The community orchard at the Rainbow Ridge affordable housing complex officially launched with a tree-planting ceremony on Earth Day. In this morning’s interview, permaculture designer Witney Vanderleest discusses her role in the project, the process of planting the first 35 trees, and what the community can expect to see as the site evolves.
Continue reading The Evolving Permaculture Design at Rainbow Ridge
Aaron Gunn, the MP for North Island-Powell River came to Cortes Island on Thursday April 9. Jacob Mantle, the MP from York-Durham in Ontario, accompanied him. About 60 expectant Cortes residents showed up at Mansons Hall. The resulting town hall meeting covered everything from the cost of living to the future of the resource sector. The report that follows consists of highly edited audio clips from an hour and a half meeting.
Continue reading MP Aaron Gunn’s April 9th Town Hall Meeting on Cortes Island
If everything goes as planned, the first two rental suites at the Rainbow Ridge Affordable Rental Project on Cortes Island will be ready in June, and six units could be occupied as early as January. In this morning’s interview, Mark Lombard, the Construction Manager, provides an overview of how the work is progressing at Rainbow Ridge, as well as updates from the Cortes Island Housing Society‘s other housing sites—Orchard Village and the Makerspace.
Continue reading Six Units Underway at Rainbow Ridge, Further Updates
The 2026 Cortes Island Housing Survey was launched on Wednesday, February 11. This is a joint endeavour between Regional Director Mark Vonesch and the Cortes Housing Society, who recently provided a look at the first responses.
70 people had filled out the survey when Cortes Currents interviewed Sadhu Johnston, a day after the release.
Sadhu Johnston: “The first Cortes Island Housing Survey was really, really helpful for us in guiding the work of the Cortes Housing Society. We wanted to do another housing survey to gauge where people are at and how they’re feeling about the housing challenges on Cortes. Also, for us, as we’re building out Rainbow Ridge, it helps to get clarity on what people are looking for in terms of their housing needs. We want to make sure we’re building the right size units, the right number of bedrooms, and things of that nature,” he explained.
Continue reading First Responses: 2026 Cortes Island Housing Survey
In the first half of this episode, Cortes Island Academy students Elsie, Lacey, and Elias discuss the housing situation on Cortes, from three different angles. This includes tiny homes, Rainbow Ridge, the Seniors Village, and interviews with five different locals, as well as their own stories and observations on the topic. Travel with them as they learn about the challenges of finding housing on Cortes, and the creative solutions that are emerging to try and solve the issue.
In part two, Nathaniel Maki interviews Margaret Verschuur and Fawn Baron from the Deathcare Collective, and discusses the importance of having a healthy culture and communication around the topic of death and dying.
Continue reading Teen Takeover on Housing, the Death Care Collective & Podcasting
