Four Narratives of Anti-Poverty Community Mobilization: Lower East Side Collective,Housing Works,the New York City AIDS Housing Network Human Rights Watch,and the More Gardens! Coalition

The impact of major political and economic transformations was felt first in urban neighborhoods. Yet the ways community organizations respond suggests a future global city that is open, egalitarian, safe, just, and joyous. Neighborhoods and their members sometimes manage to thrive as innovative community organizers fight displacement, organize immigrants, build syringe exchanges, plant gardens, and ride bikes through streets in an example of what a healthy neighborhood can be. This article describes how four distinct groups—The Lower East Side Collective, Housing Works, the New York City AIDS Housing Network, and the More Gardens! Coalition—struggled against social and economic threats to build effective coalitions, caring communities and create wins. The Four Narratives serve as best practice examples of contemporary community organizing practices.