Ivette de la Cruz

Gabriela: We are here at the MHA [Mutual Housing Association] office. It is February 23rd, 2023. I have the pleasure to be with Ivette de la Cruz. We are going to have this conversation. Thank you, Ivette, for your time.

Ivette: Thank you, Gabriela, for having me.

Gabriela: We are going to start with some personal questions. Tell us a bit where were you born and where is your family from?

Ivette: I was born and raised here in the Lower East Side. My family is, my origin is my father's Dominican born and raised in the Dominican Republic. My mother is born and raised here in New York, but she's also Puerto Rican [laughs].

Gabriela: What language do you speak at home?

Ivette: Primarily English, but I also speak Spanish.

Gabriela: Okay. Tell me about your childhood here in the neighborhood.

Ivette: As a child, I grew up here, born and raised, same very block with my mother and my father. They both met here on this very block and had me [laughs]. So I've been living here for over forty years. My mother later on became a single parent–

Gabriela: –Did you live in the same building, all your family?

Ivette: –Oh, no, sorry. I lived in multiple buildings. My grandmother lived in one building. My other grandmother from my mother's side lived in another building, and my aunts [laughs] lived in multiple buildings here in the community. My mother couldn't afford having her own place. So at one point she lived with her mother around that, and she also lived with my paternal grandmother.

We moved from household to household, but we primarily lived in the same community, same block.

Gabriela: Oh, wow. So a lot of moving. What do you like about this neighborhood? Living here, what are the most precious things for you? Or, how do you relate to the neighborhood?

Ivette: How I relate to the neighborhood is [with the] diversity, the multiple cultures that live within this community. What has attracted me is that the very community that–how do you say it–created this very existent and establishment that we're currently living in.

Gabriela: Yeah. A place where different waves of immigration–

Ivette: –Yes.

Gabriela: –A very interesting mix.

Ivette: That has not allowed the gentrification to –how do you say it–destroy our community. If anything, we modernized with it and we are growing with it.

Gabriela: Do you have family members living nearby?

Ivette: Yes, I do. My mom, my son, my late grandmothers used to live here as well. My aunts and my uncles.

Gabriela: How and when did you find out about Cooper Square MHA? How did you become part of the Cooper Square community?

Ivette: I was pretty much groomed–just kidding. My family was involved with the creation of MHA and my mother served on multiple boards. So that's why I say I'm groomed. [laughs] I kind of was made for this, right? [laughs]

Gabriela: Considering all this rich history of Cooper Square, what were your first feelings or impressions when you started getting closer to Cooper Square or working somehow?

Ivette: My impression was that we needed to modernize to keep up with our growing community. My mother served on multiple boards and it was just feeling like we were getting a little stagnant. With that being said, my mom wanted me to kind of pretty much join the board and try to help out, modernize, also help with like the elderly care and stuff like that. My mom was a very big advocate for the seniors here. She wanted me to be able to assist with that. And she knew I had a good sense of how to help the community. She pretty much was the one to push me to this direction.

Gabriela: When you were all this time looking at your mom, you know, what was going on? When was that moment, and in what capacity, that you became part of the leadership of Cooper Square? How was that? Your mom was doing all this work and suddenly she was pushing you, when was [it] that you said, “Okay, I'm going to be part of the leadership?”

Ivette: About almost four years ago. Actually, about three years ago, where she finally got what she wanted [laughs]. Because she's been pushing me for many years, where she was like, “You know what? You really do need to join.” So I gave up and joined the community. [laughs]

Gabriela: In what capacity?

Ivette: In what capacity? I am currently MHA board president. I've served three terms so far, and I served one term as vice president.

Gabriela: Okay. How would you describe this role of being a president?

Ivette: It's fulfilling. It's fulfilling in the sense of, I feel like I'm able to help more with–how do you say it–advocating for the shareholders in the community. As well as initiating stuff, right? Because the shareholders need to be heard, right? So in that sense, I have a vast sense of knowing what is needed for the shareholders. So with that being said, it helps me advocate for them. That is the good part about it being leadership, but it's not always cracked up to being what it is. Because there's an expectation that, people think that because you're president you have a say in stuff. It doesn't work like that. You gotta sit down and listen to everything and then figure it out. [laughs]

Gabriela: Yeah, that's complex. Doing everything, practically.

Ivette: Yes.

Gabriela: Thinking about, you being born here, being grown in the neighborhood, being with your mother and other family members, being really rooted in the community–and your mom, being part of the Cooper Square organization. Could you share a community, personal organizing moment, or anecdote that made you feel proud of being part of Cooper Square and this community?

Ivette: As a little girl, I had a number of moments where my grandmother, aunts, and mother, I watched them as they protested in city hall and started movements, which later on created MHA. It's been an honor in the sense of keeping it going for our legacies, right?

My son's here, so I feel like whatever participation I have here in the community is for me, it's more because of my family and everyone that's here, right? I feel like the reason I feel more inclined to be more of an advocate for people is because my mom's here, because my son is here, and because the future of this community relies on them as well. So I do not want to be the person that–how do you say it–doesn't advocate and then we no longer have the community. I feel like this is a part of being a mother and also being a family member because being born and raised here, I have an aunt, I was married here. I have–how do you say–one aunt that married an uncle from, actually married her husband across the street, so now they became family and married.

There's multiple people that are married and it feels like this is family to me. It means a lot. And in order to keep that legacy going, even for my grandmothers that fought for it, I have to continue to keep fighting and advocate for them.

Gabriela: Yes, that is super important. In all this, I think that your mother has been a model for you.

Ivette: Yes.

Gabriela: Do you–

Ivette: –She hasn't been a model. She's been that stick to hit me over the head. [laughs]. “You have to do this, you have to do this!” [laughs] Because you cannot keep me–I cannot be the disappointment if anything. I'm just kidding. [laughs]

Gabriela: Living in this super active community that has fought so much for staying here and to preserve what you have, this amazing housing cooperative. Who do you remember that was at the center of this? Was it a collective effort or do you have in mind certain organizers or certain personalities? What do you remember?

Ivette: I remember as a little girl that it was Cooper Square Committee, which is our founder as well. They were the ones that organized all this. I remember as a little girl making posters and flyers for us, saying that we are not going anywhere, we're staying. Putting glitter and highlighting [laughs], painting these posters with [shows emotion]–how do you say it– other members in the community that I grew up with–

Gabriela: –What an experience.

Ivette: –I'm so sorry. I just got a little emotional because one of those people just passed away last week. Not last week, two weeks ago. So it is like, whoa, that just hit me. I did not even think about that until just now. Sorry. [laughs]

Gabriela: No, no. That's fine.

Ivette: I grew up with someone that just passed away two weeks ago. It’s like, whew. It reminds me of when we were little kids traviesos [Spanish]. Just being a little–how do you say–running around buildings and stuff [laughs].

Gabriela: The meaning of those community members, when you grow up with these experiences.

Ivette: Yes. And his family was also pretty big on advocating for the community as well.

Gabriela: I'm sorry.

Ivette: No, thank you.

Gabriela: In your view, what are the most important accomplishments of Cooper Square MHA? And how those accomplishments have benefited the lives of all of those connected with Cooper Square, including you?

Ivette: Becoming a cooperative with multiple buildings and maintaining affordability during these hard times. We have strived through them, even during the pandemic, as well as helping with elder care too. We have a lot of seniors in our community where we are constantly trying to help.

Gabriela: I imagine that those times sure have been really, really tough. And with all the [crosstalk]–

Ivette: –Yes, but it's also been accomplishments, right? Because we have been able to keep up with it, it's not something where you [are] always able to keep up with, but we managed [laughs] in other words. Right? We could have probably done better in certain areas, but at the end of the day, who expected certain things to happen? You're not always prepared for everything.

Gabriela: Yes. How has your life changed, as a person or as a community member since you start being more engaged with Cooper Square in your role right now as a leader? How else in the very beginning when you start being aware [that], “We live in this community, it is not like any other community? There is something special.” How has this experience of living here changed your life?

Ivette: I can't necessarily say it's changed my life, but it has made my life better. Because I was born and raised here, so it's not– it just made me evolve, if anything. I feel like it has made me more considerate, more compassionate towards others, along with learning how to work well with others. It has made me more of a humanitarian and helping seniors and also helping my fellow neighbors.

Sometimes we don't necessarily think of it on a day-to-day basis–help. Because a lot of the time I find myself in these meetings and in certain things, and I don't see it as helping anybody. Until you take a step back and then someone asks you the question, like you are [laughs]. That's when it makes you think, “Yeah, I helped them. I, oh wow, yeah!” [laughs] “I help them by doing this, or I help them by doing that.” So sometimes that's the plus sign, that's when it becomes a realization that what you're doing is benefiting others as well as yourself. Because it's also always good and positive energy to feel like you've accomplished something and helped out someone. You feel the gratification in that.

Gabriela: That is super beautiful and, and it speaks volumes about what is to be living here. Because I have other people that have contributed with their stories. They're coming from other places. They can see those differences. But you’ve alway been here–

Ivette: –Yes. I've always–yes. That's why I feel like it's not something where it's changed me. It's made me evolve. That I grew with it.

Gabriela: Yes, you grew with all this.

Ivette: Yes. And I'm grateful and thankful for it, right? Because at the end of the day, if it wasn't for Cooper Square Committee, if it wasn't for my grandmother, if it wasn't for my mother, if it wasn't for the elders. Even the younger kids that made the posters and everything.

Gabriela: That was beautiful.

Ivette: Thank you.

Gabriela: Looking at all this evolution of all these years, living here in the community. What are the principles and values that have nurtured Cooper Square over the last three years of its existence?

Ivette: Well, our fight for maintaining affordability and maintaining our generational community. I'm a fifth generation here. Living here. That's the most beautiful, in the last 30 years. I don't think that there's anything other than that. The beauty of having your family. I feel like growing, having children– the saying goes, it takes a village to raise them. It took a village to raise my kids. My grandmother was here, my mother was here, everyone is here. So that by itself has been so nurturing. As a parent and as a child. Me being a child, me being a parent. And also for my children. So in the last 30 years, maintaining that within the community has been so beautiful.

Gabriela: What about the cooperative? Having like this mutual housing association. What do you think, with the leadership that you have experienced? Or all this time, these four years, that says, “This has been key for us to continue and to transfer also that to the new generations?” What do you think has been key?

Ivette: For me, I wouldn't say new generations. I would say legacies, right? Because it's about the legacies. It's our children. I'm a legacy. My son is a legacy. We came and was born here and raised here. I feel like that's a beautiful thing in the sense of it nurtured and valued in the last 30 years our fight to maintain the affordability. Because with the gentrification here, we would've been out of the Lower East Side.

We wouldn't even be able to maintain our families here. We would all be–how do you say–situated in different areas. So that, to me, has been big. Our very foundation, right? Because we are the first cooperative to have, how many buildings? Twenty? Can't even say. Twenty-three buildings? Then just being a landmark. Because of our fight, because of everything that's been done. It's something where we are teaching others to do in their communities as well.

Gabriela: That is beautiful. Talking a little bit about the present and the future, Ivette. What do you do for a living?

Ivette: I currently work with the Department of Social Services, which oversees Human Resources Administration and the Department of Homeless Services as well.

Gabriela: How interesting and related to the work you do at Cooper Square MHA. Being fully aware of how hard it is to afford a living space in New York City, and having the opportunity to be a shareholder of a building that will be affordable in perpetuity. I imagine this brings plenty of security and allows you to enjoy the neighborhood, your neighbors, your family in different ways. The security eliminates a lot of the stress that most tenants face in New York City. So, Ivette, I would like to ask you, by living here, what have you been able to do that you might not have otherwise done?

Ivette: Well, by living here, I was able to have multiple children. I have three children. And that would not been easy to be with the cost of rising in the neighborhood, the cost of living being so expensive. I've been able to maintain residency here. And also to be around my grandmothers, which I was able to assist with their palliative and hospice care at home. So it gave me the affordability of being here and being able to not have to worry about being out of work for some time. It allowed me to be able to be with my family and not have to worry about making a bigger income to afford to even live [laughs] or breathe at this point. [laugh]

I'm thankful. And my children too. They're young and they get these jobs and it's hard for them to even afford rent in some of these places. So that being said, it's been good. And allowed me to be around my family. And not have to be situated in multiple different places.

Gabriela: Yes. Stressed and anxious about what is going to happen next.

Ivette: Yes. Even for my dad, when my dad was passing away. I remember I stood out of work for like two or three months, constantly running back and forth to the hospital. I had a baby, she was only a year old.

It was just really stressful and I would have not been able to take** **what they call the family leave and be out of work for some time without pay. Because that's without pay, you know? It's hard to even afford certain things.

Gabriela: It's incredible because you have been able to care for and for your family. Yes. Just because you have the opportunity to live in this community. That is beautiful. Thinking a little bit about the future of Cooper Square. How do you envision the following years or decades? I know that Cooper Square is here to stay–

Ivette: –Yes, we are! We are definitely here to stay [laughs].

Gabriela: –How do you envision the future of this community? What do you think will strengthen or improve Cooper Square MHA and this community?

Ivette: I feel like we need to modernize a little bit more. In the sense of, we are a cooperative that was established almost thirty years ago, twenty-something years ago. I feel like it's forever evolving, where we have to modernize. We need to be able to respond to shareholders a little bit better and their needs. Because some of them have become seniors through the years. We need to assist them a little bit more and care for the people that paved the way for us. Because at the end of the day, now we need to step into their shoes and create more leadership too. We also need to educate the shareholders a little bit more on their responsibilities. Because being a shareholder, there is a responsibility attached to that. Sometimes the shareholders seem to think that the responsibility falls on the board alone.

That's why I feel like we need to educate them more. But they do have a responsibility to either come to their meetings or to be updated on certain things. Not just to rely on the board doing their work. Because we can't advocate for you if you're not helping us as well [laughs]. At the end of the day, the shareholders have a responsibility to maintain. And the only way they can do it–and it's been a fight through the years–like we are an establishment that's fought. And we've fought to become a cooperative, where we need to fight to be a shareholder, we need to fight to keep our community and to fight for our legacies as well. I think that by educating them, they would know their responsibilities. We also need to–which we are working on it. We just recently became a little bit more involved with the elder [sic]. We have always cared for the elder [sic]. The problem is grants.

We needed to wait for certain grants, certain things to happen. And now we've pretty much been able to assist more with their care. But I feel like that's something that we need to work more on. Which we are. I don't wanna take away from it and say that we're not doing it, but we are. We are just starting to do more now. Because we have more of the capability to do it. One thing that I do feel that we really, really need to work on is our outreach to our youth. I was one of the youths in the streets. I was one of the ones that didn't have a place to go or wanted to do certain activities. We need to kind of work more for our youth. So far, we did it for the elder [sic] and we're doing it now. Now we need to work more on the youth and just create more activities, more events.

Unfortunately, we're–how do you say it–low income. So it's a little crazy because the expectations of shareholders sometimes are a little high, where they're like, “Oh, you know what? We need to do this, we need to do that.” But we need the funds. And they don't often see that we are working on these grants, we are working on certain things in order to be able to provide these services. That’s where we need to educate the shareholders to also know that this is what happens, and this is why we can't do these things. But if we come together as a community, do some organizational fundraisers and certain things, we might be able to do more. That is where we need to educate them and also create all these committees and certain things that can help with that stuff.

Gabriela: Learning about what you do. Well, they are going to be someday in your position.

Ivette: Exactly. I have to groom them the way I was groomed [laughs].

Gabriela: You need to build leadership–

Ivette: Yes. I have to groom them the way they groomed me [laughs].

Gabriela: Well this has been an amazing conversation, Ivette. Thank you so much.

Ivette: It's been a pleasure. Thank you so much. But thank you for including me.

Gabriela: Thank you.