Sunset Park Nonprofit Mixteca to Buy HQ to Expand Ops With $2.5 Million Grant

By Adam Daly, Brooklyn Paper

A Sunset Park charity marked a major milestone Monday, announcing it is to purchase a four-story building in the neighborhood after 25 years of serving the immigrant community in a modest rented space.

The immigrant women-led nonprofit, Mixteca, is in the process of acquiring a “permanent home” in Sunset Park that will triple its space and expand its services. The latter include mental health, education, community health, workforce development, social services, legal support, and cultural programming.

The expansion means Mixteca will no longer spend 30 percent of its funding on rent and is thanks to the $2.5 million in funding provided by Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso, Council Member Alexa Avilés and Speaker of the New York City Council Adrienne Adams.

Mixteca will be the first Mexican organization in New York City to own their own building, according to the charity’s representatives. The location of the new headquarters is set to be announced in the coming months; the group has earmarked a move-in date for the end of the year.

Lorena Kourousias, executive director of Mixteca, told Brooklyn Paper that the decision to purchase a building in Sunset Park was an “act of resilience” against gentrification in the neighborhood.

“We were thinking a lot about how the community is being pushed out and whether we will be needed in the community in the future,” said Kourousias. “But we decided to pursue this idea because we want to be here, owning a building, and helping other people also to stay in their own place and not just giving up and saying, ‘Oh, gentrification is hard. I’m just gonna move out.’”

“This building is an act of resistance that we are making, and it’s a statement that says immigrant people can own a building, immigrant Mexican organizations led by immigrant women can have their own building,” she added.

Kourousias said she is now in the process of selecting a local artist to paint murals inside and outside the new building. It will feature an elevator, an industrial kitchen to support their food programs, and a rooftop to grow vegetables. There will also be more space for ESL classes and programming, and a communal space where the community can gather.

One aspect of Mixteca that has been in high demand and in dire need of additional space is its mental health services. There are currently 64,000 newcomers in the city’s care. More than 200,000 migrants have arrived in the five boroughs over the past two-plus years, which promoted a budgetary crisis.

Speaking to Brooklyn Paper about the impact the influx has had on Mixteca over the past two years, Kourousias explained that the main difference has been the variety of ethnic backgrounds seeking out their help but that “immigration is something that we see all the time.”

She said new arrivals have mostly been seeking out mental health services but Mixteca’s current space — just 2,000 square feet — does not allow for the privacy that is always required.

“When people are in counseling sessions and talking about something really painful and really private, and they have no space, no privacy, it’s hard,” she said, noting that the new building will have a whole floor dedicated to providing mental health services.

Mixteca’s daily work in the community, which attracts people across the five boroughs, often goes unnoticed, according to Kourousias, who said he is grateful to Reynoso, Avilés, and Adams for recognizing their commitment.

Avilés, who gave $1 million to the fund, said she was proud to have played a role in ensuring that the “anchor institution for the growing Latino communities of South Brooklyn” will be able to service future generations.

“Not only are our residents in fear of displacement but the organizations that support them are also in fear of displacement,” Avilés said at Monday’s announcement. “And so this is so important to make sure that Mixteca remains in Sunset Park, remains an incredible organization that it has been over the decades.”

On top of the $250,000 from speaker Adams, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso provided $1.25 million as part of his Nonprofit Acquisition Fund – a commitment to use a portion of his capital budget to assist Brooklyn nonprofits in purchasing permanent spaces.

Reynoso said Monday that Mixteca was granted the funds because they are a qualified organization “that had their stuff together, which is rare.”

“For decades now, Mixteca has been filling gaps in city services to meet the needs of our immigrant neighbors,” he said. “Every day, their home in Sunset Park is bustling – full of people and families who know they can trust Mixteca to help with everything from accessing city benefits to learning English and preparing healthy meals. I am so grateful to Mixteca’s incredible work and for offering a shining example of the partnerships that are possible with my office.”

One of the Sunset Park community members who relied on Mixteca when she arrived in Brooklyn from Mexico nine years ago was Margarito. She is now the owner of nearby restaurant Molkajete.

Margarito said she studied English and received business training at Mixteca and got the help she needed from the organization to start her own business.

“When I came into this country it was really terrible because I didn’t understand anything. But now I understand more. I can speak with my customers, with more people,” Margarito told Brooklyn Paper. “Now I would like to help them, because they helped me. And now I can also help the community.”

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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