Illinois isn’t alone in its efforts addressing women’s incarceration. The #Cut50 initiative, with the goal of cutting mass incarceration by 50% within 10 years, is driving theDignity for Incarcerated Women ’s Environment Council in Brussels in March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought life around the world to a relative standstill. Do you think the pandemic has helped reveal anything about the climate crisis?GT: Following a conversation during which Farias says she and Crowley discussed the dearth of women in office, Farias realized she embodied the issues of the district. “My family story is actually what will resonate with my community,” she said. “They need someone that actually looks like them and sounds like them and understands their issues and understands how to bring the change and focus on those issues. So then that's when I decided to run,” Farias says. Another hard-hit coastal area was Fajardo, where Merelys Torres is from. Merelys told me that she and her family survived Maria by climbing to the second floor of her mother’s house and holding on as the hurricane lashed outside the window, leveling their neighborhood. This wasn’t the first time she had noticed the environment altering her home, however. Local fishermen reported they had slowly seen the fish that supplied their livelihood and sustenance become scarcer, while each year hurricanes got stronger and more unpredictable. Merelys says she can no longer ignore the threats of climate change and believes only bold action will preserve her community’s way of life.There arethousands morePuerto Ricanswho have storiesjust like these