Toolbox+ by Cahdco In-Person Session October 2023
This month Toolbox hosted its second in person session on October 16th and 17th. The session was hosted at the Beaver Barrack’s, the 250+ unit affordable housing development completed by CCOC and Cahdco in 2012. The in-person session was held for participants of our Blueprints and Foundations programs. We had 25 participants attend from 21 organizations across Canada.
On day one, the participants spent some time getting to know one another through ice breaker activities and structured networking. Afterwards, there was a funders discussion and Q&A with Jeremy Tessier from CMHC, Jaimie Cudmore from CHTC, and Jen Arntfield from FCM. After lunch the group played the first phase of GoNoGo, Cahdco’s Affordable Housing Development Game, and finished the day with a guided site tour of the Mikinak construction project from Ottawa Community Housing as well as a tour of MHI Veterans House guided by Suzanne Le.
On day two, everyone started the day by playing the second phase of Gonogo which saw the participants form teams and take on different roles and responsibilities to complete the feasibility phase and create a financially viable project. Afterwards, Rodney Wilts from Theia gave a presentation on Working with Private Developers. After lunch, Steve Pomoroy spoke on the History of Affordable Housing and Present-Day Trends. The in-person session was rounded out with a site tour of Beaver Barracks where participants got to see the green roof, learn about the geothermal system, and tour a few of the apartments.
After the two-day session, participants in the Toolbox+ had the opportunity to connect with peers and knowledge experts from around the county, had the chance to implement some of the concepts they covered in the proceeding weeks through Gonogo, and got to see three different affordable housing projects.