Anika Bauman spent three and a half years (2017–2020) living alongside refugee claimants at Kinbrace. She first encountered Kinbrace through a summer outreach program as a university student. Soon after, she began visiting the community weekly to share in English conversations, becoming friends with one resident over sweet Turkish coffee in an upstairs apartment. In 2017, after returning from a year in France, she joined the Host Community, a group of dedicated individuals who live on site at Kinbrace, offering a generous welcome to people seeking refugee protection. Anika found her niche setting up apartments for new residents, gardening, chicken-keeping, and hosting spontaneous celebrations with neighbours. She continues to live and work in the vibrant Grandview-Woodland neighbourhood of East Vancouver on the unceded ancestral territory of the Coast Salish Peoples: the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
Watch this interview where Anika speaks about her book with Clarion Journal.