NCNW Public Housing Initiatives: Women Leading Change from Within
For over four decades, the National Congress of Neighborhood Women (NCNW) has empowered women to transform their communities through leadership, advocacy, and grassroots organizing. Nowhere is this impact more visible than in NCNW’s partnerships across New York City’s public housing developments, where women leaders are reshaping their neighborhoods from the ground up.
Cooper Park Housing Community
In Brooklyn, the Cooper Park Housing Community exemplifies this work. Represented by longtime advocate Debra Benders, the Cooper Park Housing Community has become a hub for engagement and self-determination among its 1,500 residents. Benders, who has dedicated over three decades to tenant leadership, ensures residents’ voices guide local change. The Cooper Park Resident Council has fought off private development encroachment, secured over $1 million in community grants, and implemented programs ranging from anti-violence initiatives to “Free Fridge” food access efforts. Cooper Park’s monthly meetings, family events, and partnerships with local organizations like Brooklyn Steel show how resident-led advocacy can transform public housing into a model of empowerment and community resilience even amid ongoing challenges such as increasing homelessness, drug use and concerns about needle disposal in playgrounds.
Clay Avenue Tenant Association
In the Bronx, Maria Forbes leads the Clay Avenue Tenant Association, representing more than 150 families in the Claremont Consolidated Houses. A stalwart of the NCNW network since 1990, Forbes has expanded the association’s focus from addressing unsafe housing conditions to building pathways for education, employment, and environmental sustainability. Under her leadership the tenant association secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal and state funding for job training and youth programs, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, she mobilized resources to deliver essential supplies, meals, and vaccines. Today, the association continues to evolve, focusing on sustainability and climate change adaptation. Through Maria Forbes’ international work with organizations like the Huairou Commission, the association’s advocacy model has been shared globally as an example of effective grassroots leadership in public housing.
James Weldon Johnson Houses Community
At the James Weldon Johnson Houses in East Harlem, Ethyl Valez has represented NCNW’s spirit of empowerment since 1982. Starting with no background in community organizing, she became a powerful advocate for nearly 3,000 residents. Working with NCNW, Valez and the Resident Association created youth patrols to reduce crime, launched intergenerational wellness programs, and secured federal funds for youth-run businesses and skilled trade training. Her leadership helped redesign public spaces for safety and accessibility, ensuring that residents – particularly women and young people – have both a voice and a stake in their community’s future.
Across these communities, NCNW’s housing initiatives demonstrate how empowering women leaders creates effects that strengthen entire neighborhoods. Through advocacy, partnership, and vision, leaders like Valez, Benders, and Forbes exemplify NCNW’s enduring commitment to empowering women, bridging communities, and amplifying grassroots voices, ensuring that public housing is not just a place to live, but a foundation for equity, opportunity, and belonging.