Realtor as Community Catalyst

Janet MacDonald has lived in the City of Grand Forks since 1981, the year she and her husband left North Vancouver in favour of this small community, which they believed would be a great place to raise a family. Today, with two sons aged 13 and 15 and full time career as a Realtor with Century 21, Janet MacDonald believes they made the right choice. And she’s worked hard to make sure the City continues to be a good place for its residents.

A Realtor since 1993, she is greatly concerned about the lack of affordable housing in the City and region. As a founding member of Boundary Women’s Coalition, a group that operates a transition house and women’s centre in Grand Forks, she knew that affordable housing was an issue for many women, especially those with low incomes. But after she had started work as a Realtor, she became even more aware of just how extensive the problem is. “I learned that it’s not just people with low incomes who have difficulty finding housing, but also that those with money often can’t find suitable housing. This surprised me,” she says.

On a trip to Salmon Arm, she toured a Homes B.C project. “I was impressed,” she says. “Like many people, I’ve always had reservations about housing projects. I thought they could easily become little ghettos and that ‘s not what I wanted to see in Grand Forks. But I discovered that housing projects could have mixed housing for a broad cross-section of people. In the Salmon Arm project, I saw a middle-aged woman in a wheelchair interacting with two groups of kids playing basketball. I was really pleased. I also learned that the residents pay only 30 percent of their income to live there.”

MacDonald is acutely aware that cost is an important consideration for women. “Many older women may have some money, but not enough for a down payment,” she stresses. “There are many widows and divorced women who have few if any pension benefits. These people deserve a decent, safe place to live.”

When she came home, Janet decided to do something about housing in her community. She started the Grand Forks Housing Society (GFHS). “I called everyone who could make this happen here,” she says. “We have an amazing group of people in Grand Forks. One of them, Judith Lloyd, past president of the Kootenay Real Estate Board, put me in touch with Tim Pringle at the Real Estate Foundation. The Foundation eventually funded the Grand Forks Housing Survey.”

Like most people who get things done, MacDonald prefers to talk about the project rather than herself. Others, however, are only too happy to speak about her achievements. City of Grand Forks Mayor, Brian Taylor, praises her contributions to the community. “She has been instrumental here in dealing with women’s issues and housing issues. Janet is tenacious, altruistic, a behind the scenes worker who has the good of the community at heart.”

Terry Clark, retired teacher, principal, and member of the GFHS echoes Taylor’s comments. “The key word in describing Janet is ‘catalyst’. Her interest in housing and her enthusiasm have inspired many others to get involved. Her style is a quiet one, but she is very persuasive and has excellent credibility in the community.”

What of the future? The survey generated two Community Housing Initiative Grants from B.C. Housing. These will enable the Society to follow up on the recommendations in the study. B.C. Housing is also looking at Grand Forks for potential development of a non-profit housing project similar to the one in Salmon Arm.

But for MacDonald even more is possible. “In talking to people like Stuart Adams, who conducted the study, and Tim Pringle at the Foundation, we gained a broader vision of housing and what is possible. We now see ourselves as more than a one project group. We’re interested in land trusts and other forms of housing we’d like to have into the Official City Plan. In short, we want affordable housing to be an issue for everyone here.”