There are many more people making OUR what it is than could ever be profiled on this page. We have chosen to focus on the group who have chosen to live here long-term, otherwise called Hearth Keepers.

Full time residents

Brandy Gallagher

With a deep compassion for people and place, Brandy is naturally drawn and adept to working with and within communities.  She is dedicated to furthering the regulatory and legal development of legitimate models of land use, alternative building, socially responsible financing, food security practices, ownership, and governance, while aiding others in finding their way through such challenging areas.  As one of the main proponents behind the Canadian precedent setting rezoning and with her work in sustainable land management planning and ecological design, Brandy has helped manifest multi-use allowances for ecovillages and shared land projects that encompass a framework of legal, political, and community integration.

• O.U.R. Ecovillage Co-founder and Developer
• O.U.R. Community Association Board of Directors Executive Director
• O.U.R. Ecovillage Cooperative Member
• Sustainable Communities Teacher and Consultant
• Mother
• Resident
• TOPIA: The Sustainable Learning Community Institute Developer

Trent Berg

Trent is the man who holds the awe-inspiring job of “putting roofs on oddly shaped buildings”.  His support for his partner, Brandy, and the community is deep.  He amorously attends to the details that keep the lands, animals, and buildings functioning in harmony, all while striving to strengthen his communitarian roots.  He is dedicated to demonstrate a healthy and caring way of life to his daughter, Freya, and all those willing to learn.

• Carpenter and Handyman Extraordinaire
• Resident
• Father and Supporter

Freya Gallagher-Berg

Freya was born into community life at O.U.R. Ecovillage.  She encompasses and emanates exactly what ‘community’ is as she pulls people out of their shells and joins them together in the joy of sharing.  She has been a very active community member since birth, caring for the animals, and helping all those around her balance work with play.

Elke Cole

Elke has been involved in Natural Building since 1994 both independently and with the Cob Cottage Company, Down to Earth Building Bee, Cobworks, and O.U.R. Ecovillage. She has dedicated herself to teaching and developing the Natural Building Skillbuilder program at O.U.R. since 2000, while also remaining active in the field of Architectural Design.  Integrating group process and various design courses, Elke has designed the Healing Sanctuary, Chillage, Art Studio, Freya’s House and the Residential Zoning Plan at O.U.R. Her work in designing, building, and teaching of Natural Building has taken her to many places, including recent projects in Africa and India.

• O.U.R. Ecovillage Cooperative President
• Natural Building Teacher and Program Director
• Resident
• On-site design studio

Elke’s website: www.elkecole.com and blogs:  On building and being, Sunday again at OUR Ecovillage.

Marisa Jackson

Marisa grew up in Switzerland where, as a child, she always wanted to live on a farm like her parents and grandparents did. Feeling called by a land and people to learn, work, grow, and share, is what brought Marisa to O.U.R. in the summer of 2008. Marisa’s dedication to living a healthy life full of fresh beautiful food, in an environment where her children can grow and learn in a healthy, safe, and nurturing way, and making a positive change in the world is what makes her stay.

• Mother
• Kitchen Program Coordinator

Patrick Jackson

Living with differences of language, culture, and ability during his search for a path with heart has given Patrick the conviction that the meaning and sustainability of our lives as people on Earth lies in the quality of the relationships and communities we participate in and co-create.  Patrick feels and sees this at O.U.R. and is dedicated to supporting and nurturing it to grow and spread as O.U.R continues to develop.

• O.U.R. Ecovillage Cooperative Board Member
• Resident
• Father
• Resident Shiatsu Practitioner at the Mountain Shiatsu Studio.

Khaya Jackson

Khaya became a teacher of wonder and awe of the natural world since he moved to O.U.R. Ecovillage with his family, Patrick, Marisa, and sister Fiamma, in the summer of 2008.  He is a natural in the garden and in wild animal tracking, finding joy and excitement in getting up close and personal with the smaller things in life.  Through his discoveries, Khaya helps care for the delicate balance between the big and small living things that share this ecosystem.

Fiamma Jackson

Fiamma is one of the lucky children that call O.U.R. Ecovillage “home”.  She moved here with her parents, Patrick and Marisa, and her brother, Khaya, in the summer of 2008.  She provides a constant glow of sunshine through her radiant smile on the rainiest of days.  She fills an integral role in the community, and is a reminder to all of the future generations we are working to preserve the land for.

Roger Berrett

Roger came to O.U.R. Ecovillage in May of 2006 for a month, and has been here ever since.  He spent his first two and a half years here creating the woodworking shop, affectionately known as the Taj Mahal, from what used to be a chicken house (stay tuned for Taj II). His aspirations are to see O.U.R. successfully become a cooperative venture with an artistic bent and lots of fun, love, and foolishness. Roger is dedicated to making sure that things don’t become too serious, creating beautiful things with wood… and pie.

• Resident Fine Woodworking Craftsman
• Resident
• Aspiring snowbird

Carolyn Dowell

Carolyn is a local, self-employed gardener who follows an “organics only” policy, and an avid herbologist.  She was introduced to O.U.R. in 2003 during a local seedy Saturday, and instantly felt a correlation with the discovery of “others who think like I do”.  She has maintained a strong bond to both the gardens and the community of O.U.R.  Of the many attractions to the ecovillage, the three that resonate the deepest with Carolyn are diversity, creating community, and learning new skills.  Carolyn sees a future at O.U.R. filled with “more, more, more… houses, fruit & nut trees, families, children playing, smiling faces, grey hairs, wrinkles, and honey bees”.

• O.U.R. Ecovillage Cooperative Treasurer
• Owner operator of Carolyns’s Gardening, Shawnigan Lake – 250 743 733 2452
• Volunteer Extraordinaire
• Shameless dog-treats provider

Lynn Curtis

Previously, Lynn has worked for the provincial government as a jester, retiring from government in 2004 when the Gordon Campbell “Liberals” decided to gut the civil service.  Since then he has been actively involved in the development of the legal supports for O.U.R. and in the planning for the housing project onsite. Lynn would like to see “a lot of money manifest itself immediately” for both the Co-op and the Community Association.

• O.U.R. Community Association Board of Directors Member
• a central co-conspirator in the FOG Project