In July 2023, the Board of Old Grace Housing Co-operative (OGHC) created a strategic plan to guide our community over the coming five years.
OGHC is a housing co-op in the heart of Winnipeg’s Wolseley neighbourhood. It is a member-run, non-profit organization, committed to creating an environmentally sustainable community that welcomes a diversity of ages, abilities, and incomes. Our co-op is committed to providing affordable housing, is open to individuals and families, and is pet friendly.
Our Vision: A world where high quality, affordable and democratically run housing is available to all.
Our Mission: To provide Old Grace Housing Co-operative members with safe, secure, well-maintained, accessible, and affordable homes in a diverse, democratic, and sustainable community.
Our Strategic Plan consists of five strategic priorities:
Strategic Priority #1: Do a volunteer inventory.
OGHC is member-run and we rely on several volunteers for a variety of tasks. There are over 30 committees and working groups that enable the co-op to operate. There are also individuals that volunteer their time and expertise that are not on committees and often go unnoticed.
Our first strategy is to create an inventory of volunteerism in the co-op. We are contacting all members to ask:
- how they provide time and effort, whether it is a committee, group, or an individual task.
- if they plan to continue doing this work, and if not, whether there is a plan for someone else to do it.
- if they are open to serving on the Board.
- their thoughts on how Old Grace can encourage other volunteerism, and how we can manage if fewer people volunteer in the future.
With this inventory, we will develop a listing of volunteer tasks that are performed so that the co-op can determine a succession plan for certain tasks, if needed. As the OGHC has an ageing population and a small membership to draw on, the inventory will help us assess what tasks can or should be contracted out and how to maintain committees that are essential for our co-op. It will also help us develop a Board succession plan.
Strategic Priority #2: Strengthen the Share Contribution Assistance Fund
OGHC welcomes and provides affordable housing for all people of all income levels. However, some members living here face financial barriers that prevent them from being able to move to other units in the co-op. To address those barriers – and to help us meet our goals in terms of the types and sizes of households the co-op is seeking – we are strengthening the Share Contribution Assistance Fund. The fifth anniversary fundraising campaign has raised nearly $30,000. We will continue to encourage legacy donations to the fund.
Strategic Priority #3: Reduce the reliance on volunteers for maintenance work.
From the results of our volunteer inventory (Strategic Priority #1), we will identify tasks that can be contracted out to ease the co-op’s reliance on volunteers. We will provide a list of tasks for our property management company to take over. This will decrease the workload of the volunteer maintenance committee.
Strategic Priority #4: Recruit younger residents to the Board and committees.
Recruit younger members at OGHC so that they can contribute to volunteerism and provide a succession plan for existing committees and volunteer groups. This strategy will increase member buy-in to co-op values, train a new generation of volunteers.
Strategic Priority #5: Organize a volunteer fair.
Once the volunteer inventory is complete, we plan to host a volunteer fair that showcases all the committees and working groups. The fair will provide information to members who are interested in volunteering but may not fully know what each committee and group does nor what kinds of volunteer tasks are needed in the co-op.
The volunteer fair will provide opportunities for committees and groups to grow as needed, and to develop their own succession plans.