By Giving

An Urgent Need

For the last five years, Puerto Rican children and youth have grown up amid natural and biological catastrophes, school closings, community displacements, increased migration, economic crisis, and a breakdown of social institutions.

Children and teens experiencing poverty, compounded with stress and PTSD. Those who face bullying, abuse, neglect, or any other life hardship face serious difficulty getting help due to severe cutbacks in health programs.

Their future is weighed down with uncertainty. They are more exposed to being made vulnerable and at a greater risk of developing a mental health condition.

Puerto Rican teens today,

have a 56% chance of being poor.

A 15% chance or more of having anxiety.

17% or more with depression.

9% reported having suicidal thoughts.

To compound the issue, there is a gap between the demand for and the availability of mental health and substance use services for children and adolescents, and the supply.

That Requires An Answer

Responding to their universal right to health, in the year 2000, Iniciativa Comunitaria de Investigación (ICI) launched Brega Bien, a community-based prevention and education program for youth who are exposed to high-risk social environments. Since then, Brega Bien has impacted close to 5,000 at-risk children and teens (ages 10-18), linking them with counseling, tutoring, recreational, educational, and enrichment programs in various municipalities across the island.

During 2026, Brega Bien is being enhanced and relaunched as a mental health clinic that integrates evidence-based practices to work from the promotion, prevention, and treatment of mental health conditions and problematic use of substances. It does so from a systemic, culturally competent approach and with a biopsychosocial-spiritual in the human being.

The Solution

The Brega Bien Mental Health Clinic is Iniciativa Comunitaria's contribution to being part of the solution. The premier clinic will promote, prevent, and treat mental health conditions and problematic substance use in children and youth aged 6 to 17 years old. There will be no cost to the participant.

The clinic's program is built on three main pillars:

Evidence-based treatments for mental health conditions and substance disorders.

Extracurricular Activities that integrate Art, Technology and Education.

Complimentary Therapies

Iniciativa Comunitaria's

APPROACH

ICl is a non-profit organization with over 30 years of service, creating pioneering programs to address public health issues in Puerto Rico. Each year, the organization serves more than 4,000 persons through mental and physical health services.