One of the talented women performing at Festival Betances this year Karla P. Rivera Lozada. Born in San Germán, Puerto Rico, Karla’s attraction to music has been lifelong, studying at the School of Fine Arts of Bayamón, then the Conservatory of Arts of the Caribbean (CAC) in Old San Juan, and currently the prestigious Berklee College of Music. We sat down to chat with Karla about her ambitions,...
Read more
IBA started as an initiative in the late 1960’s, and has evolved into a Latino arts hub like no other. And, for the first time ever, the Festival Betances 2019 lineup is sure to please with an all Latina lineup. Featuring the sultry, soul-soothing music of 3nity, this year’s event will showcase a combination of Puerto Rican culture while also uplifting the various cultures the Boston area has t...
Read more
On July 20th and 21st, Plaza Betances will burst with life and activity, as Festival Betances kicks off another year of cultural celebration. As the Plaza fills with families, renowned musical performances, Latin food and drink, and traditional games, we’re reminded of how the arts and spaces dedicated to housing them play a critical role in the development of healthy, pro...
Read more
Our Resident Services program works to make every resident feel at home in Villa Victoria. From case management to neighborhood events, they build community and empower our residents. We recently spoke with one of our residents to learn more about her experience with IBA. Maria, a longtime Villa Victoria resident, has been living in our neighborhood since 1991 after moving from Guatemal...
Read more
A healthy community is defined by the continual improvement of the financial, social and environmental conditions that foster quality of life, promote empowerment and establish stability. At IBA, we oversee the wellbeing of nearly 1,500 residents and seek to optimize opportunity through robust residential services that advance academic and career development, improve health, encourage artistic ...
Read more
IBA has long been committed to providing affordable housing to our community. A key part of this effort has been our Resident Services Program, which helps our residents access support resources. To learn more about our Resident Services Program, we sat down with Senior Program Director, Rafael Medina. 1. How long have you been with IBA? Can you tell us about your time here? ...
Read more
In our second interview with the parents of our preschoolers, we spoke to Catherine, the mother of 3-year-old Louis. After they to Boston from Chicago a year ago, she enrolled her son in IBA's Preschool to immerse him in a more diverse community. Q: What do you think the benefits of the multicultural preschool can be? Catherine: It’s shaping my child’s world in...
Read more
We recently sat down with the Sarah, the mother of one our preschoolers, to talk about IBA's preschool. Her 3-year-old son Eric has been in IBA's Preschool for the last 9 months, and according to Sarah, has grown immeasurably. Q: How did you hear about IBA’s preschool? Sarah: I was having dinner with his dad in the area, and we just walked in, whic...
Read more
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, humans spend approximately 87 percent of their time indoors. This striking fact has serious implications, as the quality of the spaces we occupy is directly linked to the quality of the lives we live. The connection between space and human health is particularly critical for young children wh...
Read more
Serving children ages 2.9-5.5, IBA’s year-round preschool was the first bilingual program in the state of Massachusetts and is one of the Massachusetts Top 21 School Readiness programs. To learn more about IBA’s Preschool Program and the core values it instills in children, we sat down with Program Manager Joanna Fuentes, who has been with IBA for 19 years, and Education Manager Valerie...
Read more
What was your journey to your position as the Arts Director at a non-profit? How did you decide you wanted to get involved with IBA? I started my professional career in a publishing house and from there I immersed myself in the cultural world. I’ve been involved with publishing for the past 20 years in different ways— I’ve published government books and magazines, then ran...
Read more
Puerto Rican Yara Liceaga has been writing poetry since the late 1990’s, and for many years lived fully immersed both in the island’s cultural scene and academia through the Universidad de Puerto Rico. After leaving Puerto Rico in the midst of the country’s economic crisis, she used her experience to begin building a series of projects that would promote artistic collaboration and inter...
Read more
Affordable housing development takes time. But, in Massachusetts, time is a luxury. Every day, there are approximately 43 evictions across the state. Residents of the Commonwealth continue to face a harsh housing landscape where rents are the fourth-highest in the nation and there is a deficit of over 162,000 homes needed to accommodate residents on the brink or experiencing poverty (...
Read more
Puerto Rican native Josy Latorre has been singing professionally for over 40 years and is the only female founding member of the widely successful group, Haciendo Punto En Otro Son. Formed in 1975, the group became part of Puerto Rican folklore for their vast repertoire that melded traditional Puerto Rican folk music with modern sounds, musicalizations of national poets, and lyrics with social ...
Read more
Affordable housing is at the core of IBA’s work. Our commitment to providing not just a home, but a community continues as strong as ever in 2019. As you may know, we recently added new affordable housing units to our existing Villa Victoria community. ...
Read more