Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción

Founded in 1967, Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) is a community development corporation whose goal is to make sure the residents of Villa Victoria in South End, Boston keep long term control over their housing and neighborhood. They offer many programs for community development and organization, such as art, culture, and human services for the neighborhood. They hope to empower the growing Latino community in Boston's South End, most notably the Villa Victoria section.[1]

Inquilinos Boricuas En Acción

Abbreviation	IBA
Formation	1967
Headquarters	405 Shawmut Ave. Boston, Massachusetts 02118
Key people	Bienvenido De Jesus, Gilberto Ayala
Website	IBA Website

History

IBA began in South End, Boston as a grassroots movement to fight the Boston Redevelopment Authority's urban renewal plan. In 1968, a year after forming the IBA, they had established their own housing plan given to the Boston Housing Authority and renamed themselves the "Emergency Tenants Council." A year later, they were given the rights to develop on the parcel of land that is now Villa Victoria, and changed their name to "Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción", or "Puerto Rican Tenants in Action".[1] This was considered a large accomplishment in terms of affordable housing, community organizing, and civil rights as they gave birth to a new community of not only Puerto Rican tenants, but Latinos of all cultures.[2]

Mission

The goal of IBA is to empower to the residents of the neighborhood through arts, education, workforce development, and affordable housing communities that are vibrant and brightly colored to liven up the neighborhood. IBA aims to preserve safe and culturally diverse housing communities so the members are able to reach their full social, economic, or political potential.[2] In order to achieve these goals, the group lives by a few different rules. They look for community involvement and direct representation, great leadership and planning, reinforcement of cultural pride, and effective organization around community needs. IBA uses these guidelines to go about their business.[3]

Villa Victoria

Thought to be one of the major accomplishments in Boston's urban housing developments, Villa Victoria, or Victory Village, is located in Boston's growing South End neighborhood.[2] It is a housing community that contains 435 low income housing units, as well as various commercial and community spaces such as restaurants, community centers, markets, and retail stores. The development was done by 1976[4] in four different phases; Victoria Apartments, Viviendas Apartments, South End Apartments, and Casas Borinquen Apartments. The properties in Villa Victoria have been renovated in the past ten years using funds from the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit program and the Section 8 Mark Up To Market program.[5]

Programs

Education

• Preschool
• After School & Summer Learning Program
• Youth Development Program

Economic Development

• College and Workforce Development Program
• Resident Services Program
• Sustainable Housing Communities

Technology & Arts

• Community Technology Center
• IBA Arts Program[6]

References

1. Bradley, Phil (1967–2004). "Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion". Records. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
2. De Jesus, Bienvenido. "Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion". Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
3. Hoskins, Victorio (June 1981). A Revolving Loan Fund for Minority Business Development: Inquilinos Boricuas en Accion (PDF) (Thesis). MIT. p. 2. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
4. Mario Luis Small (2005). "Boston's Villa Victoria shows that civic participation is hard to sustain in the best of circumstances". CommonWealth Magazine.
5. "ETC Development Corporation". ETC Development Corp. Archived from the original on 9 October 2014. Retrieved 16 October 2014.
6. De Jesus, Bienvenido. "Inquilinos Boricuas En Accion". IBA Programs. Retrieved 16 October 2014.

Further reading

• Mario Luis Small (2004). Villa Victoria: The Transformation of Social Capital in a Boston Barrio. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-76293-7.