PRESIDENT'S CORNER

Hello OACUHO Colleagues,

As the year draws to a close, I’d like to take a moment to reflect and express my gratitude for all the immense dedication and hard work toward our communities. These last three years have been filled with unique challenges and uncertainties; however, the cloud of COVID-19 has now lifted (a little?) and in some ways, we have re-gained access and availability to the things that we loved about our pre-COVID life.

I’m so very proud of the resilience and perseverance that our community has, and continues to demonstrate throughout our profession. I am excited to see where the next few years lead this community and welcome all who continue to join. Although not without challenges, the steadfast commitment to providing safe and welcoming communities for our residents and teams is commendable. We’ve cleaned, repaired, and renewed; we’ve provided support, guidance, and decisions; we’ve updated processes and reduced budgets. We continue to work tirelessly and I’m grateful for the ways in which you’ve contributed to the housing community.

As we look to the future, I call on you to consider how you will push the limits of your contributions to our residents and our profession. As we have an opportunity to build on the various strengths of our community, this calls for a heightened focus on equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility. Our work and contributions must align with our Strategic Imperative for Anti-Racism and Indigenous Sovereignty. Through this, it is my hope, that our commitment to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility is transparent in our work and has a sincere impact on the individuals we serve.

In sum, I wish to extend my sincere gratitude to everyone who has contributed to OACUHO over the last year. Your hard work and dedication have not gone unnoticed and I look forward to seeing the great things to come. Hoping to see many of you at the Spring Conference at Trent University!

Respectfully yours,

Laura Storey. President, OACUHO