Best Answer #1

From a shy, yet deep-thinking, rather poetic and insightful contributor, who wants to be known only as J.K.

Submitted August 25, 2020 at 2:11 pm

Alright. The colon in the middle is a permeable wall/membrane between the two acronyms indicating that they work both ways. Connection. communication and interdependence are the keys to getting a project like this to work properly. This wall will provide privacy and shelter when necessary and be open to all when not. It is indicative of change. Or as in many emails––it’s two eyes looking all ways at once. The colon means that the society deals with ‘marginalized’ persons equitably––regardless of race, gender, ability. It indicates the right of human beings to have proper shelter; to be treated as worthwhile individuals; and, sometimes it is simply that the colon makes people take a half breath or beat or a pause between the Network of Homes : Affordable Housing Society. So where is the Network and what is it?” J.K.

J.K. asks a valid question with their final sentence. The network is being built in this very moment! Their very act of participating in this contest builds the network.

It can also be built in a very concrete way through the acquisition and/or management of private rentals currently occupied by long-standing tenants who may have made their homes there for multiple years, if not decades! And who are now at risk of losing their home because the owner/landlord has decided to sell.

NOH : AHS – with all its innocent bluster – thinks it just might be able to raise the funds to buy some of these places so the tenants can stay put! NOH : AHS aspires to become their new landlords, and just carry on renting the places to them so they don’t have to pack up and leave their affordable-for-their-low-income home and find somewhere similar to live in the neighbourhood they call home, at a rental price they can afford.

And thus, on a quite possibly figuratively and literally concrete level, though some homes may be wood frame, we will have a Network of Homes : Affordable Housing Society.

---

Which baked goodie did J.K. choose? Well, it turns out they’re Celiac so NOH : AHS is looking for a gluten-free baker who will gift us a prize for our Best Answer #1. Yes, we are still accepting submissions because although there can only be one Right Answer there can be many Best Answers!
By the way, if you live far away and can’t pick up the prize (we will deliver if you within a 30-40 minute drive of downtown Victoria) you can still enter our contest and gift your prize to someone or something of your choice in Victoria.