The residents of one of Nova Scotia’s oldest African Nova Scotian communities, their 85 historic homes, church and other community buildings will be better protected from wildfire risk with support from the Province for the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust. Upper Hammonds Plains was settled in 1815 by Black

From June 8–18, Rooftops Canada welcomed Thulani Nkosi, a Senior Attorney from the Socio-Economic Rights Institute (SERI) of South Africa to Atlantic Canada and as part of the Women Spaces project. During this visit we exchanged ideas and explored solutions to one of the most pressing challenges facing communities around

A new report highlights the most vulnerable communities in the Halifax region for emergency access, and how they can be improved through new roads or crisis planning. In a staff report to council Tuesday, a consulting team led by HDR Corporation examined more than 360 communities across the Halifax Regional Municipality, ranking

People in Hammonds Plains were not welcoming of new development because of how it was being planned in their community without their input. Curtis Whiley, founder and CEO of the Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust, told Nova Scotia Today with Dan Ahlstrand, that members of the community were looking for a way

You can hear the passion in Curtis Whiley’s voice when he talks about communal stewardship, the very idea at the heart of the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust’s 136-unit development.  Article content It also happens to be Canada’s largest Black-led housing project of its kind.  “I spent a lot

Sixth-generation African Nova Scotian Curtis Whiley is helping to write a new chapter for the Upper Hammonds Plains Community. “It is a wild story.” Curtis Whiley has had a busy few years. From administering co-operative housing agreements and delivering home repair programs at the Government of Nova Scotia’s Department of

The federal government announced $61.2 million for the Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust on Saturday. The funding will be used to build 136 co-op housing units in the historic African Nova Scotian community. All the units will be built at 195 Equestrian Lane with the first block of housing

With their collective ownership model, community land trusts have the opportunity to work with provincial and federal governments to provide affordable housing and community hubs to marginalized communities. At six weeks old, in 1995, Shekara Grant was the youngest attendee at the Weymouth Falls community’s biannual reunion. Thirty years later,

To combat further erosion of the affordable housing stock, Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust UHPCLT, has set out to demonstrate how to create an affordable housing-focused, community-led community land trust. This CLT will serve the community and lead a transformative movement guided by community voices, values, and aspirations. The Nova Scotia

An old idea is finding its way to Nova Scotia that may help preserve plots of land where communities can build affordable housing.   The United Way Halifax and several partners are exploring the idea of creating a community land trust (CLT) in the Halifax area. According to Kevin Hooper, the manager of

The federal government announced the development of 136 new affordable housing units in Upper Hammonds Plains Saturday. The project, known as the Upper Hammonds Plains Housing Co-operative, is part of the Co-operative Housing Development Program which the government says is the largest federal investment in new co-op housing development in

The federal government announced the first co-operative housing projects to receive funding under the new Co-operative Housing Development Program (CHDP), a $1.5 billion initiative designed to support the creation of new co-op housing across the country. Through the first application window, $423 million in funding has been allocated to support

A new housing co-op in Upper Hammonds Plains will see 136 new affordable homes built over the next year and a half. Article content A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the property at 195 Equestrian Lane on Saturday afternoon. Article content Article content The project, which includes 29 accessible units,

The Upper Hammonds Plains Community Land Trust (UHPCLT) exemplifies community-led advocacy and community-developed solutions to longstanding systemic issues in African Nova Scotian communities, yielding positive results and progress in Upper Hammonds Plains, a suburban community in Halifax Regional Municipality. Article content The community recently came together to conduct a Solutions

When Curtis Whiley’s great-great-great–grandfather, a cooper from Virginia, took refuge in Nova Scotia in 1815, this community was nothing but pine forest. Settled far from amenities, he and the many freed slaves from the Chesapeake area opened up lumber mills and barrel shops and turned Upper Hammonds Plains into one

“Through the work of land trust, we’ve really been able to mobilize a broader community conversation, which needed to be had in terms of us all getting on the same page, having a shared community vision. Those are really important,” Whiley said. “What I am understanding from working in other

With the Halifax housing market showing no sign of slowing down and commercial development continuing to push into suburbs, longtime residents of Upper Hammonds Plains are taking action. In the second of a two-part series, the CBC’s Kyah Sparks delves deeper into the pressures facing the Black property owners of

Residents of a Black Nova Scotian community outside Halifax feel their community is losing its character due to a hot housing market and increased development. In the first of a two-part series, the CBC’s Kyah Sparks explores the history of Upper Hammonds Plains and the community’s latest challenge.