Removing the Stigma

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Map of Melrose Housing Projects 

The words, "The Projects" immediately stirs up a collection of negative words. Social stigma towards those living in public housing is very prevalent in today’s society. Unfortunately, residents in public housing are often stereotyped as being criminals, lazy, uneducated, and unmotivated to "do better" as they "live off the government's dime." However, like all stereotypes and stigmas, these blanket statements are bred from ignorance and certainly a misunderstanding of the role that public housing plays in a community. 

Maria and Yolanda Caban are two Bronx natives who certainly go to show that the blanket statements made about Melrose Projects and public housing in general do not paint a true picture of what public housing and those who live in it are like. Born in the Bronx, Maria and Yolanda have spent almost their entire lives in this New York City borough beginning with their childhood home on 138th and Cypress Avenue. Even today, this area is known as being the deep core of the South Bronx, and not very safe. Back in the 1970’s when the sisters were living there, the area was according to Yolanda, “like the worst place you could live.”

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Photo of the South Bronx in the 1970's taken by Camilo Jose Vergara showing the rubble and abandaned property and lots that riddled the South Bronx during this time. 

The 1970’s for the South Bronx were not the best of times. After World War II, industrial jobs began to move from the city (approximatley 500,000 factory jobs over twenty years), leading to an economic collapse. The large immigrant population —typically unskilled Hispanics and blacks— combined with the economic collapse led to widespread poverty. Crime, drugs, and violence began to rise in numbers along with new gangs. Savage Skulls, Cypress Bachelors, Black Spades, Spanish Mafia, and the Reapers were just a few and attracted Hispanic and black youths. Buildings were abandoned, looted, destroyed, and burned and ultimately lead to some of the worst years the South Bronx has seen. Evelyn Gonzalez goes into much more detail about the causes of the social and physical deterioration of the South Bronx during this time in her piece, The Bronx: A History

Being in the core of the South Bronx during this time certainly wasn’t the best. Yolanda remembers first hand the social and physical disorder. “I remember the abandoned buildings. I remember the crack era. I remember being scared to go outside. I remember the fights in the corner. It was, it was eventful,” she recounted. 

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Maria and Yolanda Caban with their other sister, Grisel, in their Melrose Apartment, August 1987.

In 1984, Maria, Yolanda, and their family moved from their five story walkup on 138th street and Cypress Avenue into the Melrose Projects. The Melrose Housing Projects consists of eight apartment buildings on a superblock. The design fits very well when compared to other urban renewal sites. Their new apartment also stood in contrast to their former place on Cypress and 138th street. “I remember us being beyond excited about moving from Cypress and moving into The Projects. That to us, that was moving up,” said Maria. Despite the negative stigmas about The Projects being run down and in poor condition, the sisters also commented on how The Projects had nicer amenities and features compared to Cypress such as elevators in the buildings, green space, and nearby police (PSA 7 Housing Police). Their move in high school to the Melrose Projects, according to Maria, was “very significant and the best thing that could happen to us at the time."

Fast forward to 2017 where Maria and Yolanda are no longer teens and have their own established lives in Melrose. Maria is a researcher for the Department of Health and lives in an apartment on 150th street. Yolanda is a pre-k teacher at P.S.61 who lives in her own apartment Melrose Projects. She’s been living in her apartment for twenty-seven years now and has raised three successful kids there. 

When asked about her experience living in The Projects, Yolanda and Maria responded saying they never had an negative experiences themselves. The majority of activities typically associated with The Projects, like violence, are pretty localized. “They don’t bother you unless you bother them,” Yolanda explained. There’s a sense of community that exists within The Projects that builds a level of respect that extends even to those who are breaking laws, like drug dealers.  Yolanda told a story about how when she was in her late twenties was returning to her building when there was a strange man in the lobby. Another resident, who was doing things “he shouldn’t be doing” noticed her concern and offered to walk her up to her door so that she would not be alone. This sense of respect for others created a feeling of safety that both Maria and Yolanda noticed. They also feel comfortable with both of their parents still living in Melrose Projects —their mom is in the same original apartment they moved to in ’84 and their dad is living in a unit in the Senior Building— and feel that they are safe in their homes.

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Maria and Yolanda with their younger sister, Grisel, and mom. 

The violence, according to the sisters, was mainly between groups of people who were both up to no good and it was pretty well known when and where to avoid in order to prevent yourself from getting in potentially harmful situations. For example, staying out late and being in the stairwells after midnight or poking your nose in a neighbor’s business would make you more likely to be targeted, but at least for Maria and Yolanda, there wasn’t widespread and randomized violence and crime that dominated the buildings like stereotypes portray. 

The stigma that puts down those living in public housing is one that needs to be addressed in society. For the Caban sisters, Melrose Housing Projects was an incredible opportunity that allowed them to have a safer home. Both are educated and successful women, involved in their local community. Maria is heavily involved with the local church, Immaculate Conception Church, and is working on getting more people, like her sister, involved in taking back their neighborhood. Yolanda raised three wonderful children in the Melrose Projects, one of which still lives with her and attends a local high school. She explained about her children, “I raised them in the projects, but I believe that I instilled in my children right from wrong and that makes a difference. So although they were in The Projects, or they’re still in The Projects and they’re aware of the dangers, I feel confident to say that they know better,” and while they acknowledge that the dangers are still there and that there is crime and things that do fit the stereotype, this family is prime example of how these stereotypes are not a one-size-fits-all that can be used to describe everyone living in The Projects.

Removing the Stigma