Our deepest gratitude goes to those folks who have supported our work to catalyze North Bay housing solutions and to those who have exhibited great leadership in moving us toward housing solutions. There are too many to thank by name—and we don’t want to miss anyone—so if you see yourself in this, you’re probably right.
We’re grateful for funders who are willing to play the long game and invest in solutions and systems change rather than solely in problem management and mitigation.
We’re grateful to our #WeAreGenH members who help inform our work, amplify our efforts, and ensure we’re financially sustainable.
We’re grateful to our action team members, who speak up for housing through petitions and public comments, and coalition letters.
We’re grateful to our Advisory Board, Policy Advisory Committee, Membership Committee, and Community Connectors, and unofficial braintrust members who show up at meetings, on the phone, by text, or over an occasional local IPA to ensure our work is driven by subject matter expertise and diverse perspectives.
It was pointed out to me recently, that with respect to Generation Housing’s policy work—which we believe is the key to the real housing systems change necessary for a prosperous, equitable, sustainable community—the hard thing is that we at Generation Housing want things done, but we aren’t the do-ers. Huh. Good point.
And so this season of gratitude, we offer our special thanks to the do-ers of policy:
Thank you to anyone who steps up into leadership roles to represent the public—under a spotlight— and do their best to move the slow gears and turn the bigger rudders of giant bureaucratic boats, especially with competing priorities, tightening budgets, and the challenge of balancing short-term vs long-term goals.
We are grateful to all leaders who have resisted provincialism and organizational insularity and leaned into collaborative and regional solutions.
Our deepest thanks go to the elected and jurisdictional staff leaders who have been willing to be first and to try something new, and those who have not let fear, complexity, or perfection be excuses for inaction or delay. Your courage is inspiring, contagious, and more necessary than ever.