To celebrate Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House, we’re sharing stories from our program participants, staff, and volunteers about what makes our House so special.
Here, businessman and former treasurer and chair of our Community Board, Chris Thorne, describes what it was like to volunteer for our House.
Listen to Chris’ story here or read below.
I used to live in the neighbourhood here several years ago. Back then, I met the current director, Jocelyne Hamel.
She came down to where I worked and asked if I was interested in volunteering for the Mount Pleasant Community Board. She is absolutely the person that brought me on board.
From the minute I met Jocelyne, I began volunteering for the Community Board. I just saw the energy in the house.
You can really see how people work well together and how it’s a real place where people come together.
I wasn’t familiar with Neighbourhood houses prior to that at all. So learning how non-profit community associations work, it just blew me away—how much these neighbourhood houses create social fabric, and bring different people from different walks of life in.
From about 2006 to 2016, I was on the Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood Community Board. I was the treasurer of that board for about two years, before I became the chair for approximately eight years.
My job has been to help set strategic priorities for the Neighbourhood House itself. Where we want to go with the Neighbourhood House and what we want to see.
Eventually, I had to resign because I moved downtown, and my business is downtown too, so it became a bit harder to stay involved.
Time’s gone by so fast. It’s been such a great place to volunteer at. I couldn’t ask for a better organization to be a part of.
Do you have a story about what your Neighbourhood House means to you? Share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the hashtag #myNHstory!