Executive Director of the Cortes Housing Society (CHS) Sandra Wood has retired after five years with the organization, and Sadhu Johnston has stepped into the role.

The new executive director has a background in housing in Vancouver as the Deputy City Manager and City Manager. Johnston is looking forward to helping the society take a multifaceted approach to improve housing access and equitability on Cortes Island.

“I feel like we've got a few years to really take some actions and hopefully be able to have an impact before it's too late,” he said.

The Cortes Community Housing Society applied for the BC Housing Grant to fund the Rainbow Ridge housing project for the third time on Nov. 17. The first two application attempts were denied in past years. Johnston hopes to broaden the focus of solutions, while continuing to develop the Rainbow Ridge Project.

“There's other innovative forms of housing; a tiny home village, affordable home ownership programs, or rent to own programs.”

“There's different ways that different people could get into secure housing here …we need to be pursuing lots of different avenues concurrently,” Sadhu continued.

The former city manager is looking forward to hearing from the community to learn what solutions are locally supported. The Cortes Community Housing Society is hosting a community chat at 10 a.m. on Dec. 2 at Mansons Hall. There will be a way for community members to participate virtually during the event. 

To hear more about the future of CHS, listen to the CKTZ News Update below: