By Chad McCordic
Published in June 2003
“Every community needs an oasis, and that’s what this is, an oasis,” says Brian Bartlett as we sit around a table, drinking coffee out of Styrofoam cups.
The community of which he is speaking is the Mayfair Hotel at the corner of King and Young. Formerly a trendy hotel for visiting celebrities, The Mayfair now serves another purpose: providing housing for those who simply can’t afford to pay much more than the $400 for rent. The City of Kitchener purchased the hotel and now Kitchener Housing manages the rooms and collects the rent.
The oasis of which he is speaking is the lounge at the Mayfair Hotel–a lounge that Brian has been devoting his time and effort to maintaining for over a year. Because of his efforts, he has received a provincial community health award. After months of paperwork, the lounge opened March of 2002 for an eight week trial period. Through the sheer determination of Brian and the tenants, the lounge has lasted and developed. It now serves as a coffee bar and what tenant Don Oaks refers to as the “Kitchen Cupboard,” a stockpile of canned foods for those who simply can’t afford to buy groceries on a regular basis.
Don is on a fixed income and finds the kitchen cupboard extremely useful. “It’s good. Say you have enough for groceries at the beginning of the month, but then what happens at the middle of the month on?” Don says the cupboard gets a lot of use around the last half of every month.
Don also tells me about the problems he faces. As he speaks, the other tenants nod in agreement. Security is a big concern for them. There are no phones in any of the rooms which is a big health concern for several of them.
The city has been trying to redevelop the block on which the Mayfair sits for a while now, but so far no official deadline on the Mayfair has been placed, if there ever will be.
But, despite the city’s apparent lack of development interest, things are getting better, he says. “Thank God for this guy,” Don says as he places his hands on Brian’s shoulders. Brian shrugs and says, “The city is realizing that this lounge is a resource, not a difficulty.”
Brian seems fairly relaxed as he shows me his award sitting on the fridge behind the coffee bar. Despite all the fanfare, Brian’s purpose for the lounge can seem surprisingly straightforward: “Come down and get to know your neighbour.”
As I finish off the last of my coffee, Don asks if I want a refill. He takes my Styrofoam cup and rushes off to fill it with a surprisingly rich cup of coffee. Sheepishly, I grab the second to last cookie, and I ask my final question: why has this lounge been such a success?
“It’s so apparent,” he says, “but it’s hard to put to words.” He thinks about it for a second longer as I finish my cookie. “By providing an open space…it’s developed a sense of community. It gets rid of any fear you may have of your neighbour. But…” He has more to say but one of the tenants is asking him a question. I make more notes, as Don returns with coffee. Brian turns back to me and says: “It is a human function to care; you just have to enable it.”
