HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM CHF CANADA!

The board, council and staff of CHF Canada wish you a joyful holiday and a peaceful and prosperous new year!

All CHF Canada offices will be closed for the holidays from Wednesday, December 21, 2016 to Monday, January 2, 2017 inclusive.

THANK YOU FOR VOICING YOUR VISION!

This fall, members all across Canada took part in Our Movement, Our Future: Voicing Our Vision, our online dialogue to shape the future of Canada�s co‑op housing movement.

The results are in: more than 300 people shared 1,030 thoughts and ideas and assigned 23,624 stars to prioritize them. Thanks to everyone for these great contributions!

There�s more to come! Next, all the ideas and results will be analyzed. You�ll then have a chance to discuss the ideas that received the most buzz at regional spring events and webinars.

Finally, at the 2017 Annual Meeting in Niagara Falls, you can engage in the discussion through workshops, networking and a special report at the national business meeting. You�ll learn what you helped to shape, and you�ll see the next steps in this exciting process as we set a vision for the future of our movement together.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS FROM 2016

2016 was a year of big accomplishments for CHF Canada. Here are the highlights:

• After our successful election campaign in 2015, Prime Minister Trudeau instructed his ministers to maintain subsidies for housing co‑op members, resulting in Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announcing a two-year federal extension at CHF Canada�s Hamilton AGM.
• CHF Canada is now actively lobbying governments across the country, and through the federal consultations on a national housing strategy, for permanent subsidies for co‑op members and other supportive measures for co‑op housing.
• We helped member co‑ops arrange more than $55 million to renovate and modernize thanks to CHF Canada�s Refinancing Program. CHF Canada persuaded CMHC to set aside $150 million so that Section 61 co‑ops, such as Village Canadien in Winnipeg, can access financing on favourable terms.
• More than 70 housing co‑ops took the guesswork out of planning and project management by using CHF Canada�s Asset Management Services.
• CHF Canada�s new Greener Co-op Microgrant helped co‑ops across Canada implement small projects that reduce greenhouse gases, improve air quality, adapt to climate change and inspire others.
• In Ontario: The Promoting Affordable Housing Act promises inclusionary zoning to produce more affordable housing, hopefully including co‑ops. And a change to the Housing Services Act puts in place a long-awaited regulatory system allowing co‑ops to challenge service manager decisions they feel are unfair.
• CHF Canada�s new Manager, Co-op Housing Development will increase CHF Canada�s capacity to encourage and support new partnerships and innovative ways to develop new co‑op homes.
• Four young co‑operators were awarded Diversity Scholarships in our regions (Nova Scotia, Southwestern Ontario and Manitoba), joining the program offered by regional federations across the country helping hundreds of young co‑operators reach their academic goals.
• Our new LGBTQ Inclusive Co-op Communities brochure describes sexual orientation, gender expression and gender identity and how co‑ops can become more inclusive communities and safe spaces for everyone.
• Other vital CHF Canada membership benefits came your way in 2016: education and training, a great annual meeting, enterprise services including insurance and investment programs, and your voice in the co‑op movement nationally and around the world.

For more details, check out our printable 2016 highlights flyer.

AGING IN PLACE PROFILE: DONNA MCHUGH, UNIFIED SAINT JOHN HOUSING CO-OP

Twenty-seven years ago, when her son told her he'd put an application in for them, Donna McHugh didn�t know what a housing co‑op was. Now, she wouldn�t leave.

�As long as I�m able, and I still have all my faculties, and I can afford it, I�ll stay. I�m secure here. I have friends, and I enjoy being here.� Donna�s husband, John, passed away just over a year ago, and although she finds living alone is an adjustment, she�d still prefer to stay in the co‑op. �All my memories are here. I would rather be alone with my memories, than somewhere without them�

At 74, Donna still serves on the board of directors, and was instrumental in helping bring about Unified Saint John. She sat on the steering committee to consider scale, and the merging of eight smaller co‑ops into a larger one.

�Financially, it made a lot of sense. Small co‑ops are not always able to get capital funding to do major repairs. I put it to people this way: It�s like being in the Bay of Fundy. Would you rather be in a cruise ship or in a rowboat? It�s pretty rocky, and windy out there. Alone, you could drown.�

She finds the location of the co‑op convenient for someone who doesn�t drive and enjoys being able to get around uptown St. John. �Co‑op living has surprised me so much. The co‑op�s really good to people, and it�s a safe place for people to bring up their kids. As long as you work with them, they�ll certainly work with you.�

Read more about how Donna�s was involved in the Unified Saint John amalgamation.

If you or your co op has a story to share for CHF Canada�s Aging in Place profiles, please contact Emily Doyle at edoyle@chfcanada.coop

John and Donna McHugh celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary at City Centre Co‑op (now Unified Saint John).

ROOFTOPS CANADA SEEKS TECHNICAL ADVISOR FOR FIVE-WEEK VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMENT IN SOUTH AFRICA

Rooftops Canada is recruiting a short term technical advisor (TA) to work with South African partners in March and September of 2017.

This assignment is part of a four-year Rooftops Canada project called Equal Spaces: Social Housing to End Spatial Apartheid in South Africa. The goal is to help stakeholders develop and manage social housing and urban regeneration initiatives in at least four South African cities. The project will help create the conditions for the construction of 4,500 social housing units in regeneration projects and 6,700 or more social housing units in other well-located urban areas.

Among other qualifications, the ideal candidate for this role will have �multiple years` experience working in large, complex social housing organizations in Canada with responsibility for asset management, capital replacement reserve planning programs, reactive and preventative maintenance.�

The deadline for applications is January 11, 2017.

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