A Nova Scotia couple, Amy Hendricks and Paul Davie, have donated 46 acres of their land to set up affordable and transitional housing for local non-profits in the planned community of Sugarloaf.

Hendricks and Davie donated land to help create affordable housing in Antigonish. After meeting Colleen Cameron from Antigonish Affordable Housing, they worked together to invite other non-profits to join the project. Naomi Society and the Canadian Association for Community Living each received land to build housing.

This effort became the Sugarloaf intentional community, which will include affordable homes, support housing, and a medical clinic. The need is urgent, as many renters cannot afford local housing, and the demand far exceeds the supply. Community leaders say projects like this are vital, especially as government funding becomes harder to access, because they are driven by people who understand local needs.

Hendricks and Davie have seen the housing crisis up close in their own community. Hendricks explained that many people who work in local nursing homes cannot afford to live in Antigonish on their wages, and some have to commute from as far as Port Hawkesbury, about 40 minutes away. The couple hopes that their planned community will help ease some of this pressure by creating an affordable, walkable place to live, with plans to one day include a daycare and a small corner store. Even with these big ideas, they don’t see themselves as housing advocates or philanthropists. Instead, they see themselves as people sharing land they don’t need and building a stronger sense of community.

Source: Emily Baron Cadloff, Global News