Maria De Jesus
Housing Justice Organizer
Ironbound Community Corporation
Recorded on February 14th, 2023, Renée Mazurek, Resilient Communities Manager for River Network and team member of the Urban Waters Learning Network, interviews Maria De Jesus, the Housing Justice Organizer for Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), and a member of the Urban Waters Learning Network Equitable Development and Anti-Displacement Collaborative.
Maria works directly with community members in Newark, NJ, facing rent increases and evictions. At ICC, Housing Justice is an integral part of the Environmental Justice programming in a community that faces cumulative impacts from both water and air pollution. Her main role is to connect tenants with programs and legal services, using her personal experiences to connect with each community member and give them strength to always fight for their rights. In this conversation, Renée talks with Maria about her work, including the ties she sees between environmental issues and housing issues and the role that housing justice organizers play in keeping communities in place.
Listen to the full interview or read the full transcript below.
Transcript
Note: The transcript has been edited for clarity. Links to resources from the conversation are also included.
00:00:01 Renée Mazurek
Hi and welcome to Urban Waters Speak from the Urban Waters Learning Network. We host conversations with water practitioners working to conserve, restore and revitalize America’s urban waterways. We’re glad you’re here.
So how are you?
00:00:17 Maria De Jesus
Good. How are you?
00:00:19 Renée Mazurek
I’m good
00:00:21 Renée Mazurek
That’s me and Maria De Jesus. I’m Renée Mazurek, Resilient Communities Manager for River Network and team member of the Urban Waters Learning Network. Maria is the Housing Justice Organizer for Ironbound Community Corporation, or ICC, and a member of the Urban Waters Learning Network Equitable Development and Anti-Displacement Collaborative. She works directly with community members in Newark, NJ, facing rent increases and evictions. At ICC, Housing Justice is an integral part of the Environmental Justice programming in a community that faces cumulative impacts from both water and air pollution. Her main role is to connect tenants with programs and legal services, using her personal experiences to connect with each community member and give them strength to always fight for their rights. I was able to talk with Maria on February 14th, 2023 about her work. Keep listening to hear our conversation.
Can you tell me more about, and in any order, the Ironbound community, your role as the Housing Justice Organizer at Ironbound Community Corporation, and how you came into this work?
00:01:39 Maria De Jesus
So Ironbound Community Corporation, I’ll start with that. Ironbound Community Corporation has been around for a little over 50 years. It’s a community that started with incinerators, so that was their main focus: EJ and family. They had table-to-table which was a case where families came to eat, it’s always been a big issue around the community.
Right now Ironbound Community Corporation helps with everything: direct services from family services to educational [services] for adults, citizenship, helping with applications. They have another school program, domestic violence and much more. We also have the environmental justice department, which I’m part of and that’s where my role comes in as a Housing Justice Organizer at Ironbound Community Corporation.
So my role pretty much is…a little complex. Beginning at the end of the month, we get a lot of calls, especially for evictions and harassment, or people just start getting harassed by landlords who already want them out, so they shut off utilities and such. That’s one thing I’m always there for the community to enforce and remind them that they do have a voice and let them know that they have to stand against their landlord, no matter their situation… let it be economical or even citizenship-wise. We have a lot of undocumented folks in our community, so many of them are scared to even fight against a landlord for fear of ICE or retaliation or anything else. They would rather just pay or move; and that makes their life a lot more complicated. So I always say to people, I could either be a landlord’s best friend, or I could be a landlord’s worst enemy. They choose. They comply, or we’re gonna make them comply. Or it’s gonna be: They give you hell, we’re gonna give hell back. You know? And there’s a lot of legal services that are there to help and many services throughout the city.
How I came about into his work? So I actually came to this job fairly random. I met my bosses outside of work from the EJ department. I started working with the team on and off…and then I started working with them with the census. I was there throughout the whole census starting in October of 2020. When it ended, I got hired for the EJ department as a Housing Justice Organizer. I started there. I helped with organizing certain things, like data and stuff like that. And then I got my feet wet little by little with housing stuff. With housing, you can read about it all you want, but you only know the process once you go through with somebody. And a lot of things that helped me were because of COVID things were online. So certain places were closed that people are used to going to. I used that time for learning Newark. I actually would go online and act like I’m a person who’s in need and that’s how I found many of the resources available for our community…And as well as asking advice from my bosses and everybody else above me, like, “hey, how do I go about this?” We’ve had a lot of success stories where we’ve had people either close to being evicted or even outside, already evicted, and actually being able to go back into their home. So that always makes people happy.
00:04:53 Renée Mazurek
Yeah, that’s awesome. Can you share the tie that you see between, for example, river restoration or waterfront development and housing issues?
00:05:04 Maria De Jesus
Oh, of course. We get in with that hands on in Newark. We had this park that became fought for to fix it because it was disgusting right by the river, by the Passaic River. It’s called The Riverfront. You can pretty much walk to it from Penn Station. And if you live in Terrell Homes, you could pretty much come out of the end of one side of the buildings and walk directly into the park. There’s direct access. So once that park finished getting developed, all of a sudden there was this big boom of buying buildings and wanting to renovate. And one of them was Terrell Homes, which is one of the biggest Housing Authority buildings in that area; and I guess one of the oldest. They went through [Hurricane] Sandy and everything.
At that point, the families were given options to either move or receive Section 8 or move to other housing. Many of them chose Section 8 because a lot of them didn’t want to go from housing to housing, knowing that the same problem might go on. Some may be able to move back in, they have better [information in] writing. There’s a lot of legal stuff going on…especially in the pandemic, of people being removed without us knowing about it…And people leaving because they didn’t want to deal with it. So it’s a lot of getting things in writing, because they love to say, “hey, yeah, we’re gonna let people back in.” But it’s like, OK, “Is that guaranteed? Are the developers aware of that? Are the owners of the new building aware of that?”
I don’t know if people are aware, but nationally, a lot of NHA [Newark Housing Authority] housing is actually being converted into multi-income. So you’re going to have folks who have regular income, you have people who have Section 8, you may have some kind of state or city, kind of like federal subsidies, that help them with paying their rent, so pretty much like that whole subsidy of the actual building. The difference between the two, is that: Once a building goes private or mixed income, that building no longer is part of NHA, which means that that building itself could one day…[become market rate]. Let’s say that person leaves with the Section 8, that apartment is no longer part of Section 8. So that actually deprives from a lot of affordable housing.
That causes big issues, and causes more people to move into more condensed areas, or have to resort to legal things or move into an area that they may not have gone to or moved from their home. So that’s a big issue that people are not seeing. We’re pretty much getting rid of it [affordable housing]. It may seem nice, because other people are able to live in it, but at the same time you’re removing that choice from people who don’t have the income or they don’t have the resources to actually get up and move if things are bad…or choose a place that is best for them to stay locally because local rent at market rate is ridiculous. We’re looking at $1800 for one bedroom, you know, $2500 for two bedrooms, three bedrooms close to $3000. So it’s no longer what people are used to or can afford based on their income.
00:08:08 Renée Mazurek
I want to just check in with you. I think you used an acronym that I’m not necessarily familiar with.
I want to make sure that I get it right.
00:08:18 Maria De Jesus
NHA? That’s Newark Housing Authority, sorry.
00:08:20 Renée Mazurek
Ah, got it. Newark Housing Authority…
00:08:22 Maria De Jesus
So that’s Newark Housing Authority or just HUD, which is Housing and Urban Development. So they’re the ones that work federally. So if anybody has any buildings like that, you are protected federally. There’s a lot of laws that they have to comply by, because they do receive federal grants, those landlords. And let’s say, even if you paid 30%, they’re still getting paid on market rent because your apartment is still at market rate. The only difference is that HUD, Section 8, whatever subsidized application or form you have, that program is actually paid for the other amount. The other 70% [is paid]…always at market rate. That’s another thing that’s going on. They [landlords] find out you have Section 8, and the apartment will be $1800. All of a sudden they want $2500 because we got Section 8.
00:09:02 Renée Mazurek
OK, got it. Right. Yeah, that makes sense. Well, I mean it, it doesn’t make sense but…
00:09:20 Maria De Jesus
Yeah, it’s not fair.
00:09:21 Renée Mazurek
Yeah, it’s not.
00:09:23 Maria De Jesus
How is it benefiting that person? That person decides to better themselves, you know, and they can no longer qualify for Section 8 or their percentage is higher.
00:09:33 Renée Mazurek
I want to shift a little bit to the ways that you do community engagement. And you could talk about the shift from like COVID to now, or however you want to talk about it, in terms of the systems that you use and maybe about some of the materials that you use and that kind of stuff.
00:09:54 Maria De Jesus
OK, so for engaging the community we have multiple factors. During COVID, it was a lot harder. We have a food table-to-table [program], like I was telling you, that’s actually distribution of food now. We gave away food during the pandemic…giving away the boxes and bags. We have a whole call list of community members. So we’re able to always call them, be in contact with them, and we know what’s going on… if someone’s having housing issues…having issues with [their] rental…Or being evicted or anything with code enforcement. We were able to hear what was going on but weren’t able to see a lot of it because we couldn’t go to those homes. As things progressed and opened up, it made it a lot easier. We’re able to see a lot of conditions. We’re able to see how a lot of people with disabilities were unable to have caretakers go into their buildings, which caused their apartments to be in really bad conditions. They themselves were in bad conditions where they didn’t have their medication or their homes weren’t hygienic enough. They didn’t have anybody to come in and take care of it because they themselves can’t take care of their own home or whatever health reasons they may have.
Another thing that we do is, we do a lot of engagement with them. If you get direct service from any of us, and you ask for anything having to do with housing, they refer you to us automatically. Anybody in housing, it will be either me or any of my team members, and then we’ll assist you in whatever you have. If you’re able to defend yourself, we’ll give you the guidance and let you know, “hey, this how you do this…This is how you follow up…” and stuff like that. But if you can’t, which a lot of our community members can’t, we actually assist them all the way through. We help them with either insight for legal services, code enforcement, rent control. Code enforcement’s a certain organization inside of Newark, which makes sure that landlords are keeping up to par, making sure utilities are not shut off illegally… [makes sure] you don’t have any leaking, any breakage, infestations of rodents or insects, stuff like that. And they also ensure that the landlord fixes it correctly. You can always call them back and double check. A lot of people think, “oh, yeah, they did it right…” and then they have the same leakage two weeks later, or a month later.
We also do a lot of panels. During that time [COVID shutdowns], we did a lot of virtual stuff. It was through Facebook, announced because the mayor has this Facebook channel and he’s able to announce different things. We also use our social media to organize and get communities together to learn and hear directly from lawyers and other organizations of resources available, their rights, their responsibilities, and how to avoid and defend themselves during eviction properly. They go through the process and how to go about it with the proper time and process. Sometimes people get scared, they don’t like to talk about it. And then at the very last minute, they just have to get help. It’s hard to get legal services to represent you during those times.
Later on, we ended up opening up during the pandemic. Around November of 2021, we realized that certain… Well, prior to that, we already noticed that there were a lot of people that needed rental assistance and evictions were going to skyrocket when the moratorium ended. So a policy was pushed for: self-certification. This is a new thing to prevent evictions; you self-certify that during that time you had either someone who had COVID or any COVID-related issues—the loss of job, less hours, taking care of someone who’s sick—that actually gave you access to sign up. If you were under 20% AMI, you’re covered up to August of 2021. But if you’re under 80% AMI, which is the area median income, you’ll be covered until December of 2021. That covered anybody from March of 2020 to that time period, based on your income. Technically you cannot be evicted, now or ever, for ever missing rent during that time.
We had to go on foot to make sure people understood what was going on. We knew that people are starting to work, people are starting to try to make things happen….get back to normality. They don’t have time to look at their phones. So the City of Newark started the Newark Community Street Team. We later joined them in November of 2021, and we started creating a street team. They canvassed little by little. We created door hangers and also flyers that are double-sided in English and Spanish so the community could know these services are available for free: code enforcement, rental assistance, general direct services, health department, anything that you may need. And the other side had legal services. So even if you didn’t know any of it, now you knew. It’s free.It was a little door hanger: “how can we help you? Do you have any questions about rental?” and stuff like that. You could stop and look at it and it’s a bright color, so people actually stop and read it.
Then we started training more of the canvassers to now be community leaders so they can understand and be there for their community, since we cannot be everywhere…We gather names, phone numbers…to find out [more information]…You may need some kind of help with mental health, and those mental health providers are there for free. It still is available. If you need help with rental assistance or any other direct services. They [the community leaders] are there to enforce and reestablish that trust and communication with the community and other organizations.
00:16:00 Renée Mazurek
So I’m curious about the teams. Are they compensated or is this all volunteer work?
00:16:04 Maria De Jesus
Yes, they actually got a grant made through the city and it was a lot of philanthropists who got together and created this in order to assist as they noticed that Newark was going to have the highest evictions and already had prior to COVID. They were trying to stop the mass evictions. They worked their best to pass policies and then that grant came along that assisted community members to know more about what was going on. Right before the new year, we did a panel in all five wards with lawyers and homeless services, other organizations, like Newark Community Solutions, who help with court navigation and also rental assistance. It was really great. We had a lot of different panelists throughout those five times, giving free information and people were actually able to connect with them directly. They didn’t have to wait and call. They get their name and number right there and then and get some assistance or have someone call them by tomorrow or within 48 hours, which is beautiful.
00:17:08 Renée Mazurek
Do you have anything else to add with how you keep track or provide resources?
00:17:15 Maria De Jesus
We have a database so we keep track of everybody through there. Anybody who knows us, they’ll just refer you. I get a lot of referrals from outsiders as well.
00:17:28 Renée Mazurek
So I know this work isn’t easy. What keeps you motivated?
00:17:32 Maria De Jesus
To be honest with you, just knowing that people are not going to be outside in the cold or the heat. Knowing that people have a shelter. Those good stories that help us move forward and realize that what we do causes some kind of an impact, no matter where they stay: in a hotel, a shelter, or in their own apartment or their own house. I myself have personal reasons for it. We dealt with evictions prior in my household, so it’s personal.., I don’t want children to ever deal with the awkwardness of not knowing how to fill out your blue card or emergency card because you don’t have a stable home at the moment. It’s personal and, at the same time, I just love it. It makes you feel good. It’s stressful sometimes, but the reward of helping people and seeing their shoulders drop and breathe for the first time, “OK, I have options.” It’s amazing and every day you find people who didn’t know they have resources and now they know.
00:18:36 Renée Mazurek
How do you take care of yourself? What do you do for yourself?
00:18:40 Maria De Jesus
I ground myself a lot. I’m surrounded by, luckily, a lot of good people and a very good team. We are aware of how hard our job is. So we do have time. They let you get mentally OK. They check up on you. I’m really lucky to have good people around me for that.The message is grounding myself and just doing things just for myself. Just unwinding sometimes, just not doing nothing at all for the whole day. That’s just me recharging for the day. And I also do a lot of different things: self-care classes and stuff like that that help me to always be better and how to handle situations and emotions, because we can’t save everybody. But whoever I am able to help, I’m happy to do so. That’s something I’ve learned along the way. We can’t place everyone. We wish we can, but we can’t. We do the best that we can and share the knowledge. Sometimes that’s a lot more than just having to save somebody, they carry that with them and they can share with others.
00:19:49 Renée Mazurek
Yeah, that’s amazing. I think you’re superwoman.
00:19:55 Maria De Jesus
Thank you.
00:19:59 Renée Mazurek
So what would you like other organizations to know about the role of housing justice in environmental justice work?
00:20:09 Maria De Jesus
They’re intertwined. They’re like your right hand and your left hand when you’re washing your hands, you can’t really wash your hand without the other. They’re so connected… People are just realizing it now, and I guess because after all the chaos that has been going on people are fed up. I guess maybe the internet; it’s more accessible. It’s in their face so they can see it. From redlining to the minorities in most of the urban cities being around really toxic areas, shows how environmental [issues] and housing has always been hand in hand. No matter where you go in the United States, and pretty much the world, it’s the same. If I think about it—in other countries—you have the areas that are beautiful and Oh my goodness. But if you go to the really poor areas, that’s where you see the slums, you see the garbage, you see the pollution. I would like to let everybody know that there is an intertwining. You may not see it directly, but if you’re around that area or anywhere where the wind blows from that area, you’re gonna suffer the same consequences. It may not be as intense, but as years go by, there are more particles. It is just getting stronger and stronger with the pollution. This is another thing that people need to understand: Just because you’re not there, you’re still impacted if you’re around that area because water flows, wind blows and we cannot control that.
00:21:37 Renée Mazurek
Yes, very powerful words. I just have one more question.
00:21:42 Maria De Jesus
Go ahead.
00:21:43 Renée Mazurek
What do you see or hope for the future in Ironbound?
00:21:51 Maria De Jesus
Honestly, I just want them to be knowledgeable to the point that anything that comes across the table or looks funny, they’ve got it together themselves and come to us and tell us what’s going on. That would be beautiful. To have the community know what’s going on; they just need us for policy work or to reinforce them in one way or another, with resources or be their social media people or record them so they can have their stories recorded and the actual place recorded so they can see how bad it is. That’s actually my dream at some point. It doesn’t matter if it’s Ironbound, North Ward, South Ward, we’re all together. We’re fighting it together because it’s the city. It doesn’t matter if you’re on this side of the track or the other side of the track. We’re still gonna face the same issues. Gentrification [and displacement] is coming. And if you don’t stop it before it comes, there will be no stopping it at all. And you’re just gonna have to live with it…It’s actually hard to get rid of it, to stop it, or at least put policies in place that benefit us, the community who have been living there the longest.
00:23:02 Renée Mazurek
Is there anything else that you’d like to add?
00:23:05 Maria De Jesus
Get out there. Look online, reshare something. You learn something new every day. You may not be affected by it, but somebody else may be. And just having that compassion and understanding that just because you’re not facing it doesn’t mean it’s not gonna affect you one way or another.
00:23:21 Renée Mazurek
Your community is lucky to have you.
00:23:24 Maria De Jesus
Thank you. I’m lucky to have them. They’re amazing. They teach me things every day. They’re so welcoming. I’m not technically from Newark. They welcomed me with open arms like I’ve been there for years and like they’ve known me for years, like I’m family. And that’s kind of how I am as a person, so I appreciate getting that from the community. Love is love. That’s what we say.
00:23:45 Renée Mazurek
And today is Valentine’s Day, so it’s a good day to talk about love. I love it. Well, I hope that you find some love today, find some of that space that you need, if you need it and when you need it.
It’s always great connecting with Maria and I learned a lot from her in this conversation. Find out more information about Maria and the Ironbound Community Corporation at www.ironboundcc.org and look for more urban waters resources at www.urbanwaterslearningnetwork.org. Thanks so much for listening. This is Renée signing off and wishing you well.