The house at Rua Torres Homem 790, built in 1948, was occupied from 1965 by the former Associação Baiana de Beneficência (ABB), an entity founded at the time of the Empire and which brought together the Bahian community of Rio de Janeiro. The space, since then, has always been occupied for social assistance purposes, having even been used to shelter, in its block, many families from Morro dos Macacos who were homeless during the great rains of 1966 and 1967.
In the 90s, the main community activity of this entity was the "project of the dumplings", which brought together young people from the community to make sweet cakes at home, sold throughout the neighborhood of Vila Isabel and surroundings. To this day, this project remains alive in the memory of the residents of the neighborhood.
Since March 2003, the space of the former Bahian Association now houses the Centro de Cultura Social from Rio de Janeiro (CCS-RJ), founded on September 17, 1991. For almost 10 years, CCS-RJ has sought to continue the community work that has been done for almost 50 years in the house that now houses it, but with its own political proposal. Before that, in 2001, some members of the CCS-RJ were invited to participate and support the aforementioned "dumpling project". They then also requested a room for the organization of a library, which was implemented in November of that same year with the foundation of the Fábio Luz Social Library. In addition to a library, CCS-RJ now houses several community works and initiatives linked to popular movements.