"By becoming involved with Make the Road and being pushed to take on greater responsibilities in the organization, I’ve come to see that I’m a strong leader in the community.  My goal is to work with other community members to help them be stronger leaders," says Make the Road by Walking member Betsy Ortiz.

Indeed, Betsy is one of Make the Road by Walking’s strongest leaders within our housing justice group, ¡BASTA!.  In the four months that she has been active with us, Betsy has recruited an astonishing 60 new Make the Road members. 

Betsy came to Make the Road early this year to fight back against her landlords’ harassment of her, her partner Jessica Marrero, and their daughter Alyssa Marrero.  Betsy quickly took on greater leadership responsibilities in BASTA’s housing justice campaigns, such as organizing a protest of over 60 Make the Road members in front of her home, speaking with the press, and facilitating BASTA meetings.  She recently facilitated a Brooklyn-wide meeting hosted by Make the Road on preserving affordable housing for over 250 participants.

Because of her great passion for justice in the community and her ability to move people to become members, Make the Road hired Betsy first as a part-time asthma health promoter and subsequently as a full-time BASTA organizer for a 3 month internship with the Social Justice Leadership program Activate!