Black Women's Secret Society Needs Help Repairing Its Home In Bed-Stuy

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — One of the country's first Black-led benevolent societies needs help to stay in its historic home in Bed-Stuy, according to a new fundraiser.

The United Order of Tents — a Black women's aid society started in the 1800s — is hoping to bring in $250,000 needed to repair its MacDonough Street headquarters, which the local chapter has run from for nearly eight decades, according to the GoFundMe.

The 87 MacDonough St. mansion has fallen into disrepair given damage from construction and the organization's own financial strain, Brownstoner first reported.

"The women now work in a building with half-done construction, boarded-up windows, a leaky roof, faulty wiring and no radiators," the GoFundMe reads. "The Brooklyn Tents needs YOUR help to ensure its legacy can be protected for future generations."

The United Order of Tents was initially founded in 1848 to help slaves reach freedom on the Underground Railroad and has spent more recent decades on a mission to "feed the hungry, tend to the sick, bury the dead, help raise children and care for the elderly here in Brooklyn," according to the chapter.

The mansion they call home on the corner of MacDonough Street and Tompkins Avenue was bought by the group in 1945 and has its own meaningful history. The building, part of the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District, was built in 1863 and is listed on the New York State and National Register of Historic Places.

The Brooklyn tents say the building has fallen into disrepair in part because of a plan several years ago to sell part of their land and restore the mansion. But, contractors paid to do the work ended up damaging the home instead, according to the organization.

The group has also had its own financial difficulties because of "dues dropping due to members passing away," they said.

They hope to expand their membership in future years to help with the strain.

"We are embarking on a campaign to grow our membership and protect our legacy for decades," the Tents wrote. "For more than a century, secrecy has served as our bond and protection, but it has also prevented the public from knowing about our great work."

Find the GoFundMe here.