Abiwin Housing Co-op is a not-for-profit housing co-op located in downtown Ottawa with 98 units. They sum up their history as follows:
“Abiwin was founded by a group of LGBTQ2+ members in the 80s to provide safe and secure housing for the gay & queer community, along with other minoritized groups. Abiwin continues to prioritize those in need of safe housing for membership today.”
Abiwin is an Algonquin word for dwelling and the housing co-op acknowledges the Algonquin Anishnaabeg people on whose traditional unceded land they reside.
We spoke to founding members Henri and Anne shortly after the trucker protests in Ottawa in 2022. We covered topics like, the following and more. I
- The climate towards LGBTQ2+ people in the 1980s that led to founding Abiwin Housing Co-op
- The climate today in Ottawa
- How it feels to live in a city under a protest occupation
- Supportive community
- Inclusive community, supporting stigmatized people
- Challenges of community gardens
- Christmas and Thanksgiving parties
- Their successful community Food Bank
- Membership participation
- Architecture about. the original structure and their new tower and in-fill buildings
- Challenges in maintaining older buildings
- And much more. If you would like to hear the full interview, it can be downloaded here: https://sharing.eachforall.org/podcasts/EFA2022-07-26_AbiwinHousingFullInterview.mp3
Thanks to Caitlin Armstrong and Sandy Goldman who helped organize the interview!
