Cultivating self-awareness and presence.

When we are in touch with ourselves, we better connect with others, we become relatable and inspiring. We believe that intuitive and creative connections that lead to solidarity and effective collective action are rooted in presence and sustained through the maintenance of healthy boundaries. It is this focus on balancing care and constraint and giving from a place of fullness that allows us to thrive and feel free.

Connecting, inward and outward, is revolutionary when practiced with due respect to political and material dimensions that we cannot escape as living beings in this world. The fruits of our labor are channeled through our precious bodies and they are priceless. Brick by Brick seeks to cultivate generosity, intimacy, and humility among its community members.

Valuing and amplifying the community cultural wealth that already exists

Brick by Brick is a community organization that amplifies and generates community wealth by nurturing and leveraging community assets.

We want to preserve that wealth and make it easier for us and our neighbors to grow richer by valorizing our deep connection to ancestors and the land, creating opportunities to actualize our hope and dreams for the future in the face of real and perceived barriers — thereby enabling us to meet our needs, build confidence and explore our desires.

Nurturing diversity and embracing complexity to build bridges and facilitate collective empowerment.

We believe that our communities are rich, resilient and healthy by virtue of their diversity. Our approach recognizes and embraces complexity and multiplicity. Therefore, we make space for a plurality of perspectives and experiences by facilitating active listening and mutual engagement across differences. We foster intergenerational dialogue and build bridges between residents, organizations, classes, cultures to cultivate relationships that are creative, compassionate and empowering for everyone.

Community groundedness and leadership (shifting and altering power dynamics)

By recognizing power dynamics and reversing long-standing inequalities in the distribution of social recognition and legitimacy as part of our efforts to build solidarity, we aim to develop viable community-building projects and scale our operations. We engage in this process by encouraging community groundedness and grassroots leadership in our various activities, while putting forward the voices and talents of Parc-Extension residents.

Building homes and a sense of home.

Brique par brique seeks both to build concrete homes in which Parc-Extension residents can be housed with an affordable rent and to help build a broader sense of belonging and community. We believe that these two dimensions are interconnected and are at the core of our efforts to cultivate caring and thriving communities.

Be and inspire the next generation of community organizations

By pooling community resources in innovative ways, Brique par brique seeks to contribute to the emergence of a new generation of community organizations that are both community-anchored and flexible, responsive to residents’ needs and always looking for new ideas.