Volunteers are an essential part of housing authorities throughout the province. As a result, the Saskatchewan Housing Corporation is honouring members who have been serving their local housing authorities for twenty five years. One of the volunteers recognized this year is Geraldine Peppler, who has been on the board for the Yorkton Housing Authority since 1985.
Pepper says she began to get involved when she was asked if she would become a part of the board. With her mother in one of the senior's housing units, Peppler felt that it was important to have a say in how they were run.
"I felt it was important to see that she was housed properly, it just went from there," she says.
Since then, Peppler has stayed involved because she saw how important it was to improve senior's housing in the city. In the twenty five years since she became part of the board, the number of apartments managed by the authority has grown and the amount of senior housing in the city has increased.
"Someone asked me what I was doing on a senior's housing board, and I said some day I will be a senior. I want to make sure that there is somewhere that I would like to live," Peppler remembers.
True to her word, Peppler has found a place where she would like to live as a senior. This has been the final year she has been part of the board, because she has moved into the Heather Apartments, which are managed by the Yorkton Housing Authority.
Since she is a resident, she can no longer be on the board. She says it felt like the time to make the change, and she is loving her new home.
Peppler says if people want to volunteer, they have to have the time and the interest, because that's what keeps people going and contributing to the cause.
One of the things she says has kept her involved in the housing authority has been the rest of the board members. She says that as the seven-member board changed over the years, the people involved were always excellent to work with.
