Filled with music, dancing, and socializing, the Atangard Community Project’s Open House sounded like a rousing success. Though I was unable to attend myself, I was lucky enough to visit Atangard and sit down with executive director and president of the board of directors of the Project, as well as The Cascade’s former managing editor, Kait Thompson, to learn what the project is all about.
The Atangard Community Project is located in the heart of downtown Abbotsford, and functions as a community living project, billing itself as a space for students and young professionals, aged 19-35. The project began in 2009, and, according to Thompson, “with the exception of the last six months, we’ve been pretty much running at full capacity functioning ever since.” The building consists of 20 self-contained rooms with private bathrooms attached, as well as common spaces. “The idea is to gather groups of like-minded individuals from all different backgrounds,” said Thompson, with a friendly and welcoming smile, “and create an environment that nurtures creativity and gives people connection to this bigger thing than them so that they’re able to engage with this greater sense of community and live a more intentional and rich life… It’s not just a low-income housing project. There is a very social component to what we do here.”
Creating a sense of community is one of the Atangard project’s primary goals, and there are several things that make living at Atangard unique: For example, during the tour, Thompson informed me that every resident is required to make dinner twice-a-month so everyone can sit down and share a meal together. To help make this possible, the residents and directors chip in for a “pantry fund” — then one of the directors heads to the store to buy everything the residents need for the month. The dinners really reinforce the goal of community living, making sure that no one feels left out or alone. “You think about what life is like,” said Thompson; “you’re just a 20-something, and you go to your job or you go to school, and you don’t realize how isolating it can be until you move into a place like this.”
Atangard also gives back to the Abbotsford community through events that they hold. According to Thompson, previous generations involved with the project were involved in “setting up things like Jam In Jubilee, the free summer concert series in Jubilee Park.” Not only that, but Atangard has also been the venue for a thriving music scene, hosting punk rock bands and acoustic singer-songwriter nights. Their most recent event was the open house, but it was just the beginning of a year of fun-filled events. Their next showing is the Summer Eyes concert featuring Trevor Blaak, which will happen onsite on Feb. 23.
The building that houses the Project officially opened its doors to the public as the Hotel Atangard on April 15, 1927, making it one of the most prominent heritage buildings in Abbotsford. The building was renamed the Fraser Valley Inn in 1968, and over the ensuing decades, fell into various states of disrepair. However, the original Clayburn brickworks walls still stand as a testament to the building’s resilience — now reflected in its current occupants. When the Project took stewardship in 2012 and repurposed it into a community living space, it required a significant overhaul; but their aim to preserve as much as possible carries forward into their current eco-friendly practices.
Thompson said the Project has an auto-share program: a car that any resident can use, and rather than paying for gas, an extra fee gets tacked on to their rent based on how many kilometers they drive. Coupled with this is the building’s close vicinity to transit, drastically decreasing the residents’ carbon footprint. “Instead of putting up all this money and using up all these resources to purpose-build brand new housing somewhere, we’re taking this space and we’re turning it into something, and it’s something that already existed and was just sitting here empty.”
The Atangard Community Project is just the kind of place that’s needed during the housing crisis we are all experiencing. With a thriving and welcoming community and a positive impact on the environment, it seems like just the place any student would want to live. To apply, you must be between the ages of 19-35 and either be working full time or enrolled in post-secondary education. You can learn more about the project and apply on their website or by checking them out on Instagram, @atangardcommunityproject.
