As Deej entered her gorgeous new apartment and settled in after her first co-op meeting, she couldn’t for the life of her remember why she’d initially had misgivings about taking the place. Her old landlord had wanted their son to move into her unit, so she urgently needed a new place to live, and the co-op was almost too good to be true. The building was clean and well-maintained, the price was excellent, and, most importantly, it was available. Finding an apartment in this day and age was a nightmare, and this way, she was even able to have a partial ownership stake in where she lived.

She guessed that it had felt a bit too good to be true. But again, with how hard it was to find a decent place to live in this city, she wasn’t going to ask too many questions about why the rent was so low or how she was chosen out of what must have been hundreds of applicants. And yes, the mandatory weekly co-op meeting was a bit of an odd requirement, but it was a small price to pay for getting such a beautiful apartment at such a great deal. Heck, she may have agreed to it even if the alternative hadn’t been homelessness.

Having attended her first meeting, though, it really wasn’t too bad. It made scheduling her own work and commitments a bit of a pain, but the meeting itself was actually really nice. 

No, she couldn’t remember exactly what had gone on during the meeting. But she could still feel the sense of camaraderie with her neighbours flowing through her. It had felt really nice to sit in the meeting and… um… 

Well, it didn’t really matter. They’d begun the meeting by reading (in unison, of course) the co-op agreement they had all signed upon moving in, and the rest of the meeting had just flown by. And now, Deej knew.

This wasn’t just a building. This was a community.

This wasn’t just an apartment. This was a home.

This is my home. 

This is my community.

I give myself to my community.

This is my home.

This is my community.

I give myself to my community.

Deej could tell she was going to love living here.