Landscape Archives | Page 5 of 5 | Sweat Equity – The Grimsby Homebuilding Co-operative 1953

St. Patrick’s College, Ottawa

The ISA played an active role in promoting the social justice activities of the Catholic Church. The papal encyclicals of the day, letters from the Pope directing the […]

Mary Arnold with co-op builders in Reserve Mines, Nova Scotia

Arnold, a Quaker and an American activist in housing co-operatives, went to study the work being done at St. Francis Xavier University’s Extension Department in 1937. She remained […]

Co-operative fisheries, Pictou, Nova Scotia

It took a few years, but eventually Father Tompkins encouraged the fishermen to work together. They needed to understand what was causing their poor circumstances and learn how […]

Co-operative fisheries, Caribou, Nova Scotia

It took a few years, but eventually Father Tompkins encouraged the fishermen to work together to understand their financial situation and to learn how to improve it. Economic […]

Mid-winter on Marysfield Drive

In the hamlet of Wildfield, on a street named Marysfield Drive, 14 mostly Catholic families from Parkdale formed the Family Home Builder Co-operative Ltd. They chose to build […]

Komadoski family

Feeding the workers The Komadoski family, Helen and Mike, had moved into their co-op home while the co-op was still in progress. She remembers cooking for some of […]

Barb Colleary with her daughter, Barb

Grassy lawns eventually replaced muddy yards, to the delight of Barb Colleary and her daughter. Barb: Oh that red mud. Oh [emphatic] the mud. Everything was dyed […]

Barb and John Colleary in their co-op-built home, 1995.

Barb, who was living in a noisy location in Hamilton, was thrilled to think she would be living by the lake. Barb: We used to walk right […]

Charlie and Patricia Gallagher in their co-op- built home 1995.

Charlie recalls the crowding and the carpooling that they didn’t anticipate but certainly learned reliance on each other. Charlie: Yeah, a lot of people backed out when […]

Adele and Bob Walsh with son in Hamilton, 1955

Adele and Bob were among the many couples who gathered at the local high school to hear about co-operative homebuilding. They would eventually join 81 families in forming […]