the leaders of the gangs supported me. They didn’t want their little brothers to follow in their footsteps.”

After the hurricane, Morales started visiting housing projects with other actors to spread a message of hope and resilience to young people.

“People were desperate. They were bored. They were depressed,” he said. “We decided to go into these communities. We didn’t have aid kits, food or water to give — but we had our theater experience. With schools closed and the power out, teens turned out in droves.”

When Bolte learned what Morales was doing, he suggested Rotary could help. A $99,700 global grant has allowed Morales to expand the project to four theater groups so far and to pay a stipend to the facilitators of each group.

One more example of Rotarians finding creative ways to help their communities.