Apolonia Lopez is a second-generation resident of Urban Village, an affordable housing complex in the Newton Street NW neighborhood. At the time of this interview, she is also serving as the Vice President of the Urban Village Tenant Association, which is in its last round of finding a new developer to perform major renovations on the complex. In this interview, she shares her experiences as a longtime resident of Urban Village, where she was raised by her grandmother, and where she now raises her own children. She recalls the Urban Village community of her youth, as well as its evolution in the recent process of the residents selling the building to a new developer as part of exercising their Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) rights. Her building’s history as the product of St. Stephen’s Church’s reparations to the Black community continues to give its residents additional protection in negotiating with new buyers. In the most recent sale, Urban Village went one step further by creating a mechanism for generational wealth for its current residents. She gives a first-person account as a working class mother taking on the challenge and actively engaging in the future of her affordable housing complex. This includes her experiences with the legal and financing systems as an affordable housing community activist and leader. She shares her pride and excitement in achieving something that was unimaginable, for the long-term benefit of her family and affordable housing community.