Elsa Perez & Maria Isa Perez-Vega

For Elsa Perez and Maria Isa Perez-Vega, family includes the community. They impact how they work, show up and give.

Through their fund El Fondo Boricua, which means the Puerto Rico Fund, they have supported Puerto Rican and other Latinx communities from the West Side of Saint Paul to their family birthplace, Puerto Rico.

When Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico in 2017, the mother-daughter duo knew exactly how they wanted to jump into action. With administrative support from the Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation, they established the Hurricane Maria Relief Fund, providing everything from medical equipment to food generators.

"The power of possible is the power of people," said Minnesota State Representative Maria Isa. “There’s a lot of folks in our state of Minnesota that have never had an opportunity to get the resources to feel their empowerment. And so, the power of possible is by grouping, organizing, collectivity and contributions to take action and deliver to the finish line. And that’s the beauty of to make things happen.”