Over $6 Million Raised For More Housing At The Mount Community Centre

After a concerted effort from the community, The Mount Community Centre has raised $6,272,755 towards building more affordable housing units announced on Sunday.

Photo Courtesy of The Mount Community Centre.

The money was raised through their Building Opportunity Campaign that was seeking a goal of $4 million for the 10-acre property. All of the funding was done through the volunteers.

Beavermead Construction was the company tasked to do the building however over 200 volunteers have done the painting, furnishing and landscaping.

Since August, 63 housing units have already been developed since 2013.

The units already contain several amenities such as a food centre, office space, public venue space and the Fulcrum Café.

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Former Religious Residence Converting Into Housing With Community Help

The former Mount St. Joseph’s complex is being renovated into housing units by The Mount Community Centre (MCC) with help from more than 200 volunteers.

Former Winnipeg resident Andi van Koeverden (pictured) has completed her Bachelor of Education Degree at the University of Manitoba. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Peterborough. Photo by David Tuan Bui.

The 10-acre property was purchased back in 2013 and is a $4 million campaign to fully complete construction, all backed by volunteers.

It is being built by Beavermead Construction however work such as painting, furnishing or landscaping is done through volunteers.

This is the building’s final phase of construction where 63 housing units have already been developed since 2013. Construction this fall will add another five housing units and project completion will total 74 residential units.

Andi van Koeverden, MCC Director of Strategic Advancement acknowledges the affordable housing problem that has been a complaint by several Peterborough citizens and believes this is another step towards reliving that issue.

“In 2014, the City and Counsel committed to building 500 affordable units in 10 years,” she said. “We have added 63 units to that count. That is quite substantial.”

The units already contain several amenities such as a food centre, office space, public venue space and a café (currently closed due to COVID-19).

The following is where the money is being invested:

• $2,665,000 Centre & North Wing Renovations

• $710,000 Food Centre

• $500,000 Sustainability Fund

• $125,000 Grounds & Gardens

The Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network opted to turn the property into affordable housing back in 2011 according to van Koeverden.

“This group was looking at acquiring a building of some kind and turning it into affordable housing and a food centre,” she said. “They turned the ownership over to the Mount Community Centre Board of Directors who managed the redevelopment from then on.”

The MCC is continuing to seek donations and projects to finish construction within the next two years according to van Koeverden.

Donations to the construction campaign can be found here. You can also volunteer by calling 705-875-5095.

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A 131-year-old Bible Was Just Reunited With Sisters of St. Joseph In Peterborough

A 131-year-old Bible that had been on display at St. John Catholic Elementary School in Kirkfield has been returned to its rightful home with the Sisters of St. Joseph in Peterborough.

PVNC Director of Education Michael Nasello and Board Chairperson Michelle Griepsma presented the Bible to the Sisters during a Mass at The Mount on Thursday, September 29th.

The Bible was published in 1885. According to a personal, handwritten inscription (see photo below), Msgr. Dominic Casey of Lindsay gifted this impressive Bible to Mother Mary Clotilde, the second Superior General of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peterborough.

“It gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity to return this Bible to the Sisters of St. Joseph,” Nasello says. “This important piece of history has been on loan to St. John Catholic Elementary School in Kirkfield for many years and today it is returned to its rightful home.”

The date on the Bible’s inscription is June 1905. Much of the Bible’s history is unknown, but former students of St. John CES in Kirkfield have recalled that the Bible came to the school with some other items when the old rectory in Lindsay was closed. St. John CES in Kirkfield closed in June 2016.

Sister Veronica O'Reilly says the Sisters are happy to receive such an important part of their congregation’s history: "It means a very great deal to us because the history of our Sisters is still very much alive among us and to be reminded of that is a source of inspiration for us always going forward."

“It was a touching moment for all of those who have been involved in Catholic education because the very fact that the current Director of Education and Chair of the Board gave this to us, strengthened that link that has always been there," Sister O'Reilly adds. "We are very grateful and very moved by this gift and we will cherish it in our archives.”

Joe Keast, the archivist at The Mount, said the Bible—which is large, heavy and features a beautifully engraved cover and impressive illustrations—would have been a significant gift from the clergy to the Sisters at the time.

Left to Right: Sister Veronica O'Reilly, archivist Joe Keast, PVNC Director of Education Michael Nasello and Board Chairwoman Michelle Griepsma

“It was a very special gift. It shows how much the clergy respected the Sisters. It would have been seen as a thank you to all of the Sisters and all of the work that they were doing,” Keast says. “Because Mother Clothilde was such a major figure in the early years of the congregation, to have something of hers back will be cherished by all the Sisters.”

—post by Galen Eagle

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