The Cooperative Center for Development and Solidarity (CCDS) was first convened in November 2015 by Latino immigrant residents of East Boston concerned about the rapid gentrification of our neighborhood. It started with a few conversations, first among a small group of people displaced from a neighborhood apartment building and grew into dozens of immigrant residents meeting for months to try to find solutions to the accelerated displacement of people of color from our neighborhood. Many people from that original group started CCDS in March 2016. These are now members of the CCDS steering committee, members of groups exploring cooperatives, staff and volunteers. We not only work with the immigrant community, we are from that community.