Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 23 | Page 11

December 1 - 15, 2018
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
Oxford Dictionaries defines, in
its website, tandem as “a carriage
driven by two animals harnessed
one in front of the other” or “a
bicycle with seats and pedals for
two riders, one behind the other.”
The same website gives a third
definition of tandem as “a group of
two people or machines working
together.” Cambridge Dictionary
amplifies the last definition when
it describes tandem as “If two
pieces of equipment, people, etc.
are working in tandem, they are
working together, especially well or
closely”
Perhaps “tandem” is a fitting
way of describing two initiatives
by Canadians of Filipino heritage
which happened one after the
other but are working well and
closely with each other, following
the definitions above.
The first initiative -- a modest
one in the beginning -- consisted
of a series of community
consultations of Metro Vancouver
Filipinos to discuss the effects of
the 2008 great financial crisis,
when thousands of people lost
their jobs, countless companies
shut down, pensions, savings and
investments decimated and middle
class families suffered greatly.
The community consultation
organizers did not anticipate
that the modest initiative would
generate a groundswell of support.
Those who attended responded to
the call to come together if only to
hear how others are coping with
the financial crisis and, perhaps,
to find hope and inspiration from
each other. In coming together
as a community troubled by
rising prices, stagnant wages,
and deteriorating confidence in
government and the economy,
community members expressed
their willingness to explore possible
solutions.
11
FILCOOPBC AND ONE HOUSING
SOCIETY IN TANDEM
Columbia (FilCoopBC, for short).
At the heart of this community
organizing effort was the belief
that a cooperative matches the
vision, captures the values and
addresses the self-identified needs
of a community. According to the
European Confederation of Worker
Cooperatives, Social Cooperatives
and Social and Participative
Enterprises: “Membership of a
cooperative is open to all persons
willing to accept the responsibilities
of membership, without gender,
social, racial, political or religious
discrimination. Cooperatives are
democratically controlled by their
members, who actively participate
in setting their policies and making
decisions”
After 9 years in operation,
FilCoopBC has functioned as a
credit cooperative with over 300
regular members, a capitalization
approaching the mid seven figures,
a host of services to members,
including savings promotion,
micro lending, professional and
business services referral, and
social development, among others,
an active organizational social life,
a maturing management structure
and leadership style, membership
in a provincial federation of
cooperatives, and an active
participation in the community
events of Filipinos in Metro
Vancouver.
The second initiative came
in tandem, seven years later, with
the birth of a non-profit society,
the Filco-operative One Housing
Society on November 2, 2016, to
address the ongoing affordable
housing crisis impacting its
members living and working in
Metro Vancouver.
volunteer Board of Directors and
staff, and adopted and implemented
its strategic plan for the coming
years. It has achieved a level of
confidence that will enable One
Housing Society to move forward in
the near future by tapping available
funding programs for its affordable
housing for its members.
And so while FilCoopBC is
leading the way for its members
to save for their future needs, One
Housing Society is following suit by
tapping available external resources
so that these savings can be used
to meet eligibility requirements for
affordable housing that it one day
hopes to secure for the members.
As it all began, so it is expected to
happen - - - FilCoopBC and One
Housing Society being in tandem
as a community partnership that is
growing in step with one another.
PNT Foreign Exchange
$1.00 Cdn = P 39.35 Php
$1.00 US = P 52.69
€1.00 EUR = P 59.65
D1.00 BHD= P 139.90
R1.00 SAR = P 14.04
¥1.00 JPY= P 0.46
As
a
member-centred
organization, One Housing Society
took the opportunity to join the
massive efforts of all levels of
This conclusion was based government and the cooperative
on the fact that each of the five and non-profit housing sector
early consultation meetings was in finding answers, allocating
attended by between 30 to 40 resources,
generating
public
people from the various cities of and private support and raising
Metro Vancouver. The community awareness of the affordable
meetings were marked by spirited housing crisis raging in Canada
discussions and the exchange of from coast to coast to coast.
interesting ideas and suggestions.
Two years hence, One Housing
All of these efforts finally resulted in Society has initiated building
a consensus to use a community partnerships with various agencies
organizing approach whereby such as the CMHC, BC Housing
those who were interested, inspired and Vancouver Affordable Housing
and involved could play an active Agency, joined the provincial-level
and meaningful role.
BC Non Profit Housing Association,
And so, on October 30, 2009, increased membership through
was born a credit cooperative called five Affordable Housing Orientation
One Filipino Co-operative of British sessions, strengthened its all-
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