The United Homecoming Initiative receive a $10,000 boost from the Bearspaw Lions
(From left: Wild Rose MP Myron Thompson, Alex Baum, Hopeton Loudon,
president of the Bearspaw Lions, Derry MacFarlane and Dan Kroffat)
Photo courtesy of Jack Tennant, Cochrane Eagle
Fair for trailer park residents nets $50,000
- Rachel Maclean, Cochrane Eagle.
Residents soaking up the sun at Mitford Park for the United Homecoming’s Community BBQ and Fair on July 22 helped raise nearly $50,000 to assist the relocation of Cochrane Trailer Park residents.
"It was extremely good," said Alex Baum, a member of the United Homecoming Initiative steering committee. "Our expectations for the day were more than doubled. We were hoping for $20,000 and we made over $40,000, maybe getting close to $50,000, all the numbers aren’t quite in," he said July 23.
This show of community spirit pushed the total amount raised over $250,000, which has given 31 out of 32 trailer park residents a chance to move from the site on the corner of Glenbow Drive and Fifth Avenue West before they are evicted Aug. 31. The Pointe of View development company bought the site last year after it was re-zoned by the town. The company gave the residents a year to move before it would start building condos.
Baum said as far as he knows there were no expenses for the day as donors played a big part, covering almost everything including the music, food, portable toilets, plus 98 silent and 10 live auction items. He said even the 50/50 winner returned the funds to the cause.
Ready to work; thankful for good neighbours
We, the residents of the Cochrane Trailer Court, would like to express our gratitude to the many individuals and businesses who have expressed their concerns for the well-being of the mobile home park residents.
We appreciate the offers of assistance and support that have been made by many individuals over the past few months.
It is possible that town council has looked at every option, with good intentions, but none are viable, or of any help with the current situation.
Now, let’s work together as a community to make it possible, at the end of the day, to see the Cochrane Trailer Court and the other residents of town working hand-in-hand towards a common goal, which is to have a place that can be called home.
We are truly thankful to Alex Baum and others who have come forward with solutions for our current predicament. In spite of the stresses of the current situation we have found ourselves in we, the residents of the trailer court, are excited to put our hands to the plow and work as an integral and contributing part of the community to solving the problem.
We are not a bitter or a vindictive group. We are neighbours, friends, church associates, taxpayers, parents, grandparents, children and supporters of local businesses. Our goal is to remain a vital part of our community.
Thank you once again for all your help and support.
Residents of the Cochrane Trailer Court
Cochrane, Alberta
Letter to the Editor, March 21, 2007 (Cochrane Times) |
"We want to go right over the top and
we think it is possible."
Dan Kroffat
Thank you for all your support!
United Homecoming Press Conference:
April 20, 2007
Jamie Komarnicki, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, April 21, 2007
With more than 30 families set to be booted from Cochrane's only mobile home park to make way for condo development, community members are putting out the plea for help.
"The residents have already rolled up their sleeves with their dire situation," said local businessman Alex Baum, one of 14 people on a committee formed to help the residents secure new places to live. "We, as a community, want to help them."
The mobile home park residents went to town council for help after learning a change in zoning allowed the land on which they live to be sold to a condominium developer.
But council voted not to help them financially, and now the families have until the end of August to find new lots for their homes or new housing. With the already tight housing market, many of the evicted residents feel they're living a nightmare.
"It was a big shock to have a notice on the door that you have to move. It affects your home, your life, your children, your job," said Bill Sprake, a local pastor who moved to Cochrane from the Northwest Territories two years ago with his wife, two children and three grandchildren.
"We're just hoping and praying that as people befriend people here, things will come to a successful conclusion. We have to believe that."
They've found just one spot -- in Coaldale -- to park their trailer after searching every town within several hundred kilometres.
Many of the residents are trying to find new locations to move their trailers, while others whose homes are fixed to the ground will have to destroy them.
Residents are wracked with fear and anxiety, committee organizer Dan Kroffat said.
Committee members reviewed each family's situation and came up with a target of $300,000 to help them find new places to live.
"The success of this effort is going to depend on people stepping up and making contributions," said Sustainable Resource Development Minister Ted Morton.
"This is classic Alberta. We're going to take a problem and and turn it into an opportunity."
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