Cooper Square Mutual Housing Association (CSMHA) is a nationally recognized low-income housing cooperative and non-profit organization formed in 1991 on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Our mission is to manage and preserve a coop of 21 buildings so that they are permanently affordable to low-income resident-shareholders, under principles of economic and social justice embodied in our community’s history. CSMHA is the product of local residents organizing against their own displacement and governance of the co-op by local residents remains a central dynamic in our organization. The CSMHA also acts as managing agent to several other HDFC and mixed-use cooperative buildings
outside of the CSMHA co-op. All together, the organization is responsible for maintaining over 400 units of affordable housing.
To achieve our mission, CSMHA works closely with two affiliated organizations:
The Cooper Square Community Land Trust, which owns and stewards the land under our buildings;
The Cooper Square Committee, which created our organization and provides advocacy services to our residents while continuing to
organize against the displacement of low-income residents in our
larger community.
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