Episode 4 Community and Self Determination

This episode of Vancouver Housing Stories centres around the life we can build with our neighbours, if we want it. [Partial Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18qh88bexFZL3TJZ-ZSpvwPUI3AIuKEZAcDLy9o0HYQ8/edit?usp=sharing] Jamie Leigh Gonzales uses interviews, audio essay and poetry to create a piece about her shift in priorities that came after becoming a mother and the difficulty of finding housing to suit her growing family, as well as the urban planning considerations that make neighbourhoods possible, or impossible, for families with children. Then we zoom in to a group of seniors at the Alice Saunders building in Vancouver’s Hastings-Sunrise neighbourhood and how a proposed development might uproot their tight-knit community. These stories drive home that no model of housing can succeed without really listening to the residents themselves. This project was part of a mentorship and skills development program. Thank you to the Vancouver Tenants Union for oral history support, Sydney Ball for supplemental scripts and commentary, and VIVO Media Arts Centre/BC Arts Council for equipment and financial support. Special thanks to the tenants who shared their stories. To learn more about the project and participants, check out our SoundCloud profile for more links. Stay tuned after for some extra context from VTU Steering Committee member, Sydney Ball Segment Credits: First Segment written and produced by Jamie Leigh Gonzales; music production by Davis Steele. Second Segment written and produced by Helena Krobath, with additional scripts by Sydney Ball; live music at the Alice Saunders tenants’ barbeque was by Dutch Robinson and band. Episode Produced by Helena Krobath. Additional scripts and commentary by Sydney Ball. Episode links/resources: Demoviction: Hastings-Sunrise Seniors Fighting To Stay https://www.vancouvertenantsunion.ca/alice_saunders_building