I’ve been in and out of the Fraser Valley my whole life, but have never truly planted roots. Every attempt of mine to establish community fell short. Family grew distant, classes transitioned online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and hobbies always waxed and waned in interest.
After years of online classes, and a renewed determination to return to the Valley and to UFV, I had to ask: what does the search for connection look like when you have nowhere to start? How does one muster up the motivation to put themselves out there? Well, the time and energy aren’t likely to go ahead and just fall in your lap but for me, it truly was something of a stroke of luck.
Enter Atangard. This community housing project has been on my radar for awhile, mainly from a distance. Acquaintances mentioned the name on and off for years, without fully explaining its scope or intention. When I was invited to their 16th anniversary party on Sept. 13, I saw an opportunity to get a better idea of what it entailed, and who was involved in running the place.
I sat down with one of the organizers, MacKenzie Kroetsch, president of the board at Atangard, to discuss how it contributes to the community, and what its future holds.
What does community mean to you?
Atangard provides a sense of community, where [roommates] aren’t just people you live with, they’re people that you interact with, that you lean on for support, and that you know will also in turn, support [you] when [you] need it.
What are some things Atangard does to uplift and support its local community?
We do comedy shows here, and we find local artists to come perform for talent nights and other things and we try to make the majority of our events free, so that it’s open to the community … there’s a place that everybody can come to and have easy access to.
You had your 16th anniversary party recently. What goes into putting those larger events together?
Honestly, it’s a lot of work … We had Gord and [Morse Code Literature] … two bands that we had never had here before … Generally, it’s a volunteering platform. That way we don’t have to charge anybody tickets.
Beyond just celebration, do you think such events bring awareness to Atangard?
I definitely do. Our anniversary party is one of the only ones that we do outside … and that’s because we want it to be right in the community for people to wander up and figure out who we are. We don’t do that with a lot of our other events … We really do want people to wander around and just be like “Oh, what’s that?”
Do you think awareness itself is helpful toward future goals for Atangard, or is there a way for like-minded people to contribute to the project?
The whole goal is to spread awareness so that we can give everybody a place to go, even if they’re not living here — to have friends and community close by and easily accessible. So, the more people talk about it — the more we can get our name out there — the better. That also gives us a chance to get connected with more businesses that want to support Atangard and keep us here for longer.
What do you hope Atangard’s future looks like?
Our immediate future is just keep Atangard here and make sure that we have enough residents that we can pay rent, and make sure we can keep doing events in the long future. Though the ideal plan we’ve all talked about is that we would love to have more Atangards … Bring community housing to all of the Fraser Valley, instead of just this one area.
Is there anything coming up that people should be aware of?
We’re doing a blood drive starting in October, so we’ll have an account at Canadian blood services so anybody can go and donate blood … and then we’re going to have a party [at the] end of October. It’ll be our Halloween party but it’ll also be the end of the blood drive, so we’ll be celebrating however much we end up donating … We’re here and we love people to come just ask questions … New people are always welcome.
We are [also] working with the Abby Arts Collective open show. So we’ll have artists there, we’re also doing some film showings, and, you know, food and liquor. It’ll be a good time.
Where can people find you?
Our Instagram (@atangardcommunityproject) is all about the events. We also have info@atangard.com, anyone can email us there, reach out about anything. That’s also where you would send your application and we would get you an interview.
Interview edited for length and clarity
