Abstract
Gloria Aron is a long time Detroit Shoreway community resident. From her first taste of grassroots activism in the struggle to desegregate Cleveland Public Schools, Aron has continued to devote her life to giving back to her fellow man. Aron talks about how there are two sections of Detroit Shoreway and that adequate low-income housing is a major issue plaguing her community. She also discusses why she holds community development organizations in such low-esteem.
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Interviewee
Aron, Gloria (interviewee)
Interviewer
Nemeth, Sarah (interviewer)
Project
Detroit Shoreway
Date
7-14-2017
Document Type
Oral History
Duration
114 minutes
Recommended Citation
"Gloria Aron interview, 14 July 2017" (2017). Cleveland Regional Oral History Collection. Interview 955035.
https://engagedscholarship.csuohio.edu/crohc000/1100
Transcript
Transcription sponsored by Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization
Gloria Aron [00:00:00] Okay.
Sarah Nemeth [00:00:02] Hi, my name is Sarah Nemeth. I'm here today with Gloria Aaron. It is July 14, 2017, and we are at her home on West 81st street. This is for the Cleveland Regional Oral History project. Will you please state your name for the record?
Gloria Aron [00:00:19] Gloria Aron.
Sarah Nemeth [00:00:21] Thank you. And where were you born?
Gloria Aron [00:00:24] Cleveland, Ohio, on the near west side.
Sarah Nemeth [00:00:28] So you've always been right here?
Gloria Aron [00:00:30] Right.
Sarah Nemeth [00:00:32] And what did your parents do for a living?
Gloria Aron [00:00:35] Um. My stepfather worked for a company called Air Filter Service, where he went and replaced air filters and companies and then washed them. My mother worked in a lot of factories throughout the near west side.
Sarah Nemeth [00:00:58] So there were a lot of factories over here.
Gloria Aron [00:01:00] At one time. Believe it or not, yes, there were.
Sarah Nemeth [00:01:04] Is that what a lot of people did?
Gloria Aron [00:01:06] Yeah, in fact, other ways. Up on Madison. Excuse me. There was a Marshallen that had been a factory here forever. They made various things, but the tv trays, for example. And it really provided jobs for people in this neighborhood. My mom, my sister. I think at one time, my son worked there for a while. So when it left was a lot of people right in this area here were without a job. Yes.
Sarah Nemeth [00:01:59] So when you say food trays, you mean like the frozen.
Gloria Aron [00:02:02] No, no, the tv trays that have the stand that you would put over your lap. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sarah Nemeth [00:02:11] Okay. Were they wood or was it plastic?
Gloria Aron [00:02:16] Metal.
Sarah Nemeth [00:02:17] Metal.
Gloria Aron [00:02:18] Mm hmm.
Sarah Nemeth [00:02:20] What year were you born?
Gloria Aron [00:02:22] 1945. I'm ancient.
Gloria Aron [00:02:25] Almost.
Sarah Nemeth [00:02:30] And where did you live first?
Gloria Aron [00:02:34] Well, I was born at the original Fairview hospital. I mean, everybody thinks it's over there. There was one. The original Fairview hospital was over on Franklin Avenue. And when I was born, my mom lived on West 28th Street. I lived growing up. I grew up with my grandmother for part of my life. So I lived on John Avenue, and then I lived on with my parents and my brothers and sisters over on Tillman. And then. We moved a few other places, but we lived on Tillman when I got married.
Sarah Nemeth [00:03:33] So you've always been in this position, though, right?
Gloria Aron [00:03:36] Yeah, always. Primarily. A little while we lived out on Pearl, but I felt like it was in another world.
Sarah Nemeth [00:03:47] Why would you say that? Different world.
Gloria Aron [00:03:50] It just. I don't know. It's. I just. I knew everything here. It was the same thing. The only time I did not live in Cleveland was for 18 months when my husband and I lived in Oklahoma when he was in the service. And shortly after we came back. In fact, before we moved here, we lived on 130th for two months. I couldn't stand it. I felt again like I was totally out of my depth. There was, you know, no, there wasn't a lot of stores off of 130th, and even getting around transportation wise was not easy. So, no, I'm strictly a Westside girl. I've lived here 48 years.
Sarah Nemeth [00:04:49] 48?
Gloria Aron [00:04:50] Yeah.
Sarah Nemeth [00:04:51] That's long. Do you have any memories from the old neighborhood and what it was like? I don't know, maybe your neighbors, what one of your houses looked like?
Gloria Aron [00:05:07] Oh, yeah, yeah. And in fact, I also, if you're interested, have a book that you might want to borrow. It's called. It has all kinds of history about the near west side over like 50 years or so. Yeah. I remember when I was like, eleven. Madison, Lorain Avenue, when we lived down on John, and that there was a lot of little stores and a lot of them that had soda shops in them, and you'd hang out there. One of my saddest. Changes in the. Neighborhood was on West 25th Street. Manuel's Candy was one of the stores that made candy, and there never was a whole lot of those, but it also had a little. The old fashioned kind of soda shop that you see in movies with the marble table and the wire chairs, but the candy, especially at Easter time. Anything you wanted, they had, not just the rabbits and that. They had puppy dogs and little chocolate lobsters and every football player, everything like that. And I remember going there with my grandmother, and then as I grew up, my mom bought our candy from there. I bought my grandchildren candy from there when we made their Easter baskets. So it was. It's really sad when they went out of business and you would run into everyone you could think of. I'd be getting candy, and Mary Rose Oakar, our congresswoman, would be in there getting candy. So it was something that was. Was real experience, something that you don't see today. I remember, I'm not a jewelry person, but we, especially going down Lorain Avenue, they had a little. A lot of second hand stores. And my best friend at the time would have a credit account, and she would get a necklace or a ring and put it in layaway and pay, you know, $0.10, probably a week till she could get it out. I think people were able to. Let. Their kids go places on their own. I mean. Well, right. If I could walk like I used to, I could easily walk from my house, even here, down to the lake, through the tunnels that they have. And we did that. I remember my brothers and I and friends walking from wherever we lived to the lake. You couldn't today because you'd be afraid to leave your kids through that you could hang out in the playground. Up until my daughter moved, her children spent a lot of time with me, but I would never feel comfortable letting them go on their own to Lawn playground or to the rec center where we as kids did. I don't see kids riding bikes like they did when I was a kid. So, yeah, I have a. I just think the near west side is a great place to live. I remember at the playgrounds they used to have. We used to have where everybody decorated their bike and had bicycle, you know, parades and stuff like that. But. I just really, really enjoyed. Living. Here and feeling safe. But I still feel safe in the neighborhood. I've seen it changed a lot. But. I wouldn't want to live. Like I said, I lived two months. I didn't tell you that I couldn't. When my aunt called me up and said, there's a house for rent. You want to look on it? I couldn't wait to get over here to come back into this neighborhood. So, yeah, I think it's a. Just a good place where you have access to so much. It's easy to get downtown. You know, I. My. My family was never real, you know, clingy with their neighbors, and neither have I been, but we're all friendly with one another, so. Yeah, no.
Sarah Nemeth [00:11:19] Did you ever go downtown when you were growing up?
Gloria Aron [00:11:23] Oh, yeah.
Sarah Nemeth [00:11:24] How did you get downtown?
Gloria Aron [00:11:28] A couple times we, some friends and I would walk and walk. Oh, my God. That's not. When, you know, see, that's another thing. Walking. Oh, my God. My daughter's the same way. Talk, walk to her and she'd have a heart attack. I'd take the bus, you know, of course, it was a lot cheaper then, and. But. Yeah, but there was some. There was a reason to go downtown. Sadly today there isn't.
Sarah Nemeth [00:12:01] What did you do down there?
Gloria Aron [00:12:04] We'd hang out. We go. I remember when in the terminal tower, it used to be a railroad state. A railway station. [crosstalk] Oh, God, yes. And you could hang out there. Just sometimes you could go shopping or just hanging out. The same thing with West 25th street. There were actually stores that you could shop at and buy clothes. Dime stores. I went a lot with my grandma. She would take me downtown, and there was, off of East 4th, there was a restaurant called The Forum. And it was like you had a whole lot of food you could choose from, and we would go there or at a department store that had milkshakes, and if you bought a malt, you get two cookies with it. Or everyone, I'm sure, has told you about May Company and what they had to drink. But in that Christmas time, it was always so beautifully decorated, you know. And on West 25th street, there were actually real stores that you could go shopping at.
Sarah Nemeth [00:13:42] That's crazy to think.
Gloria Aron [00:13:43] Yeah. I mean, you know, I would buy a lot of my school clothes, my, you know, girlfriend, and that we would walk down the 25th on Saturday, and you might go into Red Robins, for example, one of the stores, or PJs, that was an all girls store. And you would buy something. That's where you buy your school clothes, up on 110th. There used to be on Lorain a Sears, that is there no more. But Sears is leaving again. You know, there's a store on the hundred and 30th, I guess, this close in this week, so. Yeah, but there are no. Very few stores that you can go to. Or, you know, kids used to be. Able to hang out more in the playground than they can today.
Sarah Nemeth [00:14:43] Are there playgrounds around here or were there?
Gloria Aron [00:14:47] Yeah. Well, Zone rec, which is inside with the pool and everything, is on 65th. Cudell is over here on Lorain. I mean, Madison. On Lawn Avenue. On Madison, we have a playground that gets the least attention again this year. We're supposed to be getting new equipment. It took me two years of harassing Matt Zone to get a dam. And I've told this story over and over again. Bench to sit on. Because when my grandchildren were here and I would take them for a walk and I obviously wanted to play at the playground, I would either have to sit on the ground or I would have to sit on this slide because there was no bench and they were putting all this damn money in, which I don't, you know, think it's awful at Zone. And I said, could us second half citizens have one of the old benches or something. But I actually had to, every time I saw him, bug him about giving us some benches. And then by the time they got there, my grandchildren were, you know, outgrew the playground. But, yeah, no, we have a playground. It's sad when I go by there and I see that the swings. Half of them are gone and they're not being replaced. And. They don't really do the summer events there that they used to. Now, if you go down on Herman and look at Herman playground and compare it with our playground on Madison, you will see where the discrimination comes.
Sarah Nemeth [00:17:03] Yeah. You mentioned on the phone that you think that there is definitely a division in Detroit Shoreway as a whole. Would you explain that and talk about that?
Gloria Aron [00:17:13] Okay. And like I said, I grew up in this whole neighborhood. So I've seen the differences. The CDC's. Came into being about sometime in the mid seventies, I think. To my knowledge, none of them were ever grassroots organizing. They were basically for development. And. Most of them, and the two that I'm most familiar with is Detroit Shoreway and Ohio City. And they do. I'm not saying that what they do is terrible, awful, but it doesn't benefit all of the neighborhood. They do primarily market rate housing and business development. They have for the last 30 years, spent tremendous money, amounts of money on Detroit Avenue going north. Very little. Time has been spent in the middle here. And that doesn't mean that over on Herman and Tillman and some of those streets, that there aren't low income people. But the primarily, this neighborhood right around here from 85th down to down the road, it's probably more of the lower income people. And. I mean, I remember growing up when you went on Detroit Avenue, there were stores, and there was a few. Perry's restaurant and a couple other. Now there's. It's all restaurants, and some of them are very good. I would recommend, if you like Indian food, to go to the Indian restaurant there during the week. They have a Indian buffet for $9.99, all you can eat, you know, so. Yeah, and the Vietnamese restaurant has been there. I think they were there before the first Vietnamese restaurant did I ever remember, on the near west side in Cleveland.
Sarah Nemeth [00:20:07] What was it called?
Gloria Aron [00:20:08] Oh, God, I can't think of the name of it. And I go there frequently, but it's like 50. It's almost like 58, I think. But it's been there forever. I think it was the first Vietnamese restaurant in the city, so. But they do not do a lot for a lot of this part of the neighborhood. Now, they have done a few things in the last five or six years, I think, pushing towards that, but we still are not anywhere near the top of the list. Now, they have done some apartment buildings, and I can't prove it, but in my opinion, I'm sure if you looked at the contracts, I believe that they will do a small percentage of low income when they do some projects. And I could be just spiteful in that old. In my way of thinking, but I think some of those projects are done so that they can get the money. You know, you put in a proposal, and if you meet a the criteria, you get funded. I mean, it's not enough to do a whole big project, but it sure kicks in a whole lot. And I've never seen a project that is 60 low income and 40 or 30 upper middle income. It's always the other way around and more like 2%. Now you're doing this for the whole city of Cleveland, or is it?
Sarah Nemeth [00:22:01] Well, right now I'm just focusing on the near west side.
Gloria Aron [00:22:03] Okay. Okay. Well. At the same time that the development company were formed, Cleveland also had maybe 21 grassroots organizations. And I was a member of Near West Neighbors in Action. And on Lorain Avenue, I'm trying to think whether, I think it's 38th. I could be, I'm not sure if that's the right street. No, it might be 40th, but it's right by the fire station on Lorain Avenue. Down that way, there was an apartment building that was going to be tore down. We, transitional housing that was in another group. Formed a coalition, and we were able to save it. And there's three storefronts, and sometimes they don't stay, you know, occupied, but all of the apartments upstairs are low income. And now that I will give Jeff Ramsay credit for, because he made sure that I knew that, like so many buildings at that time that were rehabbed after 15 years, they could, you know, get, the low income people could get kicked to the curb and, you know, go market rate. But I believe he made a commitment that for at least the next 40 from that time, and it's been probably maybe four or five years, that that building will stay low income. And that's real important because there is a great need for low income housing. I think if you go another group that does a lot of that is the Eaton Corporation, which I don't know if you're familiar with them, they do housing, but I think they're mainly mental health. But there's a building right up here, apartment building down the street, that is owned by, that was built by the connection with a couple other places. And it provides housing, apartments, efficiency apartments for the chronically homeless and people that may have some slight mental health issues. They also did one up on Lorain Avenue. It was an old, it had been empty for several years, and they rehabbed it. And then this is also by Eaton. Eaton does those sporadically throughout the country. Could we stop a minute?
Gloria Aron [00:25:36] So it's real important. And we've, over the years, we had some great programs back in the 70s, 80s, there was all over the city, the housing corporations that were able, in fact, we have several houses on this street. Right across the street was Near West Housing house. And people were able to get on the list after following certain criteria. And the corporations, nonprofit were able to buy the house. Like, I'm real familiar with the house across the street because my mom lived there for quite a while. And the family that was moving would only sell it to them if my mom was given the chance to be in that house. But at that time, they purchased the house for 12,500. They put another 12,500 to bring it up to code. Then a family that was on the waiting list and committed to doing the things that we had agreed on would be able to move in. And if they kept up with their end of the bargain, in 15 years, the house would title would be turned over to them.
Sarah Nemeth [00:27:18] Okay.
Gloria Aron [00:27:19] Cause it would be paid off and it would be theirs. And they, over the years, had many times, in some cases, the family got in a better position and then were able to go to the bank and take over the house with a mortgage sooner. But all throughout the city, lots of people got housing and had become good community people and good neighbors. In this neighborhood alone, I can look at, because I was on the board, go around and look at where many of these houses are now. Again, that was something that Detroit Shoreway was never involved in. They got control of the houses when money issues and politics changed and the city wanted to have less housing corporations, so many of them had to merge, and Near West Housing had to merge with Ohio City. And so all of the houses that people were buying under the lease purchase program that were in this ward went to Detroit Shoreway, and the ones in the other ward went to Ohio City Near West. And so for the most part, that's where they get their numbers, that they have low income housing because other people did the work. And, yeah, I know they do some, but to me, it's not very little. And one of the greatest needs on the near west side here is housing for families. There just is not, which brings a lot of families being forced to live together and being overcrowded and that, and affordable. When I first moved to this house, the girl that was actually moving out, when I came to knock on the door, and she gave me the landlord's phone number, and I said, do you mind? How much did you pay? And she said, pay $80. So I said, okay. So when I called the landlord, he rented to me sight unseen, and said, the rent will be $100. And we lived here. Maybe I can't remember 20, 25 years as renters before we bought it. And he only raised the rent once to $120. And when we moved in, he said, you know, call me if the roof breaks faucet case in you have a plumbing, electoral, electric problem. Other than that, do whatever you want. And so that was fine with us today. You in a house around here, you're paying $700. 500, you know, and yet people's income, in many cases not as good as mine and my husband's, you know, but you know, so that's, that's, I think one of the key things that are missing that is not being addressed. The lease purchase program worked. When I asked people why we still don't do it, I get to think, well, Gloria, you know that to rehab a house today, it would cost $100,000. I don't buy that story. I think there's other ways to get around. I have to let my cat in. I'm sorry. Oh, I'm sorry. So I think that's, that's a big problem that in this part of the neighborhood we have issues that are not being addressed. I think sometimes they're doing better than they used to, but they still are not committed. And it's not just Detroit Shoreway I don't think any of the CDC's are truly committed to grassroots organizing or addressing issues. I think a couple of times we have tried different various groups I belong to and they just won't. I'm trying to think three or four years ago a house blew up on West 85th or 83rd.
Sarah Nemeth [00:33:17] Like the gas line or something.
Gloria Aron [00:33:19] Yeah, yeah. And two houses were totalled and the families lost everything. But it was such a major explosion that people on my street lost windows and had damage done to the structure all over. Well, I've got to give Matt Zone and the community a whole lot of credit because I think it was 50,000 raised altogether. And there's a group, I think it's called Spaces. I'm not quite sure because I'm getting old and forgetful, but I know it's housed in Gordon Square. And whatever Matt and the committee raised, they matched. And Matt put together a committee of community people and I was one of them that was on the committee. Eileen Kelly, who used to be at St. Coleman’s and was at the board, on the board of Detroit Shoreway and I have been friends for 30 years, was also on the committee. We were able to find homes for the families that lost them and provide all the necessary basic furniture and clothing and stuff. And then we put together a process where people in the community, if they had lost like broken windows or something, they filled out an application and we've done that. So that was something that was done, you know, and Detroit Shoreway you know, somewhat a part of that was something that was very successful. But I've seen things where, like when, you know, was a year ago when the water department decided they were going to jack our water rates up. Now, I've been around long enough to know that the powers that be and the organizations knew that was going to happen. The resources that Detroit Shoreway has, they could organize around that. They might not have won or they might have just got a little bit, but they didn't try, and they didn't let people know until after the fact. So that's, you know, and I've seen it work. I mean, I, you know, I started working on organizing and organizing at the end of 1979. And I've been in a lot of campaigns where we have one. Not always, you know, but. But you don't win at all if you don't try. So that's one of the problems. Our street doesn't have a block club.
Sarah Nemeth [00:36:51] It doesn't?
Gloria Aron [00:36:52] No, it's a bunch of bullshit. And you ask my neighbors and that's what they'll say. No. We had a block club a whole long, a long, long time ago. And we fought Mary Zone when she met's mother, when she was the councilwoman and won. But we've tried to have a block club, but the issues that we want to address, they don't want to address. We don't want to have little baskets of flowers to put on the corner. We want hard issues like safety and the drugs. This neighborhood, especially on 73rd, well, now it's on every street. Yeah. It's not a new thing. When my kids went to school, that was an area 30 years ago, that was. Everyone knew there was drugs. And the last time, right across the street, and I went to a safety meeting and we brought that up, and the police officer said, you got two choices, learn to live with it or move out of the neighborhood. So with that kind of attitude, why should I? You know, I mean, you know, and the same thing with the second district community response. Knowing that I was not going to get anywhere but being hard headed, I went to one of their meetings, because community response, they're supposed to bring the police and the community together. And I raised the issue of, I live in a neighborhood that both is overrun with drugs and has at that time, maybe even still is the highest number of young teenage prostitutes working Lorain Avenue.
Sarah Nemeth [00:39:06] Really?
Gloria Aron [00:39:06] Oh, yes. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yep. We've always had prostitutes around here, but we're. No, I mean, Lorain Avenue is terrible. I mean, I remember my husband and my son saying, mom, that's a pro– That's just a young. Ma, please. They've come up to me. I said, well, dang, I gave me you. You too damn cheap. But yeah, I mean, that's sad, you know? And when I went to the second district and said for them to be the catalyst to bring everyone at the table that needs to be there from the federal level and the county and the state and citizens, and they tell me that was not under there what they were. [crosstalk] And then I was just being a smart mouth for asking that question, but what are they there for? I mean, who better? I said, if not you, then who? And they said, well, no, but that doesn't fall under what. What we do. So I never been back there again. I don't have a whole lot of faith. They used to have the city and the fire department and all that would have a day thing down at the end of the triangle on 73rd where they would bring out the fire department and the hose for the kids and the police were there and all that kind of baloney. And that's real heavy where the dealers were at that time, they just move and set up shop up here on 80th for the 2 hours. And I'm so sad that I tell the same stories over and over, but I mean, it just shows how, you know. And then 2 hours later, as soon as the cops and the fire department go back to their place, they move back to the regular residence, you know, and it's so sad. And, well, Dmitri's house burned down last year. No one did it. It was his own fault. But he used to take pictures of drug deals and everything. And the police just said, oh, it's. Dimitri again, you know. [crosstalk] No, no, I remember when my son's $300 bike got stolen. And I, of course, called the police and they come and we knew exactly where it was. We knew where the house that did all the fencing was. And the cops knew too, but they.
Sarah Nemeth [00:42:14] Just didn't want to address that.
Gloria Aron [00:42:15] They said, well, you know, there's something we can do about it. I said, so we all know where the bike is, but we can't do anything about it. You know, the same thing. At one time, I took the place of the city, had put together a safety thing with a bunch of hierarchy, you know, in it, and why can't I think of his name? It's in his name. He's in the book. I took his place in it when he was leaving. And so one of the things we did on this committee was each one of us rode in a patrol car for a, one of the, for a couple hours, and the police would say, you know, this is a drug house. This is a fence house. This is this. And I'm sure they're just as frustrated, too, but. Because we all know where everything is and we all know who they are, but it doesn't seem we can do anything about it.
Sarah Nemeth [00:43:31] What's a fence house?
Gloria Aron [00:43:33] It's where you can take stuff that is stolen and they'll buy it from you, and then they'll sell it other places.
Sarah Nemeth [00:43:41] Oh, I never knew what the fence. I never heard that before. I know that there's a big issue, people stealing. Literally, fences.
Gloria Aron [00:43:54] Yeah. No, this is anything. And there's, you know, it's Like a lot of things you take to a pawn shop. If you steal it. Well, these are like guys, you know, houses and people that, you know, people in the neighborhood know, you got something stolen, you take it to them and they will get rid of it. They will buy it from you, and then they can, they can sell it, you know, and it's always, you know, since I was a kid, you know.
Sarah Nemeth [00:44:22] It’s, there's always been fence houses in this neighborhood.
Gloria Aron [00:44:26] Uh huh. All over the near west side. Not just here, over on the 25th and that, too. No, it's. And I'm sure everywhere, probably.
Sarah Nemeth [00:44:43] So maybe we can go back. And what demographically was this neighborhood like when you were growing up?
Gloria Aron [00:44:57] Predominantly white. When I was a kid and I lived on John Avenue, there was Hispanics that were primarily from Puerto Rico, and there was a lot of Hungarian gypsies, especially around 28th street, the Balogs. I went to school with some of them. I don't remember any Blacks, except for two that came from the Lakeview Terrace, the projects on West 25th. And growing up, even in Tremont, there was, I think, in the projects. But then I know families like my uncle, his wife's family lived in Lakeview Terrace, and she didn't want to move, even. She had one of their larger apartments because she had several kids. And as her kids grew up and they were moving out, they wanted her to move or go into a smaller apartment. She didn't want to leave. And so they started raising her rent, and she said, I don't care. And then finally she did move and got a house on, off of Lorain and Fulton. But people, the projects were better maintained. And I know I stayed with my aunt when she lived down on the ones in the south side that are no longer there. And being part of neighborhood organizations. I know we did flyering of them, and I remember going into an apartment or two in Lake View Terrace, and there was no big metal door that you would open to get into where there was the apartment doors. Now, no tenant tore that damn door off. And at some point. What is the responsibility of the county to take care of things and they just do not keep it up.
Sarah Nemeth [00:48:00] Happens at all projects. Well, I never knew a project that was well maintained.
Gloria Aron [00:48:03] Yeah. And it is just. No one holds them accountable enough. They were promised. I doubt if it really happened over in Tremont, when they were tearing them down, everyone was going to get moved and they were going to get money to do that. Whether that really happened, I don't have a whole lot of faith that it did. And the same thing if you go up Lorain. St. Ignatius wanted to build a lacrosse field and some other things, and they needed to get control of 30 streets off of Lorain Avenue, and they did. They bought everybody out, force them to sell.
Sarah Nemeth [00:49:08] That's a lot.
Gloria Aron [00:49:09] Yes, it is. We tried fighting it. I wanted to do more. I wanted to go to the state, but, you know. But yeah, and there's, you know, field there, and they built the theater that they have on there. But all those families were displaced and a lot of them were Hispanic. And I think that's partly where the push came for more low income families to move up into my neighborhood because we have more rentals and the hispanic churches up Detroit. But if you would ask the people that lived in that neighborhood, they didn't move by choice. They had no other choice. There was one lady that owned a house, and she was probably 70, in her late seventies, and she says, I ain't selling. You can build your damn lacrosse field right around me, but I ain't selling. I don't know how long she was able to hold out, but she, you know, but it's how that if, you know, you have the power, if you can get the backing and where do people decide they're going to support? And it hasn't changed. But, like, I'm not sure someone like Chuck Ackerman, who is the director of Famicos Housing, or some other people would know exactly, but there was not a housing court in this city until community groups got together and organized and pushed to develop to get the city to put in a housing court where all they did was deal with housing. Before that, I think you just. If you had a housing complaint, you went to common pleas court. Now, we developed, because people fought for it, a separate housing court that also does help with people who have housing problems. So the strength that people have is there to make a difference.
Sarah Nemeth [00:51:47] It is. Definitely. So when you were growing up, this was more of a white working class.
Gloria Aron [00:51:57] When I first moved on the street, I remember when the first biracial family moved in. They lived in the house over here.
Sarah Nemeth [00:52:07] How did the community respond to that?
Gloria Aron [00:52:10] There was no problem. I'm not saying everybody liked it. I'm sure they. They didn't. But we became friends, and the reason they moved had nothing to do with the community. It was just a personal thing. Now, I would say then for a while, we had a Korean family that lived over there. Right now, I would say the street is probably, minimum, at least a third black. Many people come from not only Puerto Rico, the Hispanic community, but my neighbors over here are from Mexico. The family that is in this house now is from Sudan, and they're part of, obviously, the refugee progra
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