A Gathering Place Where Love Grows
By Inda Intiar
It was a cloudy Friday when I first visited Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk/Halifax’s Neighbourhood Shop. But inside, it was bright and welcoming, and coffee was brewing for anybody who wants a cup.
Tucked in between restaurants and cafes on Gottingen Street, the shop offers everyone from young children to the elderly a place to be with their community without having to spend a cent.
It’s cozy and modern, with a kitchen, washroom facilities, a children’s corner, a small office area, a quiet room, and multi-purpose rooms. It also has craft, woodworking and gardening supplies, books, and computers for public use.
I joined a group of people sitting around two long tables, ready for a Mi’kmaq craft session. We used leather strips and beads to make keychains, all supplied by the Shop.
Around the table sat university students, staff members, and a team member from the nearby Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre. I had fun making my own keychains, with strangers who didn’t feel so foreign anymore by the end.
We tried different designs with guidance from Mi’kmaw hosts. The energy was positive, and we complimented each other’s work. The students who sat across from me were proud of the keychains they made and were excited to give them to their family members.
The shop was clearly a welcoming place where people of all backgrounds felt a sense of belonging. I could see it from the residents that stopped by throughout the three hours I spent at the shop.
There was the elderly woman who came in to use the printer. She said hello to the room.
There was the videographer who came in to take some b-roll shots for a project he’s working on with Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk/Halifax.
There was the mother who came in with her toddler, bringing some recyclables that shop staff can use for different projects. Everyone loves Lala the toddler!
There was the woman who came in to use the sewing machines, and another who came in to borrow a utility wagon.
There was the middle-aged couple whose visit was greeted by the staff’s delight. “We’ve missed you!” one of the staff members said. They sat down and made holiday cards for the staff.
There was a woman who couldn’t attend the Shop’s community potluck the next day, but dropped by with some cookies for all to share.
And on, and on it went.
This community spirit is something embodied and promoted by Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk / Halifax, particularly through an approach that encourages inclusive and active participation by community members.
Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk / Halifax is an initiative led by the Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Centre, in partnership with Participatory Canada and the Participatory City Foundation.
It’s inspired in part by the work of Participatory City in the UK, and its Every One Every Day initiative in East London, though the approach has been adapted beautifully to context by centering Truth & Reconciliation and Indigenous wisdoms, and by embracing explicit aims of decolonizing systems, practices, and mindsets.
The goal is to bring robust social infrastructures across Canada.
I visited the Shop as part of my Transformation Storytelling Fellowship through Community Foundations of Canada, a partner of Participatory Canada. With a focus on the work of Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk/Halifax and Participatory Canada, I hope to use storytelling to showcase how initiatives on the ground can help transform broader systems and societies.
Through its participatory approach, Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk / Halifax serves as a platform by creating the conditions for inclusive participation. The premise is simple, but its impact is radical in a world of silos.
The Shop is one piece of that platform. It provides a place for residents to make crafts, cook together and learn from each other, building relationships and community in the process. It’s a practical example of Reconciliation at the neighbourhood level - Reconciliation in our everyday actions.
Sessions like the one I took part in are part of projects co-designed by the Neighbourhood Project Designers and community members. They change regularly, and are based on community members’ unique skills, talents and gifts.
Neighbourhood Project Designer Kate said sessions related to nutrition and food sufficiency were among the most requested by residents.
Julie, another Neighbourhood Project Designer, said a participatory approach also means relying on resources already within the community. The designers help make the sessions happen by connecting different resources and people across the neighbourhood. Imagine having a space to make batch meals with your neighbours, in a session taught by the chef from the restaurant across the street, using the community kitchen, with supplies from the corner store!
Tammy, a Mi’kmaw woman who is Every One Every Day’s manager of learning and evaluation, says doing so helps build a community that’s grounded in the concept of circularity, and one that can sustain itself.
The Shop has been in the works for some time, but has only been open since the summer.
In that time, team members said they’ve experienced a transformation of their own.
Julie said when it comes to co-designing sessions, her mindset has shifted. If she would previously get resources or buy supplies externally, now she looks at what skills, space and supplies can be provided by the community itself.
Julie, Kate and other team members of Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk/Halifax are also a big part of the warmth of the space.
I observed Kate greet virtually everybody that came in with a “hi, hun!” and a smile. She gave me a tour of the Shop, and checked in with folks to make sure they had what they needed right up to the moment she was leaving.
“I’ve got to get some groceries,” she said, but not before gushing to Tammy about the cards they got from the couple.
Tammy turns to me and said,
“That’s how love grows here, you know?”
Inda Intiar (she|her) is a Transformation Storytelling Fellow with Community Foundations of Canada. Through this role, she seeks to use storytelling to showcase how innovation and initiatives on the ground can help transform broader systems and societies. She’ll focus on the work of Participatory Canada and Every One Every Day Kjipuktuk/Halifax in providing social infrastructure that centers Truth and Reconciliation and encourages the inclusive and active participation of community members.
