Williamsburg nonprofit has spent more than 50 years fighting displacement

For more than five decades, a Latino-led nonprofit in Williamsburg has worked to preserve affordable housing and provide essential services to a community shaped by disinvestment, displacement, and decades of change.

Southside United Housing Development Fund, known as Los Sures, was founded in 1972 as tenants organized to save buildings abandoned by landlords. The organization now manages dozens of properties and provides social services throughout North Brooklyn.

At a subsidized senior housing building in Williamsburg, 86-year-old Jesus Castillo tends a garden he plants every spring.

"I've been here for 60 years and this was an opportunity to do greenery and green space. And this is on top of other volunteering I do," Castillo said in an interview translated from Spanish.

Castillo's garden is one example of the community investment Los Sures says has helped residents maintain a foothold in the neighborhood.

When the organization began half a century ago, Williamsburg faced widespread housing deterioration, including abandoned and burned-out buildings. Los Sures Executive Director Juan Ramos said some landlords deliberately neglected or destroyed properties in an effort to force tenants out.

"There was a lot of rundown buildings, burned-out buildings because we had a lot of bad actor landlords here who really wanted to get people out of their homes," Ramos said.

Esteban Duran, Los Sures' director of technical assistance, has lived in the neighborhood his entire life.

"At the same time, it was a beautiful neighborhood with a lot of great people," Duran said.

Duran compared the destruction in Williamsburg and Bushwick to the wave of arson that devastated parts of the South Bronx during the 1970s. He said some landlords set fires to collect insurance money rather than invest in their properties.

"Here in Williamsburg and in Bushwick, there was a lot of that arson that was to get insurance money because of the slumlords that didn't want to invest in it," he said. "Thanks to organizers that saw what was happening in The Bronx and saw what was happening here, they said no, like, let's not do that, because if we burn down the buildings, where are we going to live?" 

In the mid-1970s, Los Sures began managing housing, including four city-owned buildings. Its work has since expanded to 44 properties, with additional land slated for development of affordable housing.

The organization also provides social services, including a senior center, a food pantry that serves more than 1,000 families a week and a neighborhood safety coalition.

"We have a lot of people who rely on SNAP benefits," said Robin Sirota Bassin, the organization's director of social services.

The food pantry distributes a range of staples and fresh produce, said Chase Louden, Los Sures' food access program director.

"We try to give out a mixture of grains, proteins, fruits, veggies, both shelf stable and fresh," Louden said.

Ramos said the organization's history reflects the Latino community's efforts to remain in a neighborhood that has undergone significant change.

"It's a great story of empowerment because it shows that through the decades, the Latino community in particular has stood up and said, no, we're not going to be displaced," Ramos said. "Some of us had to leave. But the ones that remained remain here because of the heavy investment by people, themselves, fighting back."

More than 50 years after its founding, Los Sures continues to focus on affordable housing and community services as Williamsburg evolves.

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