Support People with Housing Advocacy Groups

• Original Idea Voted on by New Yorkers: A project to provide tenants' rights workshops and legal aid to empower Bronx residents to create their own housing advocacy groups.

• Implementing Organization: The Bronx Defenders

• Neighborhoods: Mott Haven, Melrose, Hunts Point, and Longwood

• Funding Amount: $200,000

The responses below are directly from the community organizations selected to implement The People’s Money projects.

How does your organization plan to bring this idea to life?

Focusing on the neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose, Hunts Point, and Longwood, our project aims to meet immediate housing needs of tenants while also building the collective power of residents of the South Bronx to fight for safe, stable, and affordable housing.  Our interdisciplinary team of attorneys and housing advocates will deliver a series of community-based “Know Your Rights” workshops throughout the year.  Each workshop will not only educate residents on eviction proceedings, rent stabilization laws, and housing repair laws, among other core topics, but will also serve as an entry point for participants to begin forming their own tenant-led groups.  A critical component of the project will be the creation and dissemination of multilingual Know Your Rights materials, which will be distributed at the workshops, neighborhood hubs, and our office.  In addition, we will operate a housing hotline and benefits intake system, through which we will provide legal advice to tenants and referrals for benefits assistance, as well as full representation to tenants where legal intervention can both protect families and catalyze broader tenant organizing.

What motivated your organization to apply to implement this idea?

The Bronx Defenders is deeply committed to advancing housing stability and community power in the South Bronx.  For over 25 years, our holistic model has paired legal defense with civil advocacy, community education, and organizing support. Our Civil Action Practice prevents evictions, defends tenants’ rights, secures government benefits for eligible individuals, and seeks to address the collateral civil consequences of criminal, family, and immigration systems involvement. We see daily that legal information is lacking, but is also not enough; durable change happens when residents build their own advocacy infrastructure. Our project, which aims to support resident-led housing advocacy groups, aligns with our mission and expertise.

How do you think this project will make a difference in your community?

By delivering tenants' rights workshops in English and Spanish, providing direct legal services, and working to support resident-led housing advocacy groups—all guided by the lived experiences of our clients and community members—we will help prevent evictions, obtain badly needed repairs, and cultivate community leaders and grassroots organizing capacity.

List at least one thing you're excited about related to this project!

Helping to encourage, empower, and support new tenant-led housing advocacy groups focused on preventing evictions and ensuring that landlords maintain their buildings.

How can someone participate or stay up to date on the project?

Tenants in the South Bronx and the public at large can learn more about our project by visiting our website (www.bronxdefenders.org) and our social media platforms on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter/X.

Website: https://www.bronxdefenders.org/
Instagram: @bronxdefenders
Facebook: @bronxdefenders
LinkedIn: @bronxdefenders
Twitter/X: @bronxdefenders