Alex has lived at his property with his family since 1995. He was a tenant of Marrickville Area Community Housing (MACH). During that time MACH identified a need for housing for Arabic families in the Marrickville area and was successful in obtaining 10 properties in the area through an Office of Community Housing tender process.
In 1998 with the help of the Association to Resource Co-operative Housing (ARCH), the 10 households formed the Marrickville Arabic Housing Co-operative and became members of ARCH. There was a real need for affordable, secure housing for young Arabic families in the Marrickville area. Alex and the other 9 households found out about Co-operative Housing through MACH and then worked with ARCH, undertaking training how to be a co-operative.
Alex is the Chair of the Co-operative and its spokesperson. Over the years each of the 7 principles of co-operation has meant different things.
In the beginning voluntary open membership and democratic member control were very important, however as a new Co-operative it was education, training and information which was essential. Members of the Co-operative did ongoing training with ARCH. This was a slow process as members of the Co-operative did not have English as a first language and translating educational resources was necessary. Also, as newly arrived migrants they were not familiar with how to work with government departments.
As the Co-operative developed, autonomy and independence were important. They were proud that they were able to manage their properties. They were one of the first Co-operatives to receive an A pass in all areas of the Community Housing Performance Based Registration process.
COVID and its aftermath has presented new issues for the Co-op. Having face to face meetings has proven difficult as many members have acute medical conditions and they need to be very careful. Phone and zoom meetings have become more frequent. This is not as satisfactory as meeting face to face but is necessary for the time being.
From the beginning, being from a minority religious group within the Arabic community, they were very active with their Church and their community. Community dinners and games nights were organised. As they are now much older, being active in the community is harder. Members have ongoing health issues, and they tend to spend more time at the doctors every year.
Probably the greatest benefit from living in a Co-operative has been to have housing security to be able to raise our children in our local community. Having housing in areas that are close to doctors and health clinics that understand their community has been very important.