In November 1981, residents of Roxbury's Dudley Street neighborhood incorporated Nuestra Comunidad Development Corporation as an independent nonprofit organization with the assistance of La Alianza Hispana, Inc., and the Hispanic Office of Planning and Evaluation, Inc. (HOPE). Nuestra Comunidad grew out of a decade of efforts by community residents and social service agencies to address the problems caused by the decline of public and private investment in the community, including widespread arson, land vacancy, and a lack of quality affordable housing.
Over the following years, Nuestra Comunidad led the development of numerous residential and commercial properties, concentrating in and around the Dudley Street and northern Blue Hill Avenue areas of Roxbury and North Dorchester. Beginning in the 1990's, Nuestra's area of focus expanded with the restoration and revitalization of several historic buildings in and around Dudley Square, Roxbury's commercial and transit center. In 2000, the Nuestra NeighborWorks Homeownership Center, a housing services center offering free counseling, technical assistance, and courses to local homeowners and aspiring homebuyers, opened its doors at 54 Warren Street.
In 2004, Nuestra Comunidad merged with Boston Aging Concerns - Young and Old United (BAC-YOU). Established in 1975, BAC-YOU worked to expand affordable housing opportunities, create intergenerational communities and develop innovative models of housing by building on the strengths of elders, kinship families and people with disabilities. Nuestra's merger with BAC-YOU added 217 rental apartments to our organization's portfolio and expanded our service area citywide, with properties from Charlestown in the north to Mattapan in the south.
In 2008, Evelyn Friedman, Nuestra's Executive Director since 1991, was named Director of the Department of Neighborhood Development (DND) and Chief of Housing for the City of Boston. After an extensive search process led by the Board of Directors, David Price, formerly director of real estate and general counsel for Madison Park Development Corporation, joined Nuestra Comunidad in August 2008 as the organization's new Executive Director.
Today, Nuestra Comunidad is one of Boston’s most successful community development corporations. Over the last 30 years, our Real Estate Development department has created or preserved over 700 affordable rental units and 132 homes for ownership, as well as three historic commercial properties in the Dudley Square neighborhood. Classes and counselors at our Nuestra NeighborWorks Homeownership Center have trained over 1,700 people in homeownership and helped 500 of them to purchase their first homes. Our Housing Resource Services program has provided housing counseling, search, and placement to hundreds of seniors at risk of becoming homeless. Finally, our Community Organizing & Resident Services department has built strong community networks while training residents to lead and sustain tenant associations, neighborhood associations, and annual community improvement efforts.
Since 1981, Nuestra Comunidad has grown from a few employees to over 20 full-time staff members. Our staff and 13-member Board of Directors embody the diversity of the communities we serve.
For more information on Nuestra Comunidad, we invite you to browse our website or contact us directly. Thank you for visiting!
