In its thirty-two years of operation, ABC No Rio has beaten almost all the odds. The collectively-run (and almost entirely volunteer) organization has survived twenty years on the brink of eviction, with perennial funding and legal battles, all under a collapsing, nearly two-hundred-year-old roof. When the group officially acquired the building from the city for one dollar in 1997, it seemed doubtful that it would be able to raise the $100,000 that was required to maintain the place for five years. Now, due in part to a more reciprocal relationship with the city government and support from individual donors, it hopes to execute a $5 million rebuilding project.
