Rick Cober Bauman reflects on 25 years of Beyond Housing
When Rick Cober Bauman thinks about the impact of Beyond Housing, one person comes to mind right away. A friend of his had served a long prison sentence and faced significant stigma when he tried to rebuild his life. Landlords wouldn’t rent to him, and safe housing was nearly impossible to find. Eventually, he moved into a Beyond Housing apartment — a place where he felt welcomed and supported.
“He told me he might need long-term care someday,” Rick says, “but right now he doesn’t want to leave, because this place is home.”
It’s a simple story, but for Rick it captures what Beyond Housing has been doing for 25 years: offering people the stability they need to move forward with dignity.
An idea takes shape
That mission started in a boardroom at Mennonite Central Committee Ontario (MCCO). In the late 1990s, vacancy rates in Waterloo Region had dropped so low that many people were being pushed into unsafe spaces because they had no other choice.
“People just could not find decent, affordable places to live,” Rick says.
As MCCO’s program director, Rick knew the organization wanted to respond locally. But MCC’s revenue-sharing agreements meant a significant portion of local donations for housing would flow to international programs, making fundraising difficult. Instead, MCCO needed to support the creation of a separate, independent organization focused entirely on affordable rental housing in Waterloo Region.
The next step was finding the right leader.
Rick’s first phone call was to Martin Buhr, recently retired after many years leading House of Friendship.
“If Martin had said no, I don’t know where I would have gone next,” Rick recalls. “His yes changed everything.”
Martin brought deep experience, credibility and a clear sense of purpose. Together, he and Rick hosted community consultations at MCC, where participants affirmed both the need and the vision. With that encouragement, they formed the founding board of MennoHomes. MCC continued to offer meeting space and a strong connection to a generous donor community.
In 2003, members of MennoHomes’ first board (from left: Al Isaac, Rick Cober Bauman, Liz Klassen, Martin Buhr, Carolyn Musselman) at the site of what would become the Village Road duplexes.
“It was life changing”
For Rick, the turning point for the new organization came with MennoHomes’ first major build at Village Road.
“It was a pretty ambitious first project,” he says. “We didn’t just buy a house — we built multiple units right away.”
He still remembers a photo of the early board sitting on the grassy bank of what was then an empty lot. Not long after, families were moving into safe, stable homes.
“To go from bare ground to families living in affordable homes showed us this was not a small thing we were doing,” Rick says. “It was life changing.”
That early success gave the organization confidence to approach donors and partners. More projects followed — from single-family homes to multi-storey buildings — in Kitchener, Waterloo and the townships.
Twenty-five years later, MennoHomes has become Beyond Housing, but the mission continues. Today, 258 households call Beyond Housing properties home.
Looking ahead
Rick’s advice for the next generation of Beyond Housing’s leaders and supporters is simple and hopeful.
“Stay confident in the work you are doing,” he says. “You are meeting a core human need. The community wants you to succeed. You’ve found a good recipe — keep making the cake.”