Realizing an Impossible Dream

The Mount Community Centre, former residence of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Peterborough, is moving ahead to complete the second phase of their plan to respond to the critical need for affordable rental housing in the city.  After unavoidable construction delays, 10 new apartments will be available this fall, as well as five specially-designed units for Shared Dreams for Independent Living, a group that sponsors five developmentally-challenged young men. This accomplishment brings the number of affordable apartments now available at The Mount Community Centre to a total of 58. Construction will continue as 5 new units, designed for families, will soon take shape on the top floor.  The drawings are complete for 2 basement apartments in the A wing as well, bringing the total affordable residential units in the building to 76.

The number of non-residential tenants has grown significantly this year. The Rowan Tree Pre-School has expanded its program to include Junior and Senior Kindergarten.  St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, forced to find other space when their sanctuary was condemned by the building department, has settled into the beautiful corner complex that includes what was once our priest’s apartment, large reception room and bishop’s parlour.  The auditorium has become home to a new Art Gallery with a wide collection of works from 21 different artists. An Early Childhood Education Program is being run by Sir Sanford Fleming College this fall in Austin Doran Hall. What we knew as the old St. Joseph’s Hall is now rented by The Dennis Group fundraisers. That means there is no longer any office space for rent in this huge building. 

The food centre has expanded its enterprise to provide food services to the Kawartha Cardiology Clinic and baked goods to the Silver Bean Café.  The Peterborough Community Training and Development rents the food centre every Monday to Friday, as chefs in training prepare food for Meals on Wheels, and 4 different VON locations.  Every Sunday our kitchen is rented to a local chef who prepares about 400 PALEO meals to deliver to clients.   A collective kitchen program, called “Cooking with Andrew” runs twice a month. Tenants are invited to cook and eat together, then take home food or fill mason jars to support clients at the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry.  Bumper crops from this year’s vegetable gardens are enjoyed by tenants and processed in the food centre kitchen.

Significant developments appear on all fronts of this project. Within, a high-efficiency hot-water heating system has been extended throughout the house.  One half of the pews from the former chapel has been redistributed throughout the building, thus leaving space for a wider use of this area. It is now possible to host a wedding reception as well as the ceremony in Austin Doran Hall. On the property, the old orchard has been revitalized through a $1000 project of the Peterborough Kawartha Rotary Club to plant fruit trees and berry bushes with the help of tenants. The home, land and gardens provided the base for a summer camp experience for elementary school children this summer. Garden plot spaces, shared with interested neighbours, flourished this year.

Amid this beehive of activity, volunteers continue to save the project thousands of dollars as they donate time and skill to endless tasks of constructing, repairing, painting, cleaning, gardening. etc.  This summer “the Mount crew” was recognized with a civic award by the Mayor of Peterborough.  If you pass through The Mount Community Centre today, you may run across a piano teacher, a meditation group, a pre-school child at play, a couple preparing for their wedding, a volunteer in hard hat, or a staff member passionately engaged in carrying out the mission of providing a space of safety, companionship and dignity for all who come in need.  The dream for this project, called impossible five short years ago, is now being realized in an amazing way that could never have been predicted, but always hoped and prayed for.

- Sister Joan Driscoll, csj                 

Keeping the Momentum Going

As highlighted in the infographics produced by Elections Canada,  pictured below, voter turnout showed an increase over all age groups in the 2015 Federal Election over the previous numbers in 2011. This increased voter turnout  was most notable among youth 18-24. However, the percentage of eligible youth voters who cast a ballot was still the lowest percentage of any group going to the polls among all age groups.   

As the infographic to the right shows, eligible youth voters cast ballots in greater numbers for the 2015 Federal Election across all regions of the country.

Will that pattern be repeated in 2019?

Statistics indicate that the largest segment in the pool of eligible voters for the 2019 federal election are between the ages of 18 and 38. "We're looking at Canadians between the ages of 18 and 38 who will represent upwards of 37 per cent of the electorate," Abacus Data CEO David Coletto told   Cross Country Checkup   host Duncan McCue.

This election, to build upon the momentum of increased voter participation in this millenial demographic, I offer several suggestions:

• Candidates need to make specific efforts to engage youth.

• Campaign speeches and party platforms must address issues that concern youth.

• Youth need to encourage their circle of friends to exercise their democratic right to vote.

• Youth can use social media to challenge peers to be the group with the highest voter turnout.

• All of us can encourage youth participation and ensure that they register to vote.

• Lead by example by making plans to vote.

In the remaining days leading up to October 21st,  let’s invite and encourage young adults to actively participate in the 2019 federal election. Their voice indicates the kind of country they want Canada to be. 

 - Sister Nancy Wales

Bridge Over Troubled Water

My daily commute to work can take me along various routes, some determined by the weather others by my mood. After a busy day at work, my preference is a more leisurely ride home along tree lined streets through a quiet residential area. In the morning I tend to use the most direct route, busy Adelaide Street one of London, Ontario’s main thoroughfares.  Driving along for about 8 km there is a constant change of the usual sort of sights. Apartment buildings, homes, shops, gas stations line the street.  My least favourite part of this route are the railway tracks.  However, my favourite, at least until very recently, has been a bridge spanning the road that lies beneath.  It is not so much the bridge that is my favourite but the fascinating sight of hundreds of tiny birds most days perched on the wires spanning the bridge.

While I wait at the nearby intersection for the lights to turn green, I like to watch these birds, fascinated by how they huddle together on the wires, mostly all facing the same direction.  On my early morning commute the sight of the bridge and the tiny birds has always been my favourite part.  Until a few days ago when what is happening on the underside of the bridge made the evening news. Now I don’t know about you, but though I have driven across that bridge innumerable times over the past ten years, I have never given any thought to its underside since I have never driven on the road below.

There are usually two sides to every story, and there are two sides to the bridge.  Above and below.  Above the sky, the birds on the wires, my mind set on the day to come.  Below, I learned this week, troubling things have been going on of which I was totally oblivious.  Below, tragically, homeless people who have been seeking refuge.  Safety concerns and damage caused to the bridge by those seeking shelter under the bridge has now prompted the authorities to take drastic measures. Security guards who have been hired have removed needles and other drug paraphernalia from beneath the bridge.  “The city has hired the firm to keep the area clear of people because of recent vandalism to cement slabs under the bridge.” (London Free Press, 19 September 2019) Though the city is reaching out to these homeless people by providing housing through London Cares Homeless Response Services, the problem will not be solved over night. It will be a slow process. 

So, I am asking myself, “What to do! What can I, what could all those who daily drive across this bridge spanning the ‘troubled water’ below, do to aid our less fortunate sisters and brothers? How can we bridge the gap between ‘those of us above and those below’?”  I can no longer simply drive over the Adelaide bridge, merely enjoying those tiny birds on the wires as I used to do. Now, every time I cross that bridge, I wonder who might be evicted right there and then at the underside of the bridge.  Whenever possible, I slow down and say a prayer for those who may continue to seek shelter right beneath me, waiting for help, waiting for a safe warm place provided by London Cares and other agencies reaching out, looking for long term solutions for our homeless sisters and brothers. Are any of us daily commuters willing to be that bridge over troubled water, ‘laying down’ for our sister and brother ‘down and out…on the street’?

Whatsoever you do for the least of my sisters and brothers, that you do unto Me.

 - Sr. Magdalena Vogt, cps

Associates and Sisters Pause to Ask, “What’s Next”?

Working alongside the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada are women and men who form a group known as Associates/Companions.  Since the 1650 foundation of the CSJ community in Le Puy, France, lay women (and now men) have joined with the Sisters in a diversity of ways carrying out a common mission through loving, caring and compassionate service. 

The London Associates were founded about 30 years ago. In collaboration with the Sisters, they developed a Spiritual Ministries Network in 2007 to facilitate adult spirituality promoting growth in body, mind and spirit.  The Network promotes activities such as spiritual direction, retreat opportunities, art experiences and massage therapy, to name a few.

Recently, a group of Sisters and Associates gathered in our London residence for a day of reflection to review the Spiritual Network’s purpose and to consider where it is being called in 2020.  Will it continue offering public lectures, workshops and such initiatives? They also pondered what new initiatives might be beckoning for attention. Sharing discussions about issues that really matter is a rewarding experience.

At the conclusion of the retreat day, through contemplative dialogue, reflection, deep listening and sharing, the Spiritual Ministries Network Council renewed its commitment to adult spiritual growth, particularly to adults aged 18-35 as a predominant focus area.  The Network will look for opportunities to engage with youth in new and generative ways that meet the needs that are revealed.

The Spiritual Ministries Network would love to hear from youth yearning to deepen their purpose on earth through loving, caring and compassionate being in the world.  We encourage youth to seek further information on this emerging initiative. Interested? Contact the Spiritual Ministries Network. Mary Shamley is our Coordinator of Spiritual Ministries Network.  (519) 432-3781 x567

 - Sr. Jean Moylan

Sisters of St Joseph mark International Day of Peace

September 21^st is the UN’s International Day of Peace.  The theme this year is “Climate Action for Peace.” 

The link between climate action and peace may not be immediately obvious but, as the UN explains, there are many critical links between climate action and the key justice and peace issues of our day:  “Natural disasters displace three times as many people as conflicts, forcing millions to leave their homes and seek safety elsewhere. The salinization of water and crops is endangering food security, and the impact on public health is escalating. The growing tensions over resources and mass movements of people are affecting every country on every continent.”

The main weakness of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change is the voluntary nature of the promised emissions cuts.  Not surprisingly, global emissions have continued to increase since 2015.  If humanity maintains our current trends, earth’s temperature will rise by 3 – 5 degrees centigrade.  This data prompted the UN Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change to warn that such a rise in temperature would be enough to devastate communities and bio-regions all over the world, destroying habitats, wiping out species and leaving millions of people, particularly in the low-income countries, to face deeper poverty, hunger and death.  The scientists insisted that the world needs to slash emissions by 45% by 2030 in order to hit the target of no more than a 1.5 degree rise in temperature. 

This year’s Climate Action Day of Peace will be followed two days later by the UN Climate Action Summit.  At this meeting, it once again will become clear that the necessary cuts to greenhouse gas emissions will require a profound transformation of the global economy, with initial focus on the energy, forestry, agriculture and transportation sectors.  We no longer have time for a slow and steady transition.  We must move with tremendous speed and scale. 

So far, the proposed Green New Deal is the clearest framework which has risen to meet this challenge.  It can help countries take the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and fashion them into a coherent national plan.  As such, it has become a pathway to peace and justice.  It will be up to civil society to insist that our governments around the world pick up this plan and begin implementation.

To mark the UN Climate Action Day of Peace and the UN Climate Action Summit, our congregation is taking additional climate action by committing to an energy audit with follow-up action, financial support for Indigenous-led conservation, and financial support for girls’ education in the Global South.  We will use our actions to hold our governments accountable for effective climate action.

Sue Wilson, CSJ

Office for Systemic Justice

Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada