For the last decade, mature Calgarians (40+) in the GLBT community have been discussing the formation of a place to go where they “feel safe and have a sense of community.” GLBT Housing, a group whose mission is to “engage the GLBT community in discussions that will form the basis of future developments of GLBT housing in Western Canada,” is taking action to see this goal through to fruition.

Connie Loveday, a member of GLBT Housing is optimistic about the concept. “For more than a decade folks like us have been throwing around this notion at dinner parties, over coffee, between lovers and friends, and finally GLBT Housing is doing something about it. After much debate, and in consultation with professionals in the industry, GLBT Housing has come up with a plan to take all that talk to the next level. GLBT Housing has spent the past few months developing a phased approach to making this concept a reality.”

Currently in the middle of Phase 1, the project is determining what and how much the community is willing to spend on housing. It is also a phase that will let individuals know that this project has begun, and will be underway in 5 years.

Phase 2 will be where the public comes in. GLBT Housing has launched a web survey aimed at collecting data to determine what the community wants, available on their website. Basing their survey on other similar initiatives from Plum Living in Vancouver and RainbowVision in Santa Fe, they hope to “collect qualitative and quantitative data that will tell us things like: the number of people we have reached, the type of development, [etc.]”

Sponsors Sandra Sebree and Marnie Campbell, a real estate lawyer and real estate agent respectively, will be giving out a $400.00 Visa gift certificate to a lucky web survey participant. The survey will be available until April 2010.

Once all of the data has been completed, there will be a series of focus groups put on to determine development plans. Looking forward, GLBT Housing hopes to develop a community which contains a community centre, fitness facility, pub, dance hall, and rooms for group classes. Other ideas include off-leash dog parks, lakes, and BBQ facilities. These ideas have all sprouted from the public, and by participation in the survey, your ideas could become a reality.

According to Loveday, “our main objective is to find out if there is enough SERIOUS interest – including financial – to approach builder(s). Doing the research, first a survey and then focus groups, should bring us (everyone who is seriously interested) together so that we can take the next step forward, working on exactly what it is we want to develop.” It is important she believes, to start at the beginning and ask questions. She hopes to get 100 people to make an initial investment which can range from $1000 down to 10% of purchase price. “From there, we intend to have a development plan that those 100 people are comfortable with, have an architect design a model and then take it to a builder. Realistically, this could all happen within 2 years and we could be breaking ground in 3 years!”

With an “initial purpose to develop full service community housing specifically designed to meet the needs of the maturing GLBT population”, the GLBT Housing project is well on its way to serving the needs of the maturing GLBT community in Calgary. Without the participation of the public however, these needs cannot be met.