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As individuals, we have our own stories to tell about what co‑op housing means to us. Chloe Budd moved to Windfield Co‑op ten years ago with her four-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son. At the time, she was looking for safe, affordable housing with a sense of community. Heather Richards-Dalling learned what co‑op living is all about when co‑op members helped her son realize his dream Maggie Keith describes how co‑op housing changed her life... and led to the creation of a new housing co‑op. Here are some stories from CHF Canada’s 1998 writing competition, Youth in Action, which encouraged children to put their thoughts about co‑op housing on paper. And each housing co‑op has a history worth telling. Chloe Budd Chloe Budd became president of the Central Ontario Co‑operative Housing Federation in April of 2002. Chloe has been a COCHF Board member since May, 2001 when she was appointed by the Board to fill a vacated position. Chloe moved to Windfield Co‑op ten years ago with her four-year-old daughter and 11-year-old son. At the time, she was looking for safe, affordable housing with a sense of community. "Windfield is now my haven," says Chloe. "Living at Windfield has allowed me to learn skills I might otherwise have not thought of developing. Windfield is where my neighbours are my friends." For the first five years at Windfield, Chloe ran a Drama Club for the co‑op's children. The children entertained the members by performing various plays including "The Wizard of Oz" and Cinderella" to name two examples. Many of the members participated by building sets and sewing costumes. She then brought an idea to the co‑op's Spirit Committee to organize outings for members and their children. They went to Sportsworld in Kitchener, the Toronto Zoo, as well as local sports and artistic events. Currently, she serves on the Windfield Board of Directors. She has also participated on her co‑op's Finance, Investment and Flooring Committees. In 1997, she was elected by the Windfield membership to be their representative and delegate to meetings of COCHF and CHF Canada. Chloe is a strong believer in co‑op member education. She has attended many workshops, including: Board Training, Committees and Boards Working Together and Conflict Resolution. She says "Education is one of the Co‑op Principles. Our federation offers many workshops. Windfield being a member of our local federation has given me the opportunity to take some of the workshops. Our COCHF instructors are both knowledgeable and talented, and some of the country's best instructors are right here in our federation. These instructors not only offer workshops in our region but they are also instructors at the CHF Canada AGM." Chloe has nothing but praise for the current federation Board. "Serving as a COCHF Board member has been and continues to be a wonderful opportunity for me – to learn, to grow and to support the existing services of the federation. Our Board Members are committed to the federation and serving our member's best interest. Our diverse Board members share their knowledge and strengths at Board meetings. I am proud to be working with the Board members and the staff of COCHF." (reprinted with permission from Central Exchange, the newsletter of the Central Ontario Co‑operative Housing Federation, Summer 2002) Shalom members pitch in to assist ill co‑op child I am President of Shalom Community co‑op here in Kitchener. I am writing to tell you how our community got together for an ill boy and his wish trip! I am writing this as President and as mother of this boy. Cody was born with Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus. Our family moved to Kitchener 3 years ago. Our family had to move from our home, family and friends, 1400 miles due to Cody's medical needs. Our Shalom Co‑op community embraced us with loving arms, with many members helping our family as we were whisked away to hospital with Cody numerous times. Last October, Cody was granted his wish from the Starlight Foundation. Cody's dream was to go to Disney World. Our community got together the weeks prior to our trip – they donated spending money, film, food, autograph books, etc. One of our dear neighbours, Cathy, spearheaded the endeavour. (Thank you Cathy!) Through the freezing rain in her wheelchair she went door to door, talking to our community for Cody and his siblings. We were even given a going away party! We never felt so loved as we did right at that moment. Cody's trip was a true success. We all enjoyed ourselves but came home needing a vacation from our vacation. We had so much fun we exhausted ourselves. Cody received his dream… I received so much more… we all received the outward expression of our members’ concern and love for our family and an ill little boy who knows more strength then any of us adults. We had never lived in a co‑operative before, but I can honestly say that I truly understand what it means to live the lifestyle. Heather Richards-Dalling (reprinted with permission from Central Exchange, the newsletter of the Central Ontario Co‑operative Housing Federation, Summer 2002) The Pleasant Isle of Avès:
My life in co‑op housing started with a job advertisement in a community newspaper. Up to then, I had steered an eccentric course. I had performed in several kinds of show business, helped a doctor in practice among poor people, sold encyclopaedias, worked in a glue factory and a century-old summer resort. Each of these jobs took me into a world as enclosed and specific as a vine-hung treehouse, but none of them was a life. A stage actor was all I had ever wanted to be, but over seven hard years I had not been able to hack out a place in the theatre. Actors’ years are like dog years. Living in two cold crumbling rooms on a short-term income, I poured my grief, fury and unvalued imagination into a children’s novel about acting. My money almost gone, I began to hunt for paying work that would let me write. I found that an MA in English, an odd resumé, typing skills, and a certain intensity did not attract employers. I was close to despair when I proposed myself to the co‑op as its co-ordinator. I knew little about co‑op housing, but I liked the idea that residents had a free voice and vote. An acquaintance at the local federation let me prepare for my interview by reading through the office copy of How to Run a Housing Co‑operative. For five hours I sat in a hallway, memorizing the manual, while in front of me people thundered up and down the narrow passage or held loud conversations of which I hardly understood a sentence. By the end of that day, I could explain the philosophy of co‑op housing and had a better grasp of the work than the hiring committee did. They told me afterwards that they were won by my determination. And, at six dollars an hour, they thought they would get their money’s worth. The next three months were among the happiest of my life. That little job was precious to me as an expression of the board’s confidence. After the shallow individualism of show business and its demand for quick pay-offs, I was humbled by the directors’ willingness to give of their time for nothing – not even thanks. Best of all, I was part of a team and my ideas were welcomed. I was no longer a solitary spider trying to spin my brain webs across the void. The co‑op vision of liberty and order in community took over my soul. At last I had found my life’s adventure. When I began to look for a housing co‑op to live in, I met with reality. Waiting lists were years long. Worse, housing co‑ops did not understand why the dining room table would not do for someone who was trying to write books. If I proposed to live with another writer, why did we both need writing space? Couldn’t we take turns? And why write at all? Why not nurture plants or pets or children? I found that many co‑op people understood familiar needs, but could not bend their imaginations to unfamiliar ones. Once again, I was hearing that there was no place for my kind. My companion and I began to talk about a housing co‑op for people in the arts. There, members who worked in music, visual art, publishing, photography, theatre, dance or film would be normal, and their needs and oddities would require no apology. It became our mission to make this vision real. The next thirteen years went fast. I continued to work in co‑op housing, changing jobs twice, whenever the challenges became predictable. The co‑op movement gave me the freedom to use my talents and to be myself. My best times always came when I was outward bound, ready to live and die with a band of comrades on some wild, new venture. The artist’ co‑op was born out of conflict, but it has mellowed into a community that celebrates life in the arts. We balance on the edge of the city, a bay on one side and broad waters on the other. Our design has the grace of modernism, which reaches out reconciling hands to the simple warehouses and silos of the old industrial waterfront. I have stood at dawn among the morning glories and geraniums on my balcony, watching a great blue heron’s commuter flight across the outer harbour to its daily fishing grounds. I remember the summer film-series on love and passion, and the Spring Salon, an evening of art songs and poetry performed by our members. Our anniversary is a night of hot music on the roof, which ends with fireworks and a traditional visit from the police. I think of our memorial celebrations and the trees in our new roof garden, named for members who have died. Our lobby party produced 92 different letters to politicians, written by people who will fight like bulldogs to save what we have. But if co‑op housing has brought me a beautiful and supportive home, it has also withdrawn the old joys of work and comradeship that it once gave so fully. I stand marooned with a pistol and a bottle of rum, ankle-deep in the rising tide. Squinting my one good eye against the stinging light, I scan the glittering horizon. Clouds cast themselves into strange forms. Far out on the cold, barracuda-crowded seas, I imagine a returning sail. — Maggie Keith Quebec Manor Co‑op Wins 2002 Mary Flynn Award At the CHF BC Semi Annual General Meeting on April 24, Quebec Manor was awarded the 2002 Mary Flynn Award of Co‑operation for its contributions to the Federation and the co‑op sector. Below is the presentation speech given by CHF BC awards committee chair, Calvin Woida, and CHF BC director, Savo Djuretic: "The Mary Flynn Award of Co‑operation is presented each year to the housing co‑op that has made a special contribution to the BC housing co‑op community. To qualify, the co‑op must have been a member of CHF BC or VICHA for at least 10 years. The co‑op must also have been active through participation on the CHF BC Board of Directors, Committees, Joint Delegate's Meetings or other significant contributions. A written submission must also be received on the co‑op's behalf explaining why this co‑op should receive the award. "On the 20th anniversary of CHF BC, it is only fitting that this year's winner has been with us since the beginning (in fact an original member was one of our first presidents; another is on the current Board of Directors). The co‑op is a founding member of CHF BC and has never missed an AGM or an SAGM. They have also been a member of CHF Canada from the beginning and have never missed an AGM there, either. "But their involvement doesn't stop there. Over the years, members of this co‑op have been active founding COHO and the Community Housing Land Trust. They are also known for their strong lobbying abilities and negotiating skills, which have been used on behalf of the entire co‑op housing movement. "These same skills served them well when the co‑op was founded in 1979. Originally a rental apartment, residents got together and successfully fought a 60 per cent rent increase. The residents then negotiated the purchase and renovation of the building through the federal government’s housing co‑op program. For over 20 years, it has been a living example of a successful member-owned and run housing co‑op." Winner, Children’s Category for the 1998 essay contest Why I Like Living in a Housing co‑op… By Elizabeth Laforte First of all people are very caring and if you need to borrow something all you have to do is ask! And if you get hurt there is a member of the co‑op there to help you. The co‑op is very kind to kids of all ages! For younger kids they have a Kids Club and for kids of all ages they have Parties! For your very own housing co‑op you will need:
Directions: Pour everything in a big bowl and stir for 5 minutes. Pour on to baking pan. Cook for an hour. Now you have your own housing co‑op! Honourable Mention, Children’s Category for the 1998 essay contest Summerhill By Lynne age: 8 years I love Summer Hill. It is a great place to live. The lake is so beautiful at night and it has little shells. It has so much activity, mostly every month. It has a great garden. In a co‑op people are so generous. That makes me feel happy. |