Profiles of some of our members:
  Anne and Ian are the parents of Theresa (July '96) and Alexander (Sept
'98). We were attracted to co-housing while reading an article on Windsong's opening in Langley, but were loath to leave our urban lifestyle. Luckily, when it came time to buy a home of our own, Cranberry Commons was forming in our very own neighbourhood and we were overjoyed to be involved from the very beginning of planning. We have lived in the Burnaby Heights area since university (Simon Fraser) and wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Ian works in computer sales and helps out with the community's shared internet access. His biggest hobby is anything automotive, and he can often be found looking after his own or his neighbours vehicles. Anne is a baker and foodie, and enjoys contributing to community meals. She also advocates for and co-ordinates therapy for Alex, who has high-functioning Autism. To find out more out Autism Spectrum Disorder see the B.C. Autism Society. Theresa loves reading and cycling; having a library within easy cycling distance is a real bonus. Alex loves anything mechanical, and enjoys visiting the trains at the Burnaby Central Railway.


Sean and Barbara. We both grew-up (or pretend we did) in small prairie communities where children flowed from one house to another being fed wherever they were come lunchtime, where neighbours came over to enjoy a barbeque or help build a treehouse, where our friends' parents were as likely to teach us how to play soccer as our own were. After spending our twenties pursuing formal educations and wandering the globe (sometimes simultaneously), now we are both gainfully employed - Sean pursues his vocation of making the fuzzy concept of "sustainability" actually touch ground for City of Vancouver while Barbara helps rehabilitate those that have lost their full ability to communicate with the people and world around them.

When we decided to start a family, we knew we wanted to live somewhere that had a similar sense of community as our childhood homes. Now we have two young boys, Brehnan and Saeth*, and while their physical environment lacks the barns, ponds, and dirt piles that Barbara and I enjoyed, we all live a little richer by having such great and diverse neighbours.

* P.S. Sean lost paper-scissor-rock on the spelling both times.

  


  Tim and Ruth are parents of Shaun (b. Aug.94) and Thea (b. July 97). The decision to become equity members of Cranberry Commons in October, 1998 was the culmination of a long standing interest in and desire to live in community. As Quakers, Tim and Ruth seek to live in a world in which all people can coexist in peace with each other and with the earth. Ruth's background includes a 3 year degree in ceramics and a B.A. in Fine and Performing Arts from Simon Fraser University. She currently works part time with Tim on their business, and spends much of the rest of her time raising kids, singing and playing guitar, doing yoga and contributing to the life of her various communities. Tim is an electronics engineer self employed in professional audio, whose interests include playing piano, studio recording, meditation and staying grounded in the midst of the chaos of raising a family.

Lawrence has retired from a career of teaching and research in soil science. His research interests included the control of soil degradation, and the use of composting in management of agricultural and forestry wastes, as well as the development of soils formed on volcanic ash in Japan, Mexico and New Zealand. His interests include reading, genealogy and family history, gardening, investment, travel and cohousing. He has a wife, three children and four grandchildren.

Rosemary was born in London, England and met Lawrence when they were both working at a school for maladjusted boys. After marrying they came to Canada and spent several years at Macdonald College, outside Montreal, where Lawrence completed his MSC and PhD and Rosemary worked in Parasitology. They then moved to Edmonton with their 2 little girls and added a baby boy to the family before moving to Vancouver and a civilized climate! The children are all grown up; 2 are married with children of their own and live in Ontario, the third works as an electrical engineer with Celestica in Portland. Rosemary looks forward to the mixture of age groups we hope to have in our cohousing community. She plans to pursue her interests in reading, petit point, learning to quilt, genealogy, trying new foods when sharing meals, getting the family photos into albums, swimming, bible study as well as doing some more travelling.

 


  Ronaye and Brad met at Haven By-the-Sea on Gabriola Island in 1994 while participating in an experiential group process workshop called "Come Alive". They subsequently spent the next year together at Haven doing full time in-residence training primarily aimed towards developing skills of working with people, group leadership and counseling.

Brad sold his property on the Queen Charlotte Islands and shut down his forestry consulting business of 18 years in order to pursue a career as a personal development consultant and workshop facilitator. He has completed over 3000 hours of training in humanistic psychological approaches to self-awareness and human relationships including the level III Hakomi training with Ron Kurtz. For more information about the services Brad offers, visit heartwisdom.ca . His other interests include cooking, writing, community, and the raising of consciousness in our society. Brad's travels have taken him to the South Pacific, Southeast and Central Asia, parts of Europe, the Caribbean and South America.

Ronaye has a degree in Environmental Studies and 16 years experience in conventional real estate development. In 1996 she began working as a cohousing development consultant and now works full time as a consultant with groups in BC and other parts of Canada. For more information about Ronaye's consulting work visit: www.cohousingconsulting.ca. Her interests include: philosophy, psychology, spirituality, the environment, and creating healthy human communities. Ronaye has traveled in South America, the Caribbean and Western Europe. Brad and Ronaye chose to live in cohousing because of their desire to live in a more environmentally and socially sustainable community.
Barbara was born and grew up in Vancouver. After doing a B.A. at University of British Columbia, she went east, married, raised a family, divorced, and had a career in public libraries before returning to live in Vancouver. She plays the piano, and wants to encourage lots of music-making and other forms of participatory entertainment at Cranberry Commons.

 
  Fran and John are the parents of grown-up boys Morgan and Jordie. Twenty five years ago John and Fran met while both working at the H. R. MacMillan Planetarium at the Space Centre. Since then Fran has worked in the restaurant business, co-founded a Montessori program within the Vancouver School system and is currently working in the financial services industry, to name a few and John still works for the planetarium and in local radio. Their interests include, astronomy, music, (all types between the four of them.) dancing (that would just be Fran), movies, live theatre, reading, snowboarding (that would just be Jordie), DJing (that would be Mo), and crafts to name a few. Fran anticipates learning more about gardening, dancing more and working on simplifying her life when she moves into co-housing. John would like to avoid dancing as much as possible and looks forward to observing the night sky from the roof deck. Both Morgan and Jord are looking forward to all the fine cuisine that will be up for consumption at the common meals.

Ksenia believed that a cohousing community would be a great place to raise a family and she hasn't been disappointed. Her homelearning children (born 2003 & 2006) have close connections with their neighbours - adult and children. They frequently visit the local attractions, including the water spray area at Confederation Park, picking salmonberries along the Trans Canada Trail, exploring at Cates Park, swimming at the Eileen Dailly Leisure Pool and visiting the animals at Maplewood Farm. Ksenia is into cooking and she appreciates the European-style shopping available in the neighbourhood where she can pop into the produce store, the Italian deli, the butcher, the fish store, and the liquor store - all within blocks. She is a biologist who specializes in plant ecology - she loves good conversation and is preoccupied with finding answers to all the questions that she has about life. She is a city person but she regularly seeks renewal in nature and she looks forward to camping trips. The cohousing lifestyle provides her with opportunities for spontaneous socializing, sharing of child care and resources, contribution to communal projects, and connection with the generations.

 		 


  Dave grew up in a small community near Peace River, Alberta. After leaving home Dave lived in several communal houses in Edmonton and participated in a food co-op and a housing co-op. Janet and Dave moved to Vancouver in 1982 where they lived at 3 different housing co-ops. In 1990 Dave went to SFU and worked for Horizon Distributors, a worker owned wholesaler of health food. Dave now has a degree in Criminology but still works for Horizon where he is the head of shipping and relief supervisor. Dave has an interest in organizing a buying club at Cranberry Commons for bulk food buying. Dave likes to read mysteries and any “meaty” fiction. He loves working with wood and claims to have produced the wormiest compost ever. He wishes he had a half-acre garden. He loves to discuss politics, philosophy and religion.

Janet also grew up in small towns, in the Okanagan. While attending SFU in the seventies she lived in a communal house one block from the Cranberry Commons site, so the neighborhood feels like ‘home’ to her. She started her career in public libraries at the local McGill branch, then started another career in the eighties as a counsellor when she took a lay counselling course at Burnaby Family Life – also in the same neighborhood.. She has worked in the anti-violence movement for fifteen years as a counsellor and administrator, but recently returned to library work with the Legal Services Society Law Line. Her interests include writing, internet research, social justice and spiritual philosophies, attending small live theatre, vegetarian cooking, distance swimming and Iyengar yoga. She looks forward to joining in the music-making of the community, and hopes that the car-sharing will extend to kayaks and canoes!

Patrick, Zan and Sophia. We have come to discover this delightful neighbourhood that has incredible sushi, a great park for frisbee and soccer, an outdoor pool just down the way, friendly people and beautiful gardens. Patrick is a comedian, screen writer, actor and math/science teacher/tutor. Zan's focus is transformation of the planet, causing a world that works for each and every, and leads programs and works for Landmark Education. Sophia, born in 1997, has a huge heart and is always looking for ways to help others. She loves to do crafts. This year she crocheted a java jacket for my tea tumbler! She attends the Vancouver Waldorf School about 12 minutes away in North Vancouver. We love to hang out, putter around, ride our bikes, go swimming, laugh and eat good food - sushi and chocolate!

 


 

Sunita is a retired Dance Therapist. She immigrated from France to Quebec when she was 26 years old, then she gradually made her way to the West Coast (with some years in Ottawa and Oregon). Sunita likes to garden, sing and cook, particularly special vegetarian dishes. She also loves exploring places by bicycle. She enjoys participating in community life through social activities, especially the common meals. Her daughter, son-in-law, and grand-daughter also live at Cranberry Commons, in a separate home. Sunita volunteers her time at Farm Folk/City Folk and doing counselling at the Burnaby Seniors Outreach Services Society. She is very interested in reducing her footprint on the planet and helping others to do so. Meditation and developing inner peace are also part of her daily life; she believes that we can bring more peace to this earth by bringing more peace to our personal and community world.


June is a long time resident of Burnaby, and is originally from Winnipeg, Man. She is a retired Teaching Assistant for the Burnaby School Board. She has two children (Allan & Sheila), four grandchildren (David, Lee-Ann, Steven & Bria) and one great-grandson (Joshua). June enjoys long walks, travel, reading and genealogy. She really likes the community living, the diversity and the pot lucks and common meals.

  


 

Kevin and Haley moved to Cranberry Commons in 2006, looking for a home with a strong sense of community, minimal environmental footprint and a great place to raise their two young daughters. Erin (b. 2004) loves playing with the neighbour children, dressing up, imaginative play and crafting. She enjoys the feeling of having an extended family and the freedom to run outside to play in the courtyard. Corinne (b. 2008 at Cranberry Commons) is still developing her interests but so far enjoys being a part of it all. As a family we value all the things that Burnaby Heights has to offer including great restaurants, parks, the second hand book store, Eileen Dailly Pool and the McGill Library. Kevin is a computer software consultant who loves to go for road rides and run along the Trans Canada Trail on the weekends. Haley is a web designer and photographer who enjoys taking pictures, running, knitting and reading a good book.

Joyce

  

 

Tara & Aidan