Update to Membership August 2023
Dear Van East Co-op Members:
The new Board of Directors has been in place for two months now and we wanted to give you an update on our activities to date.
This year’s Board includes the following members:
- Al Heinemann
- Amelia Gubana
- Ceile Prowse, Secretary
- Hattie Aitken, Vice-President
- Jillian McClennan, Treasurer
- Lynn Wittenberg
- Masami Hanashiro
- Pascal Turmel
- Teresa McCarthy, President
The 1750 Grant Street Project is still underway, with work proceeding in both the upper and lower units. Michel Turmel, Chair of the Maintenance Committee, has volunteered countless hours facilitating the work in both these units. The Board has been reviewing progress as it moves forward, and completion and occupancy are expected in mid-to-late autumn 2023. We will then be pleased to welcome Amelia and Cheyenna Gubana to 1 – 1750 Grant Street and romham gallacher and Silas Woodsmith to 2 – 1750 Grant Street.
The Board is also continuing the work of last year’s Directors in facilitating internal moves across the Co-op. In July and August of this year, we have seen the following internal moves take place:
- Tara Sawatsky, Kevin Sauvé, Sylas and Nova have moved into 3 – 1803 Kitchener Street
- Marnie Burns and Fox Hunt have moved into 1109 Victoria Drive
- Lynn Wittenberg and Doug Thordarson are now moving into 1855 Venables Street
All this movement has precipitated other internal moves that will occur in the autumn of 2023, once construction is complete at 1750 Grant Street:
- Jacqueline Mousseau and Michel Turmel will move to 1867 Venables Street
- Ceile Prowse and Julia O’Shea will move to 1896 Napier Street
We will also be welcoming a new member, Sasha Strobl, to 8 – 1220 Salsbury Drive in September 2023. She is currently an associate member living at 2033 Ferndale Drive. This unit has become available because Leo Mudhenk-Aitken, Crista Jane Pe Benito and Santino have moved to Alberta. We wish them all the best in their new home.
Once all these moves have been effected, there will be one two-bedroom unit and one three-bedroom unit available:
- 1111 Victoria Drive
- 2036 East Pender Street
Should there be no eligible primary members who are on the over/underhoused or lateral move lists when the Co-op works to fill these units in September/October 2023, the Co-op will turn to our external priority and external application lists.
Members may add their names to the internal move list if they wish to make a lateral move to another unit with the same number of bedrooms as the unit in which they live, as well as when they become over or underhoused.
Current circumstances allow the Board enough time to offer members who are not yet on the internal waitlist an opportunity to submit a move request to one of the two units coming up in the next three months.
We would at this time like to commend John Wong, our maintenance co-ordinator, for his hard work and effective efforts to ensure our internal moves take place swiftly and that our units are in good repair for their new occupants. We also would like to acknowledge the efforts of John and Michel in working with Lynn and Doug on the accessibility accommodations made to 1855 Venables.
Looking forward, the Board is anticipating there will no longer be any vacant units in our Co-op by the end of 2023.
We will provide you with another update in advance of our first General Meeting of the year, which will take place on Thursday, September 21st using CHF BC’s virtual meeting platform. In the meantime, we would like to thank all our members for their co-operation and work on behalf of the Co-op, on their sites and on our committees.
Yours co-operatively,
The Board of Directors
