Women are a core beneficiary of Mi Casa’s work: Many resident leaders and board members of the co-ops we work with are women. On a daily basis, we work hand in hand with women leaders to develop affordable housing.

One outstanding example of female leadership is Teresa Edmonson, the board president of The Cooperative at 1477, a 29-unit limited equity cooperative, or LEC, in Columbia Heights. This LEC is one of the 14 that Mi Casa works with. Teresa is also a social justice advocate and Columbia Heights ANC Commissioner. A longtime DC resident, she moved to DC in 1995, and her family history in DC goes back several more decades.

Upon moving into the building 8 years ago—which at the time was known as Haven House – she was interviewed by a board, which she thought was peculiar.

After hearing bits and pieces of information– some correct, some not so much – she needed answers. Teresa took it upon herself to put in the work.

After doing extensive research for two years to uncover what they needed to know, she found out that the building was purchased by Safe Haven Outreach Ministry and Community of Hope in 1997. She found that the project had stalled, but that the current residents had the option to collectively purchase the building at that point. “There was no cohesion to the project. There was a body but no connective tissue,” she says. And because of that, they were without a clear pathway to get the project moving again.

Even though Teresa was equipped with financial and asset management skills, she says the process was still “convoluted.” “Typical people don’t know how to navigate complex city agencies,” She says; and regarding affordable housing development, “Because of the complexity, training and/or some familiarity with finance, banking, law and market predictions is almost a prerequisite.”

At this point, Teresa knew she needed to bring in some help.

The turning point was in 2016 when she did just that. She sought professional support from a law firm – Eisen and Rome – and Mi Casa Inc as a development consultant.

Mi Casa Inc, a DC affordable housing nonprofit founded in 1992, helps limited equity co-ops like Teresa’s navigate the development process, help board members communicate effectively with their members, and more.

Teresa notes, “I knew Adams Morgan, Mount Pleasant, and Columbia Heights very well — I knew about the long history of Mi Casa in those neighborhoods, that they were not new to the community.”

Mi Casa helped communicate the option of forming a limited equity cooperative and its unique structure. Teresa helped her neighbors understand that they would collectively own their building. Around the same time, the residents elected her board president. “They liked that someone was asking questions on their behalf, the right questions,” Teresa says.

Since then, the co-op has purchased their building and made enormous progress over the years. Teresa says, “The co-op is in good shape financially.” This is a strong indicator of a successful cooperative, and shows how far the LEC has come. And, while before, there was a lack of information and misconceptions about how the housing ownership structure worked; now, everyone is on the same page and, “There is a core group of people here that are 100% committed to what is happening.”

This deep commitment is important because these kinds of projects, especially those needing public subsidy, can take many years to complete. Teresa notes, “This project started in 2000 and came to fruition in 2020, so that tells you something,”

Teresa’s commitment and leadership has made an incredible impact on this co-op, and five years as board president has made an impact on her, as well. She says, “I’m a better leader, I’m a better person because of this project.”

She also says it’s bittersweet because while she’s grateful to have somewhere to live, she says she feels like a “stranger” in her own neighborhood at times because it has changed so much while her building has remained the same. She’s grateful that her own block, Newton Street, with two LECs and an affordable housing community at St. Steven’s Church’s Urban Village, is still somewhat diverse.

While the LEC structure protects her and the other households at The Cooperative at 1477 from displacement, she shares how it feels to be threatened by gentrification happening as close as down the street from her, saying, “For long-term residents – you’re watching yourself be priced out, and you’re watching your own demise. There were consistent disinvestments in our neighborhoods when you look at the history…It’s almost like people were like an afterthought.”

She continues, “There has been violent gentrification – and violent is the right word, because it has been so aggressive — from 2000 to 2013. It’s not news; you can Google that anywhere.”

Research shows that between 2000-2013, about 40% of DC’s lower-income neighborhoods experienced gentrification, making the District city with the most intense gentrification in the country (National Community Reinvestment Coalition, 2019).

Teresa has seen the effects of housing instability firsthand, as she has a social services background where she worked supporting and assisting unhoused individuals to move into homes of their own. Her experience has taught her of the bias and stigma associated with affordable housing that contributes to the disenfranchisement of people living in it. For this reason, she prefers the phrase, “housing that is affordable.”

Her current job focuses on small business development to combat the intense gentrification in DC. Teresa works at District Bridges as a Lower Georgia Avenue Main Street Manager. She says, “We’re trying to keep Georgia Avenue alive.”

While she celebrates progress, this year has been far from easy. She laments the racial and economic disparities that have been more clear than ever in the past year. She has grieved not only George Floyd, but also a friend in her community who was murdered in the past year. “There is so much grief and sorrow. It’s been challenging because of the trauma, particularly for Black women in the past year.”
But still she remains positive and unrelenting. “That’s what gives me hope – that there are bright, brilliant people out there in these streets, organizing.”