Have you ever had to say goodbye to a cherished home that was so much a part of your life that separation seemed almost impossible? Have you wondered what could happen to that space that had been cared for with pride and devotion and in return had offered great satisfaction and security? Early in the second millennium the time had come for the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peterborough to leave a residence that had been theirs since 1895, a farm dwelling that had expanded and developed into a complex of over 130,000 square feet of buildings, and housed at one time over 100 Sisters. The property was sold in 2007 to a Toronto company that had planned apartments for seniors, but with the economic crisis of 2008 it was forced to abandon this undertaking, and our home went to the parent company in Calgary that immediately put it on the market for sale. For more than four years we waited and prayed for a buyer that would honour and appreciate this beautiful space that encapsulated our history, and we watched an empty Mount St. Joseph deteriorate as time, weather and vandalism took its toll. Then a miracle occurred in August of 2013 when 5 courageous members of the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network risked all to buy the building with a vision for social innovation that contained all that we could have hoped for in the treasure that had been ours. What is now The Mount Community Centre is alive with the same mission to serve those in need as we are, and we look across the way these days filled with hope and gratitude for all that is happening there.
An initial search for housing and food security to respond to Peterborough’s most urgent needs as established by the PPRN became a much larger dream with the purchase of this property. Currently construction is well underway in the residential wing as 47 apartment units will be ready to move into by the summer of 2016. With thanks to a $50,000 donation from a local agency, the large commercial kitchen is being fully restored to a ‘community food hub’ which will offer a place for tenants and others to learn how to prepare nutritious meals using produce grown on the property. Finally our first non-residential tenant is expected to move in before December, and this organization will provide day and overnight respite care for people living with Alzheimer’s or other kinds of dementia.
Meanwhile a host of special events has been taking place at the Mount Community Centre over the past while. The deconsecrated chapel has become a space for weddings, music festivals and concerts, a Greek dinner and a poverty meal, an interfaith gathering and much more. Larger rooms have provided space for a variety of gatherings, including meetings and entertainment, and smaller rooms have been used as a quiet place for artists, musicians and office workers. November brought to the scene the production crew of Murdock Mysteries who filmed a small segment of this popular series. All of these activities contribute to the huge financial challenge that this wonderful project entails.
The plan for The Mount Community Centre will take 10 to 15 years to complete, and is centered around five main pillars – housing, food security, community services, arts and culture and ecological sustainability. As an impossible dream slowly becomes a concrete reality, one of the most surprising and amazing factors is the number of volunteers from many walks of life and the tremendous contribution they are making to this unique project which is the largest and most ambitious of the rising number of community hubs that are popping up across our country in response to social needs. If you wish to know more about this exciting venture, or get involved, you can go to the website at www.themountpeterborough.com
Joan Driscoll, CSJ