Community Responses and Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic The Case of the Alyansa ng mga Samahan sa Sitio Mendez, Baesa Homeowners Association, Inc. (ASAMBA) Ananeza P. Aban, Erlinda Sapiandante, Mina Amata-Justo, and Edwardo Roldan Communities living in the urban margins are undocumented and largely ignored by mainstream media. In the past, they have seized opportunities to reclaim spaces and resources and to fight for their rights. This is evidence that the urban poor are capable agents and are not idle players waiting for government support or subsidy. There are myriads of exceptional possibilities and alternatives that the poor can do in the face of worsening urban poverty and complex socio-economic costs. In the midst of anxiety and uncertainties, the homeowners of the Alyansa ng mga Samahan sa Sito Mendez, Baesa Homeowners Association, Inc. (ASAMBA) in Quezon City, Philippines have devised their own ways of mobilizing effectively in response to a health crisis. This article draws from stories of ASAMBA members and illustrates their creativity and resilience in spite of the COVID-19 pandemic. A year before the COVID-19 pandemic, senior leaders of ASAMBA spearheaded the documentation of their community history through life histories that was facilitated by the Program on Alternative Development (AltDev) of the University of the Philippines Center for Integrative and Development Studies (UP CIDS). The primary purpose of this participatory documentation was both for the current residents to memorialize and for future generations to understand the birth pains that the community endured when it was established amid the backdrop of constant harassment and violent demolitions faced by Metro Manila urban poor communities during the 1990s. A secondary objective was to identify and narrate how 23