In August, ROC Association gathered for its annual meeting, a retreat and the ROC USA® Board Meeting. We had 19 residents from across the country join us in Chicago and they attended the I’m HOME annual conference hosted by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, where we listened to incredible speakers talk about local and federal resources, including the PRICE Fund.
There were so many highlights but first and foremost, meeting people in person and reconnecting with friends and getting a real hug was at the top of my list. There were ROC Members with years of experience and new Members to the ROC family who all gathered together in one place, and for those who could not be with us in person, they tuned in virtually for the annual meeting.
During the ROC USA Board meeting, I shared some sad news with the Board Members. Some of our communities had experienced fires, floods and other devastating events, causing damage to homes and communities and tragically, the loss of two lives during an Aug. 4 fire at Bob’s and Jamestown Homeowners Cooperative in Lakewood, Wash.
I shared with the Board that we had reached out to the communities and wished we could do more to help them. We also talked about changing our bylaws to become a 501c3 non-profit, which would allow us to fundraise to help our Members when they are in need, specifically when communities are hit with devastation by a natural disaster. I also shared that we were drafting a policy for emergencies.
At the end of the Board Meeting, Andrea Levere, ROC USA’s Board Chair, said that there was a special announcement. She made a motion for ROC USA to give the ROC Association $100,000 for natural disasters, pending the completion of the policy. We were in shock and tears of joy were shed.
I raised my hand to move for approval and the other two Directors (Deb Winiewicz, Director for New England Region) and John Egan (former Director for the Mountain West Region) also raised their hands. There were no objections and it was passed!
Now, we are working on getting our new bylaws passed and we have a Policy and Procedure for Disaster Relief Fund in place. All of these additions will allow even more growth in our ROC movement.
