This is the
VOICE OF SUNNYHILL
Submitted by Rachel Rose
Please join your neighbours for a Spring Fling potluck dinner. The Social Committee will be providing ham, potatoes, and beverages. Please bring a meal item to share, a list of its ingredients and plates and cutlery for yourself. We look forward to an evening of food and connection to welcome spring together!
Submitted by Rachel Rose
Guess who is turning 40 this year? This year marks Sunnyhill Housing Co-operatives 40th Birthday and we need help planning for this special birthday party! The Social Committee is putting together a sub committee to plan for this special occasion. We will need help with everything from ideas, to logistical support, to grocery shopping. This is a great way to pitch in for just a short bit! If you would like to join please contact Rachel from the Social Committee in #807 or at rachelroseconsulting@gmail.com
Photos and idea submitted by Cindy Schnee
Do you recognize any of these? Match the Sunnyhill wintry scenes with their flowery doppelgangers.
Submitted by Andrea Bergen
This information can also be found on the SACHA website http://www.sacha-coop.ca/events.html
Submitted by Mia Rushton
The City of Calgary Parks department has launched a citizen science project to help identify and quantify the wild animals in our city spaces. Visit Calgary Captured to contribute and get a glimpse of the creature we share our parks with.
Here are a few images I've come across recently:
A coyote, white tailed deer and a racoon.
https://www.zooniverse.org/projects/calgary-captured/calgary-captured
Submitted by Jacky Durry
Hello,
This is how they keep making new co-ops in BC. This is the most recent of a series of new co-ops dating back to the athlete’s village from the winter 2010 Olympics.
A combination of setting up a land trust from CHFBC, a close relationship with other non-profit housing associations, hard work and good relations with the municipal government, a good relationship with a developer, who is willing to work with so many moving pieces, a co-op community and financing.
From the Co-operative Housing Federation of BC:
CHF BC and the Community Land Trust are proud to announce the opening of Railyard Housing Co-op at 95 East 1st Avenue in Vancouver.
The 15-storey 135-unit building was developed by Concert Properties as part of its 6.4 acre Southeast False Creek site, The Creek. The Community Land Trust was selected by the City to own and operate the site through the new Railyard Housing Co-op. A pre-registration list to apply to the new co-op filled quickly and the co-op is not currently accepting applications.
The new co-op’s focus will be on affordable homes for a mix of families with children and singles or couples. The unit mix includes 44 two-bedroom and 29 three-bedroom suites. The rest of the building is a mix of one bedroom and studio apartments. Some units have been designed for complete accessibility. The co-op also includes two in-home childcare units. More than half of the co-op’s suites will be affordable to households with annual incomes between $25,000 and $55,000.
"We are thrilled to be partnering with the City and Concert Properties to offer so many affordable homes to families in the Southeast False Creek community," said Thom Armstrong, executive director of CHF BC and the Community Land Trust. "The community land trust model is an ideal fit with the City's new Housing Vancouver strategy, and we look forward to our next opportunity to work together."
CHF BC and the Community Land Trust welcome Railyard Housing Co-op and its new members to the co-op housing sector!
Submitted by Jacky Durry
Hey all,
Here’s a link that may interest you.
The recording of our popular webinar held last week with Adam Vaughan is now available online.
Adam Vaughan is the MP for Spadina-Fort York and Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. As such, he is one of the key architects behind Canada’s new National Housing Strategy. He is also a strong advocate for co-operative housing.
Among several important topics he touched upon in this one-hour webinar, Vaughan said that eligible Section 95 housing co-ops will be hearing from CMHC about the 2018 subsidy extension in the next couple of weeks.
Asked by CHF Canada Director, Strategic Affairs Tim Ross about the potential for more co-op housing development, Vaughan said that co-ops should get into “build mode” and pitch for as much of the new federal funding as possible. "Co-ops don't have to replicate the previous model,” he added. "We're diversifying the toolkit and the financial supports to make a whole new generation of opportunities materialize."
CHF Canada thanks Adam Vaughan for this open and helpful discussion with housing co-op members and supporters.
Cheers,
Jacky
What: Sunnyhill Garage Sale
When: Saturday, May 12 (The busiest day of the CBC Book Sale at the Curling Club!)
Who: Sunnyhill will provide tables. Any member who would like to participate can sign up for a table or choose to share a table with another member depending on their needs. Each table will then be responsible for setting up and managing sales. Any money made will be for the members to keep.
One table will be reserved for donations of quality items. A group of volunteers will manage this table and all of the profits will then be put back into the Social Committee fund and/or donated to charity. Anything not sold will then be donated to charity.
Where: Two locations: The Circle Garden & the Sidewalk on 3rd street across from the Curling Club (we will ask for volunteers on 3rd street who don’t mind having the sidewalk and/or driveway used for this.)
How: The Social Committee will provide signage and advertise the sale. We will also manage table sign up, distribution and the donation table.
Submitted by Rachel Rose
Are You Interested in Playing Board Games?
The Social Committee is starting a monthly board game club. All levels of interest and skill are welcome to join! If you would like to learn more please email the Social Committee Chair Rachel at Rachelroseconsulting@gmail.com or call at 587-433-9386.
Join the Social Committee for a St. Patricks Day Pub night at the Curling Rink. Watch the website, look for the posters, and keep an eye on the facebook group for official date and time once they have been determined. We hope you can join us for a fun relaxed evening!
Submitted by Andrea Bergen
The Buildings Committee would like to welcome Nathan Erickson of #12 Sunnyhill Lane to the Committee, we are very glad to have him.
The Committee continues to meet on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. Always looking for new Members to join the Committee.
The Buildings Committee has purchased 6 space heaters for use if Members have furnace issues that cannot be rectified immediately. These heaters are located in the garage. The Emergency Buildings Committee Member have a key to the garage and their contact information can be found on the phone list. Please also remember to never leave space heaters unattended.
Information submitted by Belle Auld on behalf of the Education Committee
Some of us senior Sunnyhill residents may be interested in the services that this (relatively) new co-op – the Calgary Aging in Place Cooperative – offers.
Here is information from their website (http://www.calgaryaginginplace.ca):
“Essentially, our role at CAIP is to find services needed to stay in your own home. Whether it is house cleaning, handy persons, snow removal, lawn-care, a plumber or an electrician, we find the services for you. Then, we negotiate the best rate possible.”
CAIP services that Sunnyhill residents may be interested in include:
Services are then billed to you by CAIP - not directly from the service provider.
Membership with the Calgary Aging in Place Cooperative is $60.00/year.
Here is a link to the membership form:
http://www.calgaryaginginplace.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/CAIP-Membership-Application-Form.pdf
Their phone number is 403-774-7247.
Another service offered through CAIP is the Personal Injury Prevention for Seniors. Information on their website says:
“It is a FREE educational and interactive offering, featuring information for seniors on stretching for longevity, how to safely enter or exit a tub or shower, standing defensively, and carrying items without strain or injury. Book now by email pips@calgaryaginginplace.ca
The 60 or 90 minute program is free of charge to groups of 20 or more. For information about CAIP or to book your program contact us by phone 403-774- 7247 ext 1 or by email at pips@calgaryaginginplace.ca.”
Submitted by Phil Cox
Our mortgage pre-payment application has been submitted to CMHC. With the help of Communitas, we made the deadline of February 1st.
If successful, Sunnyhill will be free of its original mortgage that came with a high interest rate.
Of course we still have principal to pay and that will happen through financing from First Calgary Financial. It is the margin between the interest we have paid up to now (a little lower than 10%) and the interest on the new financing (closer to 3%) that is the savings to us.
We have the option to borrow additional funds to help pay for the upgrades we want for Sunnyhill, but we are a bit limited at the moment in what we can borrow because of the time horizon on our lease.
So, about the lease; On February 1st, we met with Councillor Druh Farrell, her team and representatives of their leasing department and Calgary Housing (the City’s own corporation mandated to provide safe and affordable housing solutions).
We are excited by the outcome. Here are the main points:
So that is where we are at today. Druh suggested the process of building a case and getting a request before City of Calgary could take as long as a year. The good news is that we have a strategy to do just that and with all the key players in the City on side.
Next up… we need to clarify our options under the National Housing Strategy. There are two parts to this. One is to understand whats available, the other is to figure out what we want. We have Communitas with us for a few more weeks to help us through these steps. Stay tuned.
CFH Canada is looking for qualified people to run for positions on its' Board of Directors, Finance and Audit Committee, and Ontario Council. Learn more here.
Submitted by Andrea Bergen
The Buildings Committee is aware that some of the eavestroughs have been failing lately however due to the weather there is not much that can be done until it warms up. There has been extra money added to the 2018 budget request to make the required repairs.
As a note: There are several containers around the co-op that contain gravel in them and can be used on the ice so that it’s not so slippery and dangerous.
The Buildings Committee is always looking for new Members to join us. If you are interested in attending a meeting to see if this Committee is the right one for you the next meeting is on February 21st at 6:00pm in the Sunnyhill office.
The next General Meeting will take place on Friday, January 26, 2018 from 7:00-9:00pm at the Calgary Curling Club - Blue Room.
Be sure to review the meeting minutes from the November 5th General Meeting and the updated Education Committee policies. Both can be found on the Documents page.
Babysitting will be available.
Submitted by Belle Auld for the Education Committee
The Education Committee organized and hosted two Potential Member Orientations in November. We did the orientations a new way this time – thanks to Patrick Nicholson for the idea. Instead of people sitting in a large group and listening to us talk, we had people circulate, round table style, to sit and listen to representatives from the different Sunnyhill committees talk about the Co-op and their committees.
This worked well. Twenty people filled out evaluation forms and the response was great: everyone who answered the evaluation said they found the orientation helpful. We asked several other questions and had people rate the orientation on a scale of 1 – 10 (ten being the best).
The information available – all responses were between 8 – 10. Fourteen people rated the orientation at 10 – the best.
The way the information was presented – all responses were between 8 – 10. Thirteen people rated the orientation at 10.
Comments included:
“I like the format you’ve chosen – personable, easy to ask questions, tailored, etc.”
“Rotation of table for different topics is a great way to meet the different committees and have some closer (one-on-one) kind of interaction and have our questions answered”
“Subgroup presentation was helpful, informative”
Thanks to the following committee members for representing Sunnyhill so well: JP, Mark, Phil, Jane, Janice, David, Bob, Pam, Buzz, Marzena and of course Andrea. (Apologies if I have missed anyone…)
Submitted by Lisa Rouleau
Member Selection met this fall and discussed how the waiting list is updated and what notes are included regarding contact. We wanted to ensure that accurate information gets passed along to the office, and to the committee as volunteers come and go. We were kept busy phoning lots of people on the lists and interviewing quite a few, and we removed applicants who had not renewed their status. At this point in time, the lists are still closed.
We welcomed Jaime Muneoka and Laura Doram to the committee and said a sad farewell to Janine Morigeau who has moved away from SHC.
MS also was part of the latest Orientation sessions held at the curling club in November. In anticipation of that, the info sheet we provide to potential new members was updated by our chair, Susan Russell. It includes information about how our waitlist works, renewals, what is needed for interviews (proof of income, references, volunteer experience), expectations around involvement in the co-op, income limits and share payments.
Sending very warm welcomes to Nathan and Hannah Erickson, their daughter Eloise and son Spencer who’ve moved into #12 SHL, and to Coeur Riley and daughter McKenna who’ve moved into #823 – 3rd. Glad to have your families with us!
Submitted by Bob Bott
Grand opening December 9th. Photos attached. Nice bridge, with wide bike/ped segregated lane. Lovely day for 2nd week December in Calgary. Too crowded for good pix on bridge itself. Santa, wagon rides, food and beverage tent, music, dance, people, kids etc.
Last slides are public art by bike/ped bridge to St. Patrick Island. The “tinker toy” sculpture is called Bloom and becomes a light show at night.
Submitted by Herta Fidler
The SACHA Fall Education event held November 18 was a great success judging from the number of people attending. Attending from Sunnyhill Co-op were David Broadhead, Herta Fidler and Jacky Durrie. The following are minutes of the workshops attended by Dave and Herta.
Presentation by the Kerby Centre
The Kerby Centre offers many services including consultation about the availability of housing that meet individual needs. Other services offered include volunteer lawyers, help with guardianship, help with filing taxes, and shelter for abused seniors.
Presentation by the Calgary Aging In Place (CAIP) – A Co-op Organization
This organization offers help to members who wish to construct secondary suites (Granny Suites). Other help includes finding services such as plumbers, housekeepers, property managers, and contractors etc. all of whom are members of and have been vetted by CAIP. At present CAIP has helped with seven applications for this type of housing. All have been approved by the city.
Presentation by the HMC Lawyer
A presentation of the legal implication for a Co-op when a member has physical difficulties staying in their unit or presents a safety concern was presented. First and foremost Human Rights (rights of the individual versus rights of the group) is the essential underpinning in any intervention. It is the responsibility of a Co-op to provide aids (i.e. handrails, ramps) within its financial ability, to help members remain in their units. However a co-op is liable for any injuries caused by such installations.
When a member becomes a danger to themselves and/or others a co-op needs to take steps to assess the situation. The fire department can intervene in cases of fire hazards or hoarding, police can be called upon to take the individual to hospital under the mental health act and the Alberta mental health response team can also help assess a situation.
A thorough review of ‘Everything You Need To Know About Your Co-op’s Finances’ was presented. The most important highlights for the sake of this report are what to look for.
INCOME STATEMENT: Look for large budget variances, unusual trends, unexpected items, negative numbers, declining maintenance, large vacancies and projected surplus or loss.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS: Look for changes in balance sheet accounts, accounts receivable (members’ arrears), accounts payable, cash flow (reserve funding, share funding, idle cash), and accumulated surplus/deficit.
