Silvia Flores is a small business owner who has been in the Highland Park community for 20 years. Silvia is known and loved by thousands of community members who utilize her crucial services for party rentals, general household items and to send money transfers. Her legacy small business has been successful and has supported her family.

That is, until this past month, when the building was purchased by Orange County based Dr. Donald Abrahm and his real estate investment company, AEA Investments VIII, LLC. Now, Silvia, along with four neighboring businesses, Sip and Snack, Two Sons, Cisco's Crazy Scissors, and Matters of Space, all received a 60-day eviction notice without any reason or discussion. In Silvia's case this would terminate her tenancy of two decades. Silvia has not violated any clause of her lease nor has she fallen behind on rent payments. In fact, the new property owner has not even introduced himself to the woman who he intends to uproot from her business and the community. This is nothing new. For decades we have seen real estate investors push out legacy businesses without a care for our people or our neighborhood. In addition to causing Silvia—a low-income immigrant mother and grandmother —to lose her livelihood, this eviction will further accelerate gentrification in Highland Park. This is just one example of a war on commercial tenants.

But Silvia is not giving up - with nothing left to lose and nowhere to go - she is going to FIGHT to STAY and is building a resistance campaign with the support of the LA Tenants Union! Our goal is to pressure the new landlord to meet with the tenants he is evicting and negotiate the terms of the lease. We need your support as members of our beautiful community, to make this happen.

Please sign your name to the petition and pledge to boycott whatever new business this landlord brings in from out of town. Be sure to follow along for updates and calls to action. 

Displacement of tenants, whether residential or commercial, is an issue that too many of us have faced and we refuse to be complicit. Although this eviction is technically legal, it is unjust and inhumane, and for these reasons, we are asking for your support to make sure Silvia and her legacy business remain in our community for good!