By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
As employees and volunteers settled into work-from-home routines during the pandemic, Townshippers’ Knowlton office sat mostly empty. Not anymore. Townshippers’ executive director Denis Kotsoros told the BCN the organization plans to get the facility – set up on a converted squash court in the local indoor tennis centre – up and running again, as an office and community events venue.
“During the pandemic, we ran into funding issues and we lost a lot of people,” Kotsoros said. “The office went unused for a couple of years, but the board wanted to make sure the office was kept running because it’s important to maintain that relationship with people in Knowlton.”
Kotsoros, who works out of the Knowlton office at least one day a week, said he intends for the office to be used as a hub for the Townshippers’ Wellness Program later this year and possibly other programs. He also envisions it as a meeting room and event space for nonprofits. After consulting with various community organizations, he realized that there was a lack of reliably available space to organize meetings, information sessions and training sessions. “Before the pandemic, we used it as an office and event space and a bit of a hit-or-miss desk space for program managers,” he said. “Now it fills the need for a small community space.”
The Lac-Brome Men’s Shed has been renting the space two days a week since August, for meetings, training sessions and get-togethers over coffee, where members can “socialize or vent or talk about what they need to talk about,” said Lac-Brome Men’s Shed vice president Robert Elhen. He said the nonprofit men’s group has had difficulties acquiring an affordable, large enough space over the past few years, which made it hard if not impossible to apply for grants or to hold events with more than a handful of people.
“We got a space, and then we lost it, and now we have one again,” he said. “Now we’re fully equipped to build things in our workshop and hold meetings and events at the Townshippers’ office. We have our own space instead of trying to get one at the community centre [or] using our wood shop, which is not conducive to hosting 20 or 30 people.”
Kotsoros said other nonprofits and local elected officials have shown interest in renting the space as well. “Anyone can rent space, but priority will go to organizations helping the English-speaking community or helping the community as a whole, not necessarily English-exclusive.”
No formal launch event is planned for the new space, but community organizations that are interested in renting it are encouraged to contact Townshippers’ by phone or email. “We’ll set up a meeting, and the main questions will be, ‘Does your organization fit with our mission, and when do you want to start?’” Kotsoros said.