Director of Community Empowerment Programs at IBA - Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción - Boston, MA, US
"We shall not move from Parcel 19"IBA is a non-profit organization and a dynamic community-building agency that started in the South End neighborhood of Boston, to address displacement of low-income families due to urban development. IBA offers affordable housing and supportive programming to improve the knowledge, life skills and health of participants of all ages.One of the most important goals of IBA is urban planning. For more than four decades, IBA has facilitated housing that is associated and financed by different supportive programs, while developing leaders who support and encourage themselves, their families and their neighbors.How we started?In 1968, the inhabitants of the Parcel 19 in the South End organized, and with the support of hundreds of protesters, they fought to stop the displacement they were facing. They finally won this battle, which not only allowed their people to keep their homes but also gave them the right to control and develop their community.IBA then developed Villa Victoria, a 435 unit affordable housing community in the city's South End neighborhood, and it immediately became an example in the areas of civil rights, social organization, affordable housing and arts programs. It is a daily reminder of what it can be achieved with effort, determination and social awareness; the legacy of those brave Puerto Rican activists have been recognized for over four decades and continue to be referenced.