SRO Tenant Convention

SRO Tenant Convention 2015

We organized a convention for 300 people and 700 people showed up! Luckily we had enough food.

We raised about $10,000 for this event
Eight tenant reps volunteered for a month doing outreach and slipped invitations under every privately owned SRO door. They also tabled at Hastings and Main and answered questions about the Collaborative and tenant rights.
Simultaneous translation at the Convention for over 100 Chinese seniors that attended
2 SRO Tenants play amazing music during the opening and at lunch, in addition to a local Aboriginal drum and dance group
Snack bags for everyone in the morning and local food prepared by Watari’s Latin American Outreach Program and the Aboriginal Front Door
Over 20 agencies set up tables including BC Housing, Residential Tenancy Branch, City of Vancouver Inspections Department, First United Church Legal Advocates and more
Pivot Legal Society workshop on eviction prevention was the main focus of the day
Collaborative presentation on victories and challenges in 2015
Encouraged tenants to attend the Renters Rights Workshops

For photos, go to Kay Ho’s Facebook Page.

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SRO Tenant Convention 2014

On October 19, 2014, we held the first SRO Tenant Convention at the Japanese Language Hall. Over 200 SRO tenants and community members came together to talk about taking action and responding to injustices tenants face on a daily basis. We had a delicious lunch made by our friends at WATARI. Check out the Convention video made by Indigenous Community Planner and multidisciplinary artist Wilson Mendes above.

Workshops that took place include:

Stories from Tent City shared by Tent City Residents
History of SRO Organizing by Jean Swanson and Dianne Tobin
When to Call the City by City staff
Tenant Rights by DJ Larkin
Accessing Services by Dalena Beitel and Richard Marquez
Bed Bug Science Class by John Foster
Aboriginal Talking Circle by Mabel Nipshank
Tenant Rights in Cantonese by Chanel Ly
Right to Remain arts workshop by Revitalizating Japantown?

Crummiest Cockroach Haven Contest

Over 200 votes from the community were submitted to identify the worst hotel in the neighbourhood. The community marched on the streets to deliver these awards to the winning hotels. Here are the results:

Balmoral Hotel (159 E Hastings)
Regent Hotel (160 E Hastings)
Cobalt Hotel (917 Main St)

Thanks to everyone who helped make this Convention possible: Carnegie Community Centre Association, Carnegie Community Action Project, Revitalizing Japantown?, Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall, WATARI, Aboriginal Front Door, Social Housing Alliance, City of Vancouver, BC Housing, Building Communities Society, Murray Bush, Kathy Shimizu, Elwin Xie, Rose Siccamma, and especially all our volunteers and our SRO Tenant Organizers: Arnold Nokohoot, Elmer Azak, Dianne Tobin, Julia Gairdner.

For photos of the Convention, go to CCAP’s Facebook page.

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