We Stay/Nos Quedamos celebrates 30 years with its annual South Bronx event

This year's Nos Quedamos' We Are Melrose festival highlighted the South Bronx community and organization’s 30th anniversary.

The July 8 event was held at Yolanda Garcia Park, which is named after one of the founders of Nos Quedamos (Spanish for We Stay), who hosted meetings in the early 1990s to discuss the future of the Melrose neighborhood. The meetings led to drastic changes in the Melrose area, including new housing developments, community ownership, sustainability and the legacy of Nos Quedamos in the South Bronx. 

“She did everything she needed to do … to rebuild her community.” said Anna Vincenty, former community liaison and co-founder of Nos Quedamos.

The community empowerment and legacy is reinforced by Nos Quedamos’ work and by the actual We Are Melrose festival itself, according to  CEO Jessica Clemente. “We Are Melrose is a celebration where we can look behind us, honor the legacy of our organization and get people together”. 

The festival has been an annual tradition for the past 6 years, including a virtual version during the coronavirus pandemic. This year’s festival was emceed by Caridad de La Luz, or La Bruja, a local performer and South Bronx native. A long list of entertainers also performed, including Kinto Zonó, a group that plays Puerto Rican music with New York flair, MazArte, a Mexican dance company, along with poets Bonafide Rojas and Jesus “Papoleto” Meléndez. 

Just outside of the park were tables set up with information on services and education provided by Nos Quedamos’ partner organizations. There also were bounce houses for children. “This festival is an opportunity to welcome new families to the neighborhood and reconnect to the root of Nos Quedamos, community.” Clemente told New York Nonprofit Media.

"Harvesting Culture" awards were presented to community leaders who have long-advocated for the South Bronx. Community organizer Carmen Vazquez also received a “Rising Star” award for her work with the nonprofit. “I started as an intern with Nos Quedamos when I was 16 … and receiving that award for the work that is based on impacting the youth was a full circle moment for me.”