Housing, the Mount and John Martyn’s hard work
One cannot think of social housing in Peterborough without John Martyn’s name leaping to mind.
The retired teacher and theatre director, now a member of the Pathway of Fame with his spouse Nora, John has toiled effectively and persistently in the field of affordable housing in Peterborough for more than 25 years.
He has been, all this time, a volunteer. Convinced early in his life that real progress for individuals and families is largely based on their having a safe, secure place to live, ideally paying just 30 per cent of their income. But with low levels of both social assistance and minimum wage, this is a still-distant goal.
John, who was always drawn to social justice work, set out to do something about it which has come, in 2017, to the exciting development of the Mount Community Centre. “It is going gangbusters,” he smiles. The long-time convent of the Sisters of St Joseph had been sold to a Calgary developer in 2009 and then left empty for some years, until a community board purchased it in 2013 with financial help from three levels of government, the Community Foundation, private donors and corporations.
Designed to be a community hub, with affordable housing of 43 units, seven adapted for the disabled, along with commercial and office space for rent, and several public spaces, including a Gothic chapel, a Gathering Space, and an auditorium, the historic landmark has 133,000 square feet of space. “It is perfect for events and the performing arts,” John says.
In fact, the Peterborough Youth Choir and the Youth Orchestra are now using the Mount. There are currently two tenants: the VON and the Kawartha Land Trust. The Centre occupies 10 acres of prime, city-centre land, each year growing in value. There is interest in its tree canopy from the Forest Management Course at Fleming College and from Trent University. Students come to do research.
The manager is Andi van Koeverden. The Mount has a board of 10 members, chaired by lawyer Steve Kylie. The annual general meeting, with audit reports, is held in April. Its website is www.themountpeterborough.ca
John, who is nearing 80 years of age, was born and raised in Peterborough. He remembers going on Saturday mornings to the Public Library to Children’s Story Time, led by Miss Wesley. He did a lot of reading. His home had the 10-volume set Journeys Through Bookland.
His family was active in Sacred Heart Parish, and he attended the University of Toronto, then taught in Elliot Lake, where poverty had a strong impact on his decisions.
“Literature, especially Canadian, has always had a big place in my life”. he says.” I am a Christian with a Catholic background, but hardly traditional!”
Why this activism at this age? “I don’t play golf, “John laughs; “I am in reasonable health. I don’t know one end of a hammer from another! I was influenced by poet Dennis Lee’s collection Civil Elegies, in which he writes: “to furnish, out of the traffic and smog and the shambles of dead precursors, a civil habitation that is human and our own.”
The goal of Peterborough’s 10-year Housing Plan is 500 units, and the Mount hopes to contribute 65 units. “We start major construction in May.”
Sister Joyce Murray, CSJ who has a doctorate in social justice theology, told me that when she returns home at night and sees lights on, her heart soars. In a warm touch, Sr. Joan Driscoll CSJ , an ardent supporter of the project, has moved into one of the apartments. “I want to be among the people,” she says.
“It’s hard work” John says. “There is disappointment, and no pats on the back, but you look at it through other lens, through what you hope is social good.”