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Wednesday, September 25 2013 | Cowichan Valley Citizen
Group eyeing cooperative housing for Valley seniors LEXI BAINAS CITIZEN
Rick Juliusson will help lead a discussion Friday, Oct. 4 to discover whether co-op style accommodation could be a solution for the Valley’s growing population of seniors. [LEXI BAINAS/CITIZEN FILE]
Is co-operative housing the solution to the Valley’s problem of providing safe, effective care for seniors? It could be, and some of the area’s active co-op enthusiasts are providing an opportunity Friday, Oct. 4 for seniors and their families and caregivers to talk about the idea. “This is the right time and the right place, said local spokesman Rick Juliusson of Cowichan Co-op Connections. “We’re a Valley that has a tradition of working together. Co-ops aren’t a new idea, of course. We’re just saying: here’s a legal structure that matches how we want to live in a sustainable way and together.” The BC Co-operative Association is launching a program, funded in part by the Government of Canada through its Social Development Partnerships Program and the Vancouver Foundation, to support the development of elder care co-ops across Canada. Three different kinds of co-ops are on the agenda: housing coops, aging in place and foster care co-ops and co-op residential care facilities. So, an informative discussion has been arranged from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at St. John’s Anglican Church, at the corner of First and Jubilee in Duncan.
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“There’s a need in this community for this kind of thing; after all, we had the closing of the Cowichan Lodge. A full service residential facility is one of the three options. Maybe it’s the answer for that closure. Or maybe we would want to go with one of the other two models. We need to talk about it.” RICK JULIUSSON, Cowichan Co-op Connections
The prog ram will provide development funding of up to $20,000 for pilot co-op projects, designed and directed by seniors, senior organizations, and communities. Project coordinator Kevin Harding will be there to talk about it. Juliusson said the opportunity is there but it needs action. “It’s really cool, but of course just now it’s still at the exploratory phase. There is funding to do three of them across the province and seven across the country. This meeting is to find out if we want to apply to be one of them,” he said Saturday. Starting only a short while ago, interest in co-ops of all kinds has
exploded in the Cowichan Valley Juliusson said. “We’ve had about seven spring up in the last year. I personally am working with two more right now that are trying to become co-ops and two others that are developing and changing how to write their co-op,” he said. At the Oct. 4 meeting Harding will explain about the three different types of elder care co-ops that are eligible for this funding. “Then, we’ll take it from there, we’ll lead a community dialogue along the lines of: you’ve heard this idea; does this fit one of the needs in the Valley? If so, which of those three models would be the best for us to work towards so we can submit a letter of intent by the end of the October. Then, if we’re selected, we can prepare a full proposal,” Juliusson said. “If we feel we need more time we can do it at the end of March but in my mind if we’re going to do it, it’s best to get on with it. There are only three of these going to be in B.C.,” he said. “There’s a need in this community for this kind of thing; after all, we had the closing of the Cowichan Lodge. A full service residential facility is one of the three options. Maybe it’s the answer for that closure. Or maybe we would want to go with one of the other two models. We need to talk about it,” Juliusson said.
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