How Kawanais Smith Won a Full Renovation of her Building

Kawanais got involved with the City Wide Tenants Union over 5 years ago. She lives in Southview Towers in Rochester’s South Wedge Neighborhood. The Southview Towers has over 190 units, many of them suffered from mold, mice, and thick ice frozen on the inside of the windows. The heat was so low many of the tenants used their stoves to help heat their apartments. 

As president of the Southview Towers Tenants Association she was leading the fight against their landlord, who refused to fix the issues the tenants were facing. Through protests, rallies, and speaking to City Council and City Hall they successfully forced the hand of their landlord and had Southview Terrace completely renovated. 

Kawanais told us that her landlord even tried to get her evicted two years later. But she knows her rights, and the power of collective action and successfully kept herself in her home. 

Kawanais left us with these words for other tenants facing hardships like these: “You have to stand up and fight, you can’t sit down, nothings gonna happen that way.”