Save the Co-op - Meeting #1

One June 27th, after weeks of work to line it up, we had our first big meeting about the remediation of the Aaron Webster Housing Co-operative.

In attendance we had members of the co-op board, our COHO representative Liz Chaput, Stuart Thomson and Zimel Magallano from Terra Housing as well as local politicians Libby Davies and Shane Simpson.

At the meeting we reviewed the co-op's history and efforts towards remediation - the demoralizing delays, lack of support from CMHC and BC Housing and the flagging co-op morale as boards changed over the years. The declining state of the building, including the uninhabitable Unit #107, was also discussed as well as the number of units on subsidy and families who cannot afford to live elsewhere.

Shane and Libby were very supportive about all the co-op problems. They offered some very realistic and reasonable suggestions and promised to support us by encouraging all the involved government agencies to take action and help us reach our goal of remediation.

Adrian Estergaard (not pictured) and Cherise Craney committed to work on the remediation project until completion, regardless of board involvement, to prevent the loss of focus during changes of board.

At the end of the meeting we came away with a plan to move ahead by contacting CMHC to get financial help from them and the city to start with piecemeal remediation work.