A little over five years ago, our paths crossed as new moms. Hannah and I were experiencing the sweet yet dizzying transformation of parenthood. Between sleepless nights and days that all seemed to blend together, we felt — sometimes with a pang in our hearts — the isolation that often comes with becoming a parent.
Unbeknownst to us at the time, a shared vision was beginning to take shape: a parenting village, a place where parents and children could grow side by side, create memories, and simply be, without having to control every part of the daily chaos. A warm, inclusive space where parents could (re)build their identity, surrounded by a caring community that truly understands.
This idea took time to mature. We searched for the right structure, the right way to make this dream a reality. Nothing seemed to fit — until the word cooperative became clear as an answer.
In 2023, Kaella joined our journey. With her experience in perinatal care and support, she brought fresh energy to the project. Observing the field we work in, one reality stood out: most perinatal professionals work solo, often as independent contractors. They wear countless hats — caregiver, educator, manager, communicator — but too often, they carry the weight of entrepreneurship alone.
And what if the solution was to unite?
To come together to reach a common goal?
Not easy, of course. How do you mobilize independent professionals, women deeply attached to their autonomy, toward a collective project? Yet the idea of a solidarity cooperative shone as a solution. This structure, unique to Quebec, allows for great flexibility: our service providers become producing members. Much like in agriculture, where producers pool resources to share land or equipment… we pool clients, a space (coming soon!), technological tools, and a shared vision.
Then came Jeanne, Séréna, and Kira, bringing their expertise and passion for perinatal care. Each enriched the project in her own way, adding color, sensitivity, and unique skills to our collective palette. Alongside them, our support members, those vital community voices, help us stay aligned with the real needs of the families we serve.
Moving forward as a larger group certainly comes with challenges, but it also allows us to co-build bigger, stronger, and more grounded in reality.
Our model is still unique in Quebec, and like any uncharted path, it sometimes requires patience and courage. There are times when we need to backtrack to better understand the way forward. But we never walk alone. Guiding us along the path are precious lanterns: CDR Outaouais–Laurentides, Carrefour jeunesse emploi de l’Outaouais, Desjardins Caisse Hull–Aylmer, and other cooperatives that believe in us.
It was in the past year that our project truly came to life, with the exciting transition to our first permanent space, a place we could never sustain without our dedicated members.
Our cooperative story is one of questions, growth, sisterhood, and community. We are driven by the same doubts as many entrepreneurs, but here’s the difference: we share even our uncertainties with each other.
And perhaps that is the essence of cooperation:
to walk together, illuminate each other’s paths, and build a village where every parent, every child, every professional finds their place.
As 2025 has been declared the International Year of Cooperatives by the United Nations, under the theme “Cooperatives Build a Better World”, our small perinatal cooperative finds deep resonance in this global movement. (ica.coop)
It is as if the universe itself is inviting solidarity-driven initiatives to step into the light, to believe in the power of collective action to transform individual realities. By sharing our story, full of doubts, leaps of faith, mutual support, and perseverance, we affirm that a cooperative model is not just an administrative or economic choice: it is a social and political stance, a way of living interdependence.
During this Year of Cooperation, we celebrate every producing member and every support member, every step forward despite discomfort, every moment we looked to our community to remember why we began.
May this Week of Cooperation and Mutuality help us share not just our project, but also our conviction: villages are born from dreams brave enough to be shared.
