Yolanda Gonzalez, the former executive director of Nos Quedamos has been arrested and charged with stealing almost $900,000 from the nonprofit.
I was approached by someone about Gonzalez several years ago. The individual was concerned about the same shady dealings Yolanda Gonzalez has been charged with. Shortly after my conversation with my source, a trusted friend was appointed to the Board of Directors and assured me it was going to be handled with immediately.
Nos Quedamos was founded by her late mother, Yolanda García, when the long time residents of Melrose where threatened by redevelopment.
City Hall wanted to bulldoze most of the neighborhood above 149th Street and create developments strictly middle and high income families. They saw the rubble as a way to clean house but they didn’t count on such strong resistance from the community.
Today, Melrose stands as the fastest growing neighborhood in the Bronx and one the 3rd in all of the city.
The myriad of mixed-income developments – no longer segregating families of different means – is a testament to Nos Quedamos’ fight so that we would not be displaced rampant development as has happened in countless gentrified neighborhoods across our city.
Our green developments which make us the ONLY certified LEED neighborhood in the state of New York is a testament to the hard work of the people at Nos Quedamos and other local residents – they are not all “Yolanda Gonzalezes”
As residents of the Bronx and particularly the South Bronx, we must be ever vigilant and keep a keen eye on our community leaders. Report any wrongdoings immediately. We cannot let our very own people get away with this.
