Hey @reeflings, the revived @reef-inclusion speaking
Today, I had a (very positive) call with Oak Tree Projects about their potential implication with our social units.
For context, they are an organisation based in Flanders (that would willing to expand to Brussels) and offers affordable housing in cohousing projects for people with special needs.
On the plus side
They are a very established organisation, that has been repeatedly recommended to us.
They would accompany our inclusive endeavour from beginning to end: they finance the units (through an investor), propose candidates and accompany the tenants to help them integrate into the community.
They work with a variety of clients â people with mental and physical disabilities â and have had positive experiences with a diverse group within one cohousing.
As they are conscious about money, they would go for the cheaper/less sought after apartments and said they would be willing to adapt (within a certain price range) to take a space that was less popular within the group.
The would be happy to work with the architects in the planning phase and also advocate their model to the commune.
Language should be less of an issue than we feared â she was confident that (albeit the âpoolâ of people being reduced) we would still find suitable candidates with a good enough level of English.
(The lady I am in touch with lives in a cohousing herself and knows about all the complications and uncertainties)
On the challenging/uncertain side
They can only commit financially once we have the permit (this is a topic in itself which Iâm not going to tackle here)
Everything needs to be accessible (re: elevator discussion)
AND: Because of the way they work and the (time) investment they would make within the project, the ideal set-up would be 6 units (example: 2 of 30, 2 of 35 and 2 of 40m² (bigger = wheelchair friendly)) totalling 220 to 240m² (with technical rooms etc.)
5 units is the minimum theyâd want to go for
(I asked about other cohousing, her reference were two recent projects of 14 units with 4 studios and of 26 units with 6 studios so our potential ratio of say 5 to 22 seemed acceptable to her)
Hence the question to the group: How do you feel about the caring capacity of our project? Can you imagine a ratio of 5/6 inclusive units to 21/22 standard units? Do 220 to 240m² for the inclusive units (+ the studio of Lieâs dad) seem like an okay share of the overall square meters?
Launching this online now to get first impressions and to then take it to the next plenary if need be.
Thanks a lot for your input/questions etc.