Founding Philosophy
Access was conceived in 1978 by the Board of the B.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities (then known as the B.C. Coalition of the disabled)1, as an integrated housing option for people with disabilities and the able-bodied. The hope of integrated housing was that ‘disability’ wouldn’t be an issue; instead people would be accepted as valuable individuals with different needs and abilities.
After much planning and hard work Access Housing Cooperative was incorporated in 1980 and three years later the big move-in date arrived; December 1st, 1983. Imagine 52 new units being moved into all at once! Lois Johnson described the mass moving day: “Everyone was moving furniture up and down the paths and greeting each other, saying hello and asking ‘which unit are you moving into?'”
The co-op contains three categories of units based on the number of adaptations in the unit: wheelchair (modified kitchen and wheel-in shower, etc.), disabled (non-modified kitchen, but other modifications, e.g. wide hallways); and non-disabled. Common areas and indeed, the entire coop, is designed to be physically accessible to everyone.
Access is the key to the founding philosophy of the co-op, as it is based on the belief that everyone should have access to housing not just architecturally, but also financially and socially. The founders of Access Housing cooperative hoped to create a co-op where the barriers to participation would be neither physical nor perceptual (i.e. each member would be seen as having value to the co-op no matter what their physical abilities or disabilities).
Each member of Access Housing co-operative contributes their energy, time and dedication to the co-op way of life. Some members have been doing this since the opening of Access almost 14 years ago. Of our co~op’s 52 units, 8 units are occupied today by members who contributed to the founding/beginning of the co-op. These members are a valuable resource to Access: Fiorita Antonio, Bill and Debbie Darwin, Irene Dunn, Lois Johnson, Mary Margaret Lambert, Darlene Skalle, Mary Williams and Joanne Williamson.
Access Housing co-operative is a self-governing community of people brought together under one roof (make that four roofs!) in search of secure, affordable housing. As members come and go, our community is always evolving, giving us the opportunity to continually re-create our little oasis on the Hill(s). Let’s make our oasis a friendly, respectful, supportive place, where the grounds and buildings are well maintained. This is our home. We, individually and collectively, are the owners and managers of Access Housing co-operative.
Dear fellow owners/managers/members, let’s renew our co-operative spirit, based on the founding philosophy of Access: each member is recognized as a valuable individual, bringing different needs and abilities to the coop. For example, a few of the different needs we bring tot he co-op are: families need our emotional and physical support; parents need a safe place for their children to play; people with disabilities need our physical help (e.g. keeping the pathways shovelled in the winter, so they’re not house-bound)2; people with English as a second language need our patience and assistance; elderly people need our support as their abilities change; etc.! The point is that we all need each other’s respect, support and help in various forms. Let’s value what each member brings to the co-op and work to create a friendly, respectful, supportive community – an accessible oasis.
A final note: our founding organization, the 8.C. Coalition of People with Disabilities, is celebrating it’s 20th anniversary this year with a fund-raiser on April 12th , 8:00pm, at the new Roundhouse Community Centre. The coalition is completely dependent on grants and donations. Perhaps Access Housing Co-operative could have a plaque made for the coalition and/or donate some money in appreciation of the coalition’s work. For tickets to the fund-raiser or to inquire about making individual donations, please call Mary Williams or Mary Margaret Lambert.
I’d like to thank Mary Margaret Lambert, Lois Johnson and Mary Williams for their friendly and invaluable assistance with this article.
Submitted by Kate Hearty
1 Note: the same board members founded BILD: Building Independent Living with the Disabled, a housing resource which ended up developing Access Co-op.
2 Note: This winter one of our members had to leave the co-op and live elsewhere while it was snowing, in order to get to work because we did not shovel/maintain the pathways. Let’s ensure that this doesn’t happen again!
