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The Place
Alexandra Park is a 410 unit housing project
in downtown Toronto. The project was built in 1968, and includes
140 apartments in two medium rise apartment buildings and 270 townhouses.
Many people who live in the project have low incomes.
The residents of Alexandra Park entered into a
process of converting their community from a government housing
project into a non-profit housing co-operative. The co-op came to
be called the Atkinson Housing Co-operative, named after Sonny Atkinson,
a long time president of the Alexandra Park Residents’ Association
(APRA). It was Sonny Atkinson who led the Alexandra Park residents
as they began the process of converting from public housing to co-op
housing.
The Story
The Alexandra Park Residents’ Association
(APRA) knew that they could improve the quality of life in the housing
project by expanding the residents’ role in the community.
By 1990, the leadership of APRA was thinking about tenant self-management
as an alternative to the current government-run system. The APRA
board, led by Sonny Atkinson, started researching other housing
options. Coincidentally, Mark Goldblatt, a co-op housing advocate,
was working on the idea of converting public housing into co-operative
housing.
In August 1993, Sonny Atkinson and Mark Goldblatt
met. Mark outlined the concept of non-profit co-operative housing:
- The residents are members of the co-operative.
- The members elect a board of directors from among themselves
and the board, therefore, is accountable to the members.
- Members attend general meetings, sit on committees, and help
with special projects.
- Co-ops encourage the members to be involved in the co-op community.
Sonny had found a housing system that would allow
Alexandra Park’s residents to realize their goal of tenant
self-management.
After much discussion, the APRA board decided
to pursue the idea of converting from public housing to a housing
co-op. They formed a co-operative and asked the community to vote
on a name. In 1994, the Atkinson Housing Co-operative was incorporated.
The board also decided to seek political support. Although, Rosario
Marchese, their M.P.P., supported the idea of co-op conversion,
Evelyn Gigantes, the Minister of Housing did not. The municipal
councillor, Olivia Chow, and the federal M.P. Tony Ianno, both supported
the idea. They both worked to ensure that their levels of government
supported the conversion.
APRA did not give up. They decided to hold a referendum
to show that the residents of Alexandra Park supported the co-op
concept. APRA wanted the residents to make an informed choice. However,
to make an informed choice, the residents would need to understand
how living in a co-op would differ from living in public housing.
APRA would have to provide basic information about non-profit co-op
housing. A grant from the Metro Toronto Housing Authority allowed
APRA to provide this education program.
On April 22, 1995, the residents were asked to
vote on the question, “Do you support Alexandra Park becoming
a housing co-op?” The results showed strong support for proceeding
with the conversion.
In June, a new provincial government was elected.
APRA met with Al Leach, the new Minister of Municipal Affairs and
Housing. In a letter to APRA dated October 18, 1995, the Minister
gave his approval in principle to proceed with the co-op conversion
project at Alexandra Park. Final approval of the co-op plan would
depend on the submission of an acceptable business plan. The letter
also stated that the provincial government was not willing to fund
any further costs associated with the conversion plan.
APRA decided to forge ahead and try to raise the
conversion budget from private sources. By the fall of 1996, APRA
had submitted a conversion plan. Sadly, at the end of December 1996,
Sonny Atkinson died of lung cancer. Irwin Downs, first vice-president
of APRA, became the new president.
Finally, at a press conference at the Alexandra
Park Community Centre on June 5, 1998, the Minister of Municipal
Affairs and Housing announced that the provincial government had
approved the conversion plan. Alexandra Park could become Atkinson
Housing Co-operative.
Soon after, the Co-operative Housing Federation
of Toronto (CHFT) was invited by APRA to set up a Co-op site office
in the Alexandra Park Community Centre to provide educational support
for the conversion. CHFT has developed over 55 new and rehab housing
co-ops and provides services to over 160 member co-ops. The members
of CHFT were happy for the opportunity to provide support to a community
that was embracing the co-op model.
CHFT undertook the job of co-ordinating the outreach
and education. CHFT also agreed to raise funds to cover the transition
costs. Organizations that provided assistance are:
CHFT, the Co-operative Housing Federation of
Canada – Ontario Region, Atkinson Foundation, F.K. Morrow,
the Co-operators Insurance, Toronto Community Housing Corporation,
the CHFT Charitable Fund, Metro Credit Union, Lewis and Collyer,
CEDTAP.
Since it had been over three years since the referendum,
the board of APRA wanted to make sure that the co-op still had the
support of the residents. The Board decided that they would provide
more education on the co-op alternative, and then circulate a ballot
asking the residents to vote for or against the co-op option.
By the end of the first week of December 1998,
66% of the households had voted and, of those voting, 79% had voted
in favour of becoming a housing co-op. The ballots were provided
in 19 languages:
Arabic, Bengali, Chinese, English, Farsi, French,
Greek, Hindi, Italian, Oromo, Portuguese, Punjabi, Somali, Spanish,
Tagalog (Pilipino), Tamil, Tigrinian, Urdu, and Vietnamese.
In 1999, Atkinson Co-op elected its first board
of directors. Desmond Wilson was elected as the first president.
The co-op passed an organizational by-law and tabled a draft operating
agreement with the Metro Toronto Housing Authority.
In 2000 the Co-op elected Latchman Ramkhalawan as president. The
co-op passed an occupancy by-law and proposed a detailed operating
budget and a capital improvement budget.
The co-op moved forward providing education to
residents, signing up members, and setting up committees to prepare
for the transfer of management.
Members received information about the co-op through
the Co-op Conversion Newsletter which published 46 times since 1998,
and was often published in 5 languages: English, Chinese, Portuguese,
Somali, Spanish, and Vietnamese. Pamphlets describing the principles
of co-op housing, the role of the Board of Directors and generally
how co-ops work were also distributed to all households and available
in five languages.
In 2002, a long time resident and community leader, Nazeer Ahmad
was elected president. The co-op organized their most extensive
outreach campaign. The membership grew to over 500 members and 5
working committees. The continued growth of the co-op membership
set the stage for negotiation of the operating agreement.
In the fall of 2002, T.C.H.C. provided the board
with a proposed operating agreement. The Atkinson Board worked through
the fall and winter to negotiate the agreement. In November, 2002,
the Co-op elected a new Board. This Board would be responsible for
negotiating the final details of the conversion plan. The Board
consisted of:
Nazeer Ahmad
Safiyyah Ally
Scott Barry
Cathy Brown
Phuc Canh Cung
Phillip Deneault
Mustafa Ali Khan
Velma Lee-Martineau
Mohammed Golam Mortuza
Shukri Musse
Geanie Sarjue
Brynne Teall
Thai Truong
In the winter of 2003 the Board hired a fully
experienced management team to take care of the day to day administration.
On April 1, 2003, Alexandra Park public housing
became the Atkinson Housing Co-operative, the first public housing
project in Canada to convert to a co-op
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