Operation Compassion, an initiative run by Initiativa Comunitaria, makes its weekly nightly rounds of the streets filled with the increasing number of Puerto Rican drug-addicted homeless, providing clean syringes, food, and coffee to minimize the spreading of HIV, Hep C, and other viruses commonly spread through re-used needles.

Puerto Rico is considered a gateway location to smuggle drugs into the country, due to its proximity in the Caribbean. The damage incurred by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, caused the number of homeless to increase where drug addiction is most likely.