“This is an area of poor people, working people, but we work for low salaries,” Egleston resident Rita Alcaráz said. “The majority of us have two jobs to pay our rent. And so you come and build apartments for people who earn $60,000 or $70,000 a year. Only in our dreams can we afford that.”

SIGN THE PETITION TO SUPPORT THE MAVERICK ST. TENANTS!: http://maverick-clvu.nationbuilder.com

On August 1st, 2015, 10 families in East Boston were displaced when the back wall of their apartment building collapsed. Tell Mayor Walsh and ISD to respond to the 4 simple demands of these displaced families by signing the petition. It's been 4 weeks now since they've been living in hotels, and it's time for the city to take action.

This video is a window into the INCREDIBLE surge of community power in East Boston, the epicenter of Boston's storm of displacement. It's been 3 weeks since about 20 tenants on Maverick Street were evacuated from their collapsed apartment building. They're STILL in a hotel in Revere without kitchens, with little privacy, with emotional stress and longer commutes. To make things worse, school is starting soon, and getting there won't be easy unless they're relocated. Lawyers are working hard on their behalf. In the meantime, as rents increase and displacement continues, neighbors are taking to the streets for the RIGHT to REMAIN and the RIGHT to RETURN!

In this video, Dorchester residents testify to the Director of Fannie Mae, Timothy Mayopoulos, about Fannie Mae attempting to sell their homes on auction.com. City Life/Vida Urbana pledges to block any evictions of our members from these homes. Meanwhile, a non-profit group, the Coalition for Occupied Homes in Foreclosure (COHIF), has made several offers to Fannie Mae to buy the homes. COHIF hopes to turn the 5 homes into permanently affordable housing. Fannie Mae continues to reject the offers as evictions loom.

Landmark Agreement Brings Property Managers, Tenant Advocates Together on Affordable Housing

Longstanding tension leads to breakthrough on housing costs in Boston

BOSTON – Tenant advocates and property managers today announced a landmark agreement to increase the availability of affordable housing in the Greater Boston area. Formally signed in May, the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) [see attached] between City Realty Management,
City Life/Vida Urbana, and the Chinese Progressive Association was a long time in the making – following years of discord between the groups. 

“It’s not magic,” said Steve Meacham, housing activist with City Life/Vida Urbana. “It’s just the fact that once you decide to organize and fight back, you have a lot of leverage that you don’t have when you’re acting as an individual.”

We're only $12,000 away from the $200,000 goal of our Spring Drive! That's only 6% left to go. And we CAN do it! DONATE TODAY at http://www.clvu.org/spring2015. The deadline for reaching our goal is June 30th! We continue to exist, to grow, and to keep up the fight because of you!