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Health Workshopis a community-based feminist organization dedicated to improving women's access to healthcare, reducing violence in community settings, and fostering economic development through education and activism. Founded in 1979, Taller Salud is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization. 

 

Health is…
We believe that health is a non-negotiable human right. We define health as a state of balance that each person establishes between himself/herself and their environment. In this sense, we recognize the importance of comprehensive health that considers the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects, but we also advocate for environmental health, the guarantee of a life free of violence, and the development of prosperous communities that offer opportunities for everyone. .

We know that when women prosper, their communities are strengthened. That is why we are convinced that the health of a people begins with the health of its women.

 

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VISION

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An inclusive society with organized communities free of oppression that exercise their right to comprehensive health and a dignified life, and promote their collective and sustainable development.
 

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MISSION

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Elevate the leadership of women in order to co-create well-being, comprehensive health, and opportunities for individual and collective development.

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VALUES

 

At Taller Salud we live these values in the design of our work and in our daily activities, under the firm conviction that they are essential for the social development of Puerto Rico and to reaffirm a new notion of what well-being is.

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Feminism.We are a feminist organization and we use gender-sensitive approaches in all our work. We work for equity to collectively achieve a more just, supportive and free  society.

Health as a human right.We firmly believe that all people have the right to enjoy comprehensive health and a life free from violence. We defend people-centred and community-focused approaches to public health aimed at a dignified life.

Integral Health.From a culturally appropriate and trauma-informed community practice, we recognize integral health as a state of balance between physical, emotional, mental, spiritual and social factors that allows the full development of people. We focus on the social determinants of health in all our work to eradicate inequalities in health.

Celebration of equity and diversity.We understand that all people must have equal opportunities and guarantees of their human rights. We center and honor Black communities and all gender-diverse identities. We embrace and defend diversity.

Culture of justice and peace.From an anti-racist political practice, we affirm restorative justice, racial equity, and community reconciliation as essential elements of the emancipation of our people.

Autonomy.We recognize as essential and democratic the right of each person to make informed decisions about their body, their life and their well-being.

Stake.We believe in the right of all people to participate in the processes that concern and affect them. We believe in the organized participation of communities to achieve collective power and changes in public policy.

secularism.We are an organization not affiliated with religious entities. We defend the secular state and the separation of Church and State.

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History

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Health WorkshopIt was founded in 1979 as an initiative of two feminists, Carmen Guzmán and Eugenia Acuña, who came to the Island after working in New York against the mass sterilization of poor Latin American women, mostly Puerto Rican. Her mission was to organize to guarantee access to abortion and contraceptives, as an alternative to the massive sterilization of low-income women that was already beginning to take off in Puerto Rico. From this vision was born the first feminist organization in Puerto Rico focused on women's health. During the years 1980 and 1981, Taller Salud received the sponsorship of the companions of the Boston Women's Health Book Collective, who were mentors and sponsors of the first campaigns. 

 

 

Health as empowerment

 

It was through a visit to the Island in 1980 by colleagues from the Federation of Women's Health Clinics in San Francisco, California, that the Taller Salud team began to train women on the Island to perform breast self-exams. and vaginal self-examination as an empowerment strategy.

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"From the beginning we integrated health as an instrument of feminist struggle, from where we worked so that women were considered as subjects and not as objects of an insufficient health system," says one of the initial members of the Health Workshop Collective, Nirvana González. Pink.

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Until 1989, Taller Salud was a collective that developed education and mobilization projects with exclusively voluntary work. That year, while she was participating in the drafting of Law 54 on domestic violence, Margaret Wochinger Figueroa, a member of Taller Salud, was diagnosed with breast cancer. His death at the end of 1991 precipitated a process of internal reflection. Did it make sense to advocate for the health of others while neglecting your own? This led to a transformation of the Collective into an organization capable of receiving funds.

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In 1992, thanks to a sponsorship from the Puerto Rico Community Foundation, Taller Salud began a breast cancer prevention project in honor of Margie. Also in 1989, the harshness with which Hurricane Hugo hit the northeastern coast of Puerto Rico led them to start work in Piñones, Loíza, a decision that finally reoriented the direction of the organization, which until then had been in Río Piedras (San John) his house.

Nearly forty years later, our capacity for reinvention remains vibrant as we watch our participants become resources to themselves, their families, and their communities.