Jasmin’s Story

Born on the Lower East Side, Jasmin has been in the community for three generations. Her story is the story that many can relate to. Her grandparents migrated from Puerto Rico for better opportunities in housing, employment, education and healthcare. They made their home on Willet Street in 1959, in one of the buildings located at the SPURA site. After the building was demolished, they found shelter on Orchard Street until the landlord burned the building to collect on the insurance. It was then that they found their home in NYCHA-Baruch Houses, where Jasmin was born and raised.

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Jasmin attended the local public schools such as PS 142, JHS 22 and LES Prep. She attended Grand Street Settlement and Henry Street Settlement and worked at both after college. Her first job was at the bakery on Columbia Street, followed by becoming a group leader at the Boy's Club of New York on Pitt Street. Jasmin earned her General Equivalency Diploma (GED) in 1999 after leaving high school to work and help support her family. She then attended the Borough of Manhattan Community College, Stony Brook University and is currently a senior at the CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies, majoring in Labor Studies.

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