In its first ten years, the School of Arts & Culture (SOAC) at the Mexican Heritage Plaza (La Plaza) focused on the activation inside the walls of La Plaza. We refined a successful revenue model that ensures accessibility to La Plaza’s venues for community-based organizations and community members. Most significantly, we gained the trust of the local neighborhood and the creative sector by offering consistent, ongoing, and stable programming. And, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, La Plaza led an 18-month emergency response that served over 150,000 residents, reaching every corner of our community via food distribution, testing, and vaccination. Now, SOAC seeks to influence the built environment to establish the city’s first cultural district with La Plaza at its center.
As the community enters recovery, SOAC’s bold solution to meet the ongoing needs of our neighborhood and the increased displacement of residents is La Avenida. The first phase of this wide-reaching vision is for SOAC to acquire the 28,000 square-foot vacant commercial property across the street from the Mexican Heritage Plaza. This space will expand cultural programming and bring needed family wellness services, which will be provided by our equity partner Gardner Health Services. The development of this space is the first step to future development that includes affordable housing and commercial space for local businesses and community-based providers on La Plaza’s six acres.
Why now?
East San José is a working-class neighborhood of immigrants — nearly half of East San José’s population is foreign born. Of those, half are from Latin America and half from Asia. The area is historically underserved and largely overlooked when investments are made in safety net services, education, and healthcare. Yet, the immigrants who have made East San José home for generations have created an area rich in cultural distinctiveness that speaks to their diverse origins, such as Portuguese, Vietnamese, and Mexican.
Ironically, East San José, as a vulnerable undervalued neighborhood, is ground zero for outside developers initiating commercial and residential projects that do not consider or serve the long-time residents and creators of the neighborhood. Instead, the area’s working artists and families are forced to move out when they can no longer afford the rising rents. The result is the loss of the neighborhood’s unique and diverse cultural identity, as well as those people who have called East San José home for generations
Given this, the moment for what La Avenida offers is NOW. Join us as we ensure that the future of our community’s assets remain protected. Every dollar invested into La Avenida is a return on, and a reinforcement of, the well-being of residents’ livelihood and the commitment to community-first. YOU can be a part of our movement. Act and donate now.