Philippine Asian News Today Vol 21 No 01 | Page 11

January 1 - 20, 2019
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
11
FilCo-op One Housing Society Turns Two
The Filco-operative One Housing
Society held its 2nd Annual General
Assembly on December 16, 2018 at
the Killarney Gardens Co-operative
Housing in Vancouver. The Board
of Directors and officers presented
to Society members its annual
accomplishment report, financial
status and plans for 2019. The
AGM was capped with the election
of the nine members of the Board
of Directors as well as its Executive
Officers.
The Society’s 2018 work and
accomplishments were categorized
into three major themes.
After a year of action, reflection,
resting and planning, the Society’s
officers and leaders realized that
central to its strategic direction is
“Building Partnerships”.
Base sa unang temang ito,
pinalakas ng samahan ang pakikipag-
ugnayan sa iba’t-ibang ahensyang
may kinalaman at mahalagang
kontribusiyon sa adhikaing ito.
Sa taong 2018, nakipag-miting
ang mga opisyal ng Filco-op One
Housing Society kina Councilor
Hector Bremner ng Vancouver,
Luke Harrison, CEO ng Vancouver
Affordable Housing Agency (VAHA) at
Peer Daniel Krause, policy manager
ng BC Non Profit Housing Association
(BCNPHA). These meetings enabled
the Society’s leaders to gain insights
critical to crafting its direction and
raised key stakeholders’ awareness
of the need for affordable housing by
Filipino-Canadians in BC.
These
partnership-building
initiatives also led to Filco-operative
One Housing Society’s identifying
and accessing available resources,
such as development courses
for its officers, management and
members. In November a delegation
of One Filipino Cooperative of BC
and Filco-operative One Housing
Society attended the Annual General
Meeting of the Co-operative Housing
Federation of BC (CHFBC) which
provided their officers with a better
understanding of the cooperative
housing movement in the province
and raised the two organizations’
profile with the major players, both
providers and users of affordable
housing in BC.
The lack of affordable housing
is a continuing challenge for most
middle-class families in BC, and
the journey to provide adequate
housing is far-reaching. Rallying
around this basic need requires
the support of individuals and their
families. In line with this, Filco-
op One Housing Society delivered
five member orientation sessions
in various Lower Mainland cities to
build its membership base. Around
60 participants were invited and
decided to become members.
With this initial number, the Society
increased its voice to speak about
affordable housing to government
and other stakeholders.
The
Filco-operative
One
Housing Society’s second theme was
“Building Homes”. In its 2nd year
of operation, this meant defining,
redefining and refining its identity
as an organization. It meant the
articulation of the members’ dreams
in words, plans and actions. Hence,
the Society embarked on solidifying
its identity by adopting of its vision,
mission and goals statement,
corporate logo and marketing tools,
and, most importantly a strategic
planning and review mechanism.
All these came in quite handy when
Filco-operative One Housing Society
completed its compliance process
(including the amendment of its By-
Laws) under the BC New Society Act
that took effect on November 28,
2018.
The 2nd AGM coincided with the
9th anniversary celebration of One
Filipino Cooperative of BC and their
joint Christmas party. With the theme
of “Pagtaya sa Abot Kayang Pangarap
na Pabahay”, Filco-operative One
Housing Society, as the affordable
housing initiative of FilCo-opBC,
highlighted an underlying theme of
the Christmas story which is that
Christ was born in a manger for lack of
available and proper accommodation
during a most critical time in the life
of a family. By jointly holding their
Christmas celebration, the officers,
members and their families as well
as business partners of One Filipino
Co-operative of BC and the Filco-
operative One Housing Society have
demonstrated that contributing to
solutions to the affordable housing
crisis is anchored on the building of
communities, the third cornerstone,
and that the two organizations have
joined hands to tackle it in partnership
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
and in solidarity with every other
stakeholder in BC and elsewhere.
Sa mga nais maging bahagi
ng paglalakbay at nais Tumaya sa
Abot Kayang Pangarap na Pabahay,
makipag-ugnayan lang po sa One
Housing
Society
Coordinators:
Rona Bunda @778-513-8817, Cris
Tejada @778-319-8901 or sa FilCo-
op @604-780-2061. Please visit
website: www.filcoopbc.com