Mothers On The Move

Mission:

Fourteen years ago, the schools in the South Bronx neighborhoods of Hunts Point and Longwood ranked as some of the poorest performing in New York City. The local school district, dominated for over twenty years by leaders who ran it for the benefit of only a few, was a dramatic example of inequality and racial segregation. It divided resources between the wealthier white neighborhoods to the north and the low-income Black and Latino neighborhoods to the south.

Today, those corrupt administrators are gone. There is new leadership in the district committed to distributing resources more equitably. Reading and math scores are rising. In 1996, based upon the needs of the organization and community members, MOM broadened its scope to include a variety of compelling issues beyond educational injustice. As stated by former staffer, Lisa Ortega, “Our issues come from the needs of the people… If someone complains about the need for a stop light at the corner, MOM goes out and investigates if this is indeed a community concern. That is how the campaigns come about.”