Now We’re a Family
A Conversation with José Cruz Guzmán about the Sky Without Limits Cooperative
José speaks with two other residents of the Sky Without Limits Cooperative during an advisory board meeting. César Atienzo took this photo.
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In the heart of South Minneapolis, five buildings stand. Each is distinct: one blue, another brick, one long, the other small. Located near a school, the buildings blend with the surrounding homes. If you’re driving quickly, you may miss the little things: Children playing on the lawn, people laughing on the steps, sunflowers towering in a garden bed, a bright mural hanging off the wall.
The Sky Without Limits Cooperative reminds us of what is possible when we reach across race, class, gender, and language to form lasting connections. José Cruz Guzman sat down with me* to tell his story of organizing against his landlord Steve Frenz to form the Cooperative.
“I have a neighbor, she’s a close friend. When there’s no one to care for her kids, she says, ‘I’m going to work’ and my mom takes care of them. Recently, another neighbor came to me and said, ‘A light went out in my apartment.’ What did I do? ‘Make sure you didn’t connect too many things. I’ll check the light fuses. Ok, I’m going to change the fuse, and until next time, don’t worry.’
“But before purchasing the buildings, before the fight, we were just separate people in each building, in each apartment. Maybe you saw your neighbor, but you didn’t know them, you didn’t know their name, you didn’t chat, nothing. Each person had their own life, and now we’re a family.
“The conditions of the apartments used to be bad, deteriorating. When I moved into my apartment 12 years ago, the carpet was really damaged. My landlord told me, ‘Don’t worry.’ But if you enter the apartment, you’ll see I changed the carpet. People would say, ‘Steve Frenz, the bathroom.’ Something like thirty times, but no one came. It was frustrating. I heard many neighbors say, ‘Hey, I pay my rent. Why is no one coming to make repairs?’
“But before purchasing the buildings, before the fight, we were just separate people in each building, in each apartment. Maybe you saw your neighbor, but you didn’t know them, you didn’t know their name, you didn’t chat, nothing. Each person had their own life, and now we’re a family.”
“We wanted to stay in our apartments but we didn’t know how. We were accustomed to this area. The nearby apartments are really expensive. We were scared of being evicted if we fought for what we deserve. We were afraid we’d need to start again, reapply to an apartment, pay another security deposit, move to another place with different neighbors in a different neighborhood. We considered these buildings our home, whereas our landlord only cared about his money and his personal interests. It’s not fair.
“But we started having meetings with each other. We began going to court. Inquilinxs Unidxs helped us find a lawyer, helped us pay the fees. The moment arrived when we had to fight eviction, but finally we began having conversations with Steve Frenz about purchasing the apartments. There was even talk of selling it to another person. We negotiated a lot. ‘I don’t want that. I want more money.’ Finally we reached an agreement. He met our request and sold the buildings.
If I were to advise my past self, I’d tell him it’s ok to have fear because fear keeps you going. If you have support you can continue forward to improve day by day.
Now things have changed, there’s more peace and tranquility. There are so many kind people here. You live with people from different cultures, with other types of food, with really good food! To make an important decision, we try to meet and listen to everyone’s point of view. We have a WhatsApp group. If we have a problem, we’ll send a message and try to solve it. ‘You’re parked in my spot. Sorry. I’ll move my car.’ Things like that. I’ll send a message. ‘Do you have tomatoes? I’m going to the store.’ We have to be clear that we are not alone. It’s ok to say, “I don’t know what to do. Help me.”
* Maria Bertrand worked closely with José to write this article. Any quoted material is in his words, translated by Maria. José reviewed and edited the article before publication.