L'Arche Cape Breton

LArche Cape Breton was founded on April 5, 1983, when Janet Moore joined Tom and Anne Gunn and their family at their home in beautiful Iron Mines, Cape Breton. There, beneath the mountains and at the head of the Bras DOr Lakes, they founded the community they called Corinthian House. The seeds of LArche Cape Breton were planted years earlier, in th... e streets of India. It was there that Tom and Anne Gunn first discovered the beauty and simplicity of LArche. They returned to Cape Breton with their three children in the early 1980s. It is because of their faith, commitment and trust in God that the LArche community in Cape Breton was founded in 1983. Tom and Anne spent a few years in India, in Asha Niketan Bangalore, Madras, and Calcutta. They got married and were blessed with their first child, Sarah. But Annes cousin, Susan, was seriously injured in a car accident in South Bar, and they felt they needed to return home to be closer to Susan. They had originally imagined becoming a part of LArche Antigonish, but this was not meant to be. Instead, a group of people from the local area approached them about beginning a LArche community in Iron Mines. At this time Tom, Anne, and their three children were living in small cabin in River Denys, where Tom made a living doing woodworking. They took the risk of saying yes to LArche again. They found a piece of property in Iron Mines that was perfect for them near the lakes, off the highway, and close to the Waycobah First Nation. With no money to speak of, they made an offer on the land and it was accepted. With donations, especially from the Sisters of St. Martha and volunteer help, things came together and the building of Corinthian House began. The dream in those early years at LArche Cape Breton was to liberate people from institutional life. It was a vision of a life of simplicity and solidarity with the poor, close to the Mikmaq people and sustained by the work of our hands. Inspired by the Acts of the Apostles and the early Christians, community members owned goods ...Read More