Editor's Note: Co-op Week 2014 is being marked across Canada Oct. 13-19. This is the first in a series of articles celebrated co-operatives in Saskatchewan.
There's no place like home. Just ask two groups of Saskatchewan dreamers. For the last four years or more, each has been dreaming up a way to enable people to "age where they're planted."
One group, Furrows and Faith Retirement Co-operative, is as about as rural as they come. They want the seniors of Mossbank (population 325 or so) to be able to live out their lives north of Assiniboia and east of Gravelbourg. No retirement to the city for these folks. The second group feels exactly the opposite. To Second Avenue Seniors' Co-operative, "home" is inner-city Saskatoon (population 202,000).
That's just where the differences start. Yet for both groups, a housing co-operative is the way to go.
True to form, the seniors of Mossbank imagined something on the small side. For them, growing equity through homeownership is no longer a big issue. Their families have grown and flown. What they are after in accommodation is quality of life and affordability. They also want to free up their old family homes so young families can move to town.
With a designer's help, they dreamt up a 16-unit, licensed personal care home with a capacity for 19 people. It would be situated right in the heart of Mossbank, with hospitals, pharmacies, and an ambulance service just 25 minutes away.
But it was projected to cost a cool $1.69 million, even after generous in-kind or cash donations from municipalities, businesses, and $250,000 from the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation. Where was the rest of the money to come from?
Furrows and Faith did the sensible thing. Having registered as a charity, they called in the neighbours! They held raffles and competitions. Yard sales and barbeques. Even a cabaret.
They managed to get a mortgage. Construction began in April 2012 and finished this summer. Furrows and Faith Retirement Villa now boasts over 9,000 square feet. There are rooms for couple and for singles, each with its own bathroom and walk-in shower. There's a common area with a large kitchen and dining room (serving three meals a day), as well as a living room for personal, family, and community activities.
Recent designation as a Veterans Independence Provider facility means that veterans will find the cost of many of their support services covered. Corporate and individual donors are still sought, though, to keep the members' monthly rental as low as possible. As one visitor commented, "What I like about the Villa is that you're coming to a 'community,' not just a 'facility'."
Over in Saskatoon, the members of Second Avenue Seniors' Co-op are still dreaming. They are dreaming big, though.
It all started with an idea that sprang from the Seniors Advisory Council of the Saskatchewan Community Clinic. The idea was to create a space which would satisfy the housing needs of seniors, and their needs for social and cultural life, and for health services. That's not all. The same building was also to meet the space and program needs of a second co-operative: the Community Clinic itself.
The idea has been on a "rolling boil" for a good long while - try four years. And for good reason. To design a building (and a partnership) that can meet such diverse needs is enormously complex.
For example, it may be possible to build on the Clinic's parking lot, facing 1st Avenue. (Big saving in money there.)
It may be possible to build something nine stories, or even higher. The lower floors would be for the clinic; the upper ones for housing.
It may be sensible to offer seniors a mixture of types of occupancy: ownership, life lease, or rent. That would appeal to a greater range of people.
There's lots of other maybe's, too. How about a pharmacy and small grocery store on the main floor? And areas for respite services and child care, as well as doctors' offices and administration?
So there's many a mile to go before construction begins. While the certainties are few, the determination and excitement of the Second Avenue folks is unmistakable.
A survey in June of 2013 demonstrated there was local demand. Currently, the co-op has 50 singles and couples in membership. Many of them have made a $200 deposit to show their commitment to the project.
That's the great thing about housing co-ops. You are buying a share in an organization whose reason for existence is to serve your needs and those of the other members. For some people, the need is to stay right where they are, whether it's downtown Mossbank or Saskatoon. They've been around the block many a time, and they know that home is where it's at.
