A large group of young people and children posing outdoors in a wooded area with tall trees and power lines in the background.

Community Belonging First

Community belonging is not a program. It is the goal that every program serves. Every design choice in Rooted Living Homestead Society - shared meals at every Homestead Roots session, peer appreciation circles at the end of each class, the graduation showcase where participants present their work to families and the community - flows from a single insight: before a young person can absorb a skill or maintain a home, they need to feel safe, seen and like they matter in the room. Storytelling and community gathering are woven through everything we do. Three deliberate oral history moments are built into the Homestead Roots pilot year: a ‘Where I Come From’ sharing circle in Week 3, a mid-program recording in Week 12 where each participant documents one thing they made or learned that surprised them and a graduation story arc in Week 24 where each graduate tells the full story of their six months - recorded with consent and held in the community land trust’s living archive. In Year 2-3, as residents build shared history together, a formal Community & Belonging program will emerge as a natural expression of the lived experience on the land trust.

Learn Build Cultivate Home

Two women sitting on a gray sofa, looking at a colorful laptop. One woman, wearing glasses and a green sweater, is holding a cup of coffee, and the other woman, with curly hair and glasses, is smiling.

Various construction tools on a concrete surface, including a yellow measuring tape, a cordless drill, a pair of pliers, a hacksaw, and a level.

Freshly picked heirloom tomatoes, strawberries, yellow and orange cherry tomatoes, green bell pepper, and other vegetables in a wooden crate outdoors on soil.

Front view of a white cottage with black trim, blue shutters, and a gabled roof, surrounded by green trees under a partly cloudy sky.

Mission Statement

Rooted Living Homestead Society cultivates belonging, skills and affordable living through a community land trust model that connects people to the land, to each other, and to meaningful work.

We provide youth and vulnerable community members with a home, a garden, and the skills to build a sustainable future.

Vision Statement

A future where every person in Chatham-Kent has access to safe, affordable housing and the practical life skills to thrive - regardless of their starting point

Core Values

Belonging - Decisions are made with and for the people we serve - not for them.
Permanence - Land is held in trust forever. Housing that is affordable today stays affordable for every future generation.
Practical Learning - We teach real, hands-on skills with real-world employment and life applications.
Dignity - Tiny homes, homesteading, and community crafts are tools for independence, not charity.
Sustainability - Everything we build - physically, financially, and ecologically - is designed to last.
Reciprocity - Every person can both contribute to and benefit from the community.
Storytelling - We tell our story as we live it - through community dinners, seasonal gatherings, skill shares, and oral history. Story is how community remembers itself.

Women working on a construction site, standing on scaffolding, with wooden structure behind and a clear blue sky above.

A black letter board with white letters that read, 'Difficult roads lead to beautiful destinations,' placed on a dark surface. To the left, there is a small potted plant with green leaves in a brown terracotta pot, and the background is a plain, light-colored wall.

Built on What Actually Works

Rooted Living Homestead Society exists because housing, skills, food security, and belonging can't be solved separately. We combine a working homestead farmlet, hands-on construction and life skills training, and a pathway to permanently affordable housing through a community land trust — all in one community, in Chatham-Kent whether urban or rural.

We're a newly incorporated Ontario not-for-profit (July 2026), building toward the launch of Homestead Roots — our six-month skills program for youth aged 16–29 — in January 2027.

Get in Touch

Whether you're a potential partner, funder, volunteer, or just curious about what we're building — we'd love to hear from you. Reach out here, and we'll get back to you personally.