Rhonda Gilchrist is the new executive director of The Mount Community Centre, a non-profit charitable organization providing affordable housing and working to support food security, effective Monday (June 15).
Gilchrist is joining The Mount from the United Way of Peterborough and District, where she has worked for almost nine years as senior director of operations and revenue generation.
“Rhonda joins the organization at an exciting time,” said Stephen Kylie, chair of The Mount’s board of directors, in a media release. “We have ambitious mission and fundraising goals and she will be responsible for advancing (The Mount’s) mandate and to operationalize the core functions and achieve the overall objectives of our organization to bring it to the next level.”
Gilchrist replaces previous executive director Arshed Bhatti, who was hired in January 2024. After Bhatti’s departure last October, the board launched a search for a new executive director using the firm Crawford Connect. Interviewing four potential candidates from almost 100 applications, the board unanimously approved a recommendation to hire Gilchrist on April 27.
“We are confident that Rhonda possesses the combination of experience and specialized skills in non-profit housing, government funding, knowledge of the community, and vision that will help our organization reach new heights,” Kylie said.
Gilchrist has over 13 years of experience in the non-profit sector, including over eight years in a senior management role. At the United Way, she was responsible for all financial operations, annual and monthly financial statements, monitored project milestones, and led the successful roll-out and maintenance of the organizational database. She has also been activity involved in volunteer activities with Peterborough Action for Tiny Homes.
“The opportunity at (The Mount) is a very rare opportunity and their mission to reduce poverty and develop community aligns with my hopes for our community, Gilchrist said. “With the recent purchase of the Village on Argyle property and the proposed new build on Monaghan Road, I look forward to the exciting responsibility of expanding services to help make lasting positive changes in the lives of our low income community members and the impact it will make in our community.”
The Mount Community Centre at 1545 Monaghan Road, originally called The Mount St. Joseph, began as a motherhouse for the Peterborough Sisters of St. Joseph in early 1895. In 2013, the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network purchased the property with the goal of renovating it for affordable housing, transferring ownership to a newly incorporated not-for-profit corporation and renaming the property The Mount Community Centre.
The first 43 affordable apartments opened in the fall of 2016, with 36 more apartments built since then. The Mount is also home to several non-residential tenants, a state-of-the-art food centre, and assembly rooms for community use. Last December, The Mount took ownership of a six-acre property at 780 Argyle Street known as the Village on Argyle, which it plants to develop into a community hub for affordable housing and non-profit health and social services agencies.
