Lives Changed.

Alison’s Story

Meet Alison Cordero. As a tenant organizer for over 20 years at St. Nicholas Housing, Alison worked night and day to inform tenants of their rights and to assist them in maintaining them. On one of those nights, Alison fell victim to an almost fatal stroke. After a long period of care in an upstate hospital, Alison was released unable to take care of herself. She moved in with her mother at an assisted care facility upstate, and became an outpatient at a nearby hospital.

Alison reached a point in her recovery when she became interested in moving back to Brooklyn where she had lived for over 30 years. Friends heard about special population apartments set aside for mobility, hearing, and vision impaired tenants in Bushwick at the Mennonite United Revival Housing apartments. 

When they told Alison about the State-funded building and the “set-aside” for the disabled, she took a leap of faith and applied. When notified of her potential eligibility, Alison, with the help of life-long friends, assembled all the necessary fiscal records to establish her eligibility. Alison came to Bushwick to visit the building. It was love at first sight.

When asked how she likes residing in the first affordable passive house in New York, Alison offered, “I have many friends in the building. I really like the building superintendent. He is so helpful. I am very happy and very grateful.” Alison was a single working woman who devoted her entire adult life to making living conditions better for others. RiseBoro Housing Program founder Angela Battaglia said of Alison, “While I am always so pleased to offer safe, decent and affordable housing to people in need, I am especially pleased to assist a person who herself assisted so many.”