As we close out Latinx/e Heritage Month, SV@Home is still feeling deeply celebratory. We’d like to highlight our partners in the Mayfair community for Latinx/e Heritage Month: The School of Arts of Culture (SOAC), SOMOS Mayfair (SOMOS), and the Si Se Puede Collective (SSPC) in embarking in their community-based development journey.
As we close out Latinx/e Heritage Month, SV@Home is still feeling deeply celebratory. It’s not only due to the fact that about half of our staff are Latinx/e, but because our community partners are doing cutting-edge work in the affordable housing field! And despite the disturbing state of our nation, the damaging results of the local Latino Health Report, and the recent burning of the Mexican American Community Services Agency, community members and their leaders in East Side San Jose are making huge strides in bringing community-based development back to the area. The Lainx/e community’s resiliency is almost unparalleled, which makes the lyrics from Thievery Corporation’s “Exilio” (Babylon Rewound album version) come to mind:
Nuestra persistencia y nuestra alegría, identifica nuestra raza Latina.
That said, we’d like to highlight our partners in the Mayfair community for Latinx/e Heritage Month: The School of Arts of Culture (SOAC), SOMOS Mayfair (SOMOS), and the Si Se Puede Collective (SSPC).
SOAC was recently selected by the Housing Trust Silicon Valley’s new Capital for Capacity Grant Program as one of five grantees in a cohort of community-based organizations working to grow their capacity as affordable housing developers and advance equitable, community-led development across the Bay Area. SOAC plans to purchase a mostly vacant property across from the Mexican Heritage Plaza to launch the development of the new La Avenida area, San Jose’s first designated cultural district. La Avenida will bring a six-acre mixed-use development filled with affordable housing, social services, and small business space to address the ever-increasing pressures of displacement the Mayfair community has been experiencing over the last several decades. SOAC has been a longstanding leader in East San Jose, serving as a cultural anchor and trusted convener for over two decades. Their ability to plan long-term in the midst of the terror the Latinx/e community is facing from the Federal government demonstrates the will and fortitude they have, including the power of fulfilling visions of upward mobility, advancement, and joy as a people. This year, SOAC is celebrating Mexican Heritage Plaza’s 25-year anniversary, while preparing for its popular annual Avenida de Altares for Dia de los Muertos early next month.
Together, SOAC, SOMOS, and the SSPC (the Collective) have been in community with Mayfair residents and organizational partners (including SV@Home), influencing the Alum Rock School District (the District) to renovate and lease the large and long-vacant MACSA site located on the District’s property. The Collective is imploring the District to return it to the people and operate MACSA as a multi-use community asset, offering education, sports, and community services. They’re committed to actively engaging with both the District and the Mayfair community to revitalize MACSA by keeping in mind the next generation of youth and families who will benefit from it. However, plans for MACSA hit a setback: most of it burned down early last month. The Collective, however, is staying focused on their vision to transform the site into a community asset. The District unanimously declared an emergency at MACSA soon after the fire and authorized a site assessment, demolition, and remediation.
The Collective would like to see remaining parts of MACSA preserved and showcased when redeveloped to keep its former glory and legacy alive, but nonetheless, their endgame is to bring community-based development back to the east side. And again, here’s another example of the Latinx/e’s persistence. Shortly after MACSA had burned-down, the community came together immediately for a vigil. Although devastating and sad, getting through the night was easier because of the people. They brought food, drinks, hugs, and joyful memories of what MACSA had brought to Mayfair. Yet again another clear example of how “nuestra persistencia y nuestra alegría, identifica nuestra raza Latina”.
The three Mayfair organizations have also formed a joint venture through the Mayfair Neighborhood Trust to lead a community-driven process that prevents displacement and ensures development in East San José reflects community priorities. As members of SV@Home’s Community Roots Collaborative (CRC), they have been critical in building the community of shared learning among their cohort members, encouraging us all to take bold actions. The CRC is a group of community-based nonprofits in Santa Clara County dedicated to making community-based development a reality in our region. CRC members have been gathering the tools, building relationships with experts, and touring community-based developments in the Bay Area to make the bold move of becoming community-based developers themselves.
The CRC allows for collective reimagining and a community of learning to take matters into their own hands: meeting their community’s housing needs, making systemic changes, and bringing housing justice to Silicon Valley. The CRC also includes other prominent Latinx community-based developers such as the South Bay Community Land Trust (SBCLT) and the Mountain View Community Land Trust that are critical since they are critical partners to advancing community-based development and to note as part of Latinx Heritage Month.