SCSC report available

The final report of Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions Conference is now available. Read it here or contact us to receive a digital copy.

Harmony Centre is Like a Gift that Keeps on Giving

Author of the article: Scott Dunn

Published Mar 19, 2025 

It’s been about a dozen years since the former Knox United Church, an unused, handsome 19th-century brick building in downtown Owen Sound, was given an important new purpose.

Its dwindling parish had left to join the Division Street congregation, forming Georgian Shores United Church. One developer wanted to convert Knox into condos, using the basement for parking. Another had salvage and demolition in mind.

But church leaders favoured a third option and sold the building to a not-for-profit corporation called Harmony Centre Owen Sound, in 2012. The corporation was founded by Frank and Leigh Greaves to preserve a heritage building for the community’s ongoing use.

They provided the then-nine-member non-profit board with a private mortgage at favourable rates, when no bank financing could be obtained, Leigh Greaves said in an interview. She said Community Foundation Grey Bruce holds the mortgage now.

“I personally think it’s a wonderful thing to invest locally in your community because you set your own community up for success,” she said. “Keeping your money as local as possible is a wonderful thing.”

Greaves said without Harmony Centre, many organizations would struggle to find a place to do their work. Many who would want to try to offer a class wouldn’t find a space elsewhere like at Harmony Centre, and arts groups would struggle to find similar rehearsal and performance space, she said.

The couple originally pursued the now-152-year-old Knox building to provide Owen Sound Hunger and Relief Effort soup kitchen a home, Greaves said. OSHaRE remained there for several years and today continues to provide free meals, no questions asked, to homeless people and others struggling, in other quarters downtown.

Knox, a Presbyterian church at the time, was host for the 50th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in 1924, when congregations voted to combine most Presbyterian, Methodist and Congregationalist churches in Canada to create what became the United Church of Canada.

Knox’s history dates back to 1846 but in 1873 the main section of the current Knox building was completed, opened and dedicated. It was enlarged in 1886 and at that time was described in a local newspaper as “the most attractive and capacious Christian temple in Owen Sound,” a church history on Georgian Shores’s website says.

Today, Harmony Centre has 30,000 to 40,000 visits per year, sometimes more, Greaves said. It offers subsidized rents to some and competitive market rents for others, depending on the use.

“We saw a need like so many in the community,” she said. The new role for the old church building lined up with Frank’s interest in music, the symphony and the arts along with Leigh’s passion for old buildings and supporting downtown.

“I think it’s actually fulfilling our aspirations. We want that building to be there for the community to use for pretty much whatever it needs at whatever time,” she said.

Today, recurring classes and other gatherings there include an introduction to American sign language, a community song circle, lady solo dancing, Alcoholics Anonymous, tai chi, drumming, square dancing, Queen’s Bush Bluegrass, salsa dancing, community meditation and yoga.

“It’s very exciting to see groups come forward and activities come forward and partnerships develop,” Greaves said. “So it’s serving a purpose, it’s being useful, it’s bringing people together and that’s all we could ask for.”

The centre’s mandate is to provide the community with “accessible and affordable spaces to share, create, educate, and perform.” It has a 700-seat auditorium, a 160-seat commons area, a 190-seat lower hall with kitchen and banquet facilities, and numerous smaller lofts and studios.

Greaves said Harmony Centre has never run a deficit, even through the COVID-19 pandemic. There are discounted community rates for not-for-profits and community groups that are doing community work. But the space also is available to the community, business and municipalities at market rates or better, she said.

“So the regular rates subsidize the not-for-profit rates. And because we are run by a volunteer board and we have a hundred volunteers helping us, we can keep these rates low and provide subsidies.”

Jeff Elie, Harmony Centre’s volunteer board chair, said the centre has about 150 bookings a month. Many are weekly events like the dance and yoga classes. There are also special events, weekly and monthly.

“Harmony Centre is a perfect example of a success story of how a small community can do something and it becomes self-perpetuating,” he said. Rather than scattered across the community, groups and individuals have found a home at Harmony Centre, he said.

“So when you walk in, it’s a workplace, there’s music, there’s meetings there’s dance: practically every night there’s contra dancing, there’s square dancing, there’s ballroom dancing, these are all different groups.”

There are around a dozen studios for rent. There’s some dedicated office space for not-for-profit groups, performance spaces and meeting spaces. Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving, administration for Save ‘n Sound and Georgian Bay Folk Society call it home. Artists rent studios, one space is used for voice lessons, there’s a video production company, mental health counselling for first responders, a home and business cleaning company and more in the centre.

“It’s continually evolving as a social enterprise, as an organization that feeds other organizations,” Elie said. And the board members include Harmony Centre renters, residents and community leaders who have a stake in the centre. “So the board itself is charged with all this energy and vitality from the people who we serve. And so it’s been an organic growth . . . and what we do has kind of taken on a life of its own,” Elie said.

“These days, with what’s going on, it’s important for everybody to pull together as a community and feel like we’re on the same team — especially now. And that’s what Harmony Centre does.”

The 11-member volunteer board is taking the centre beyond a venue for classes, concerts and all-candidates meetings. It’s organizing its first small municipalities conference on March 29, focused on local problems, especially in the downtown, Greaves said. “We just said somebody must be doing something that works somewhere. Why don’t we see? . . . We don’t want to focus on the problem, we know what the problems are. We want to focus on solutions.”

Elie said the idea builds on Changemaker Pubs, held once or twice a year at Harmony Centre. Charity groups and non-profits come in to share what they’re doing in brief presentations and then they all socialize. “And these are the change makers in our community who we feel deserve a chance to talk about what they’re doing and network with other people,” Elie said. “We have live music and there’s breaks. It’s a really fabulous thing.”

Leigh still sits on the board of directors and Frank, a retired radiologist, leads a Tuesday work crew of retired medical folks who do Harmony Centre repairs and maintenance.

“It’s a wonderful facility that represents tremendous capacity for this community,” Leigh said. “So our goal is to maintain and improve that facility, constantly.” The board has put in a new heating and cooling system, windows, and the flooring is next.

“People, they call it a hub, an incubator. That building represents capacity for this community that was built by the community over 100 and some-odd years. So we are maintaining that and we are improving it.”

Lori Pyne will be addressing Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions Conference on the topic of Reframing Community Relationships. Lori has worked as a socially responsible leader, convenor, and community builder.

She currently is the Executive Director at Squamish Helping Hands Society, having worked for over a decade at Whistler Community Services Society. She has managed multiple projects, while maintaining passion and integrity for the impact that she has on her surroundings. 

Lori enjoys creating strategic perspectives while generating positive opportunities and outcomes for her staff, clients, and family. She currently collaborates on community housing solutions around the Squamish Community Housing Society board table with a lens for accountability, balance and commitment. Her term on the Vantage Point Board of Directors, Transforming BC’s Non Profits, is where she learned the importance of diverse relationship building and the importance of transparent governance. 

Gwen Patrick will be sharing her experience in holistic economic development at Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions conference with her presentation: Economic Nutrition for the Place We Live. Gwen is the Financial Innovation Lead at the Shorefast Institute on Fogo Island, overseeing program execution and financial and economic toolset development.

Like Harmony Centre, the Shorefast Institute is a social enterprise, in fact one of Canada’s largest, working to build economic and cultural resilience on Fogo Island, a 400 year-old outport fishing community critically impacted by the decline of the cod fishery and the related moratorium established in 1992.

She grew up on Salt Spring Island, BC, where she founded the Foundation of Youth, a youth advisory committee of the Salt Spring Island Foundation. While earning her Bachelor of Commerce at Queen’s University, she received the Kehoe Fellowship, enabling her to intern with Shorefast on Fogo Island. After graduation, she obtained her CPA designation and worked in public accounting at a Big Four firm before returning to Shorefast.

For more information on the Small Communities Solutions Conference, click here.

The Small Communities Solutions Conference being held at Harmony Centre on March 29 will learn of a pilot project undertaken by the Grey Bruce Public Health Unit. Heidi Lucas will outline the project which uses Drug Test Strips as an aid in Harm Reduction. Harm Reduction is part of a spectrum of services that supports people to achieve optimal health and wellbeing as they navigate their journey with substance use.

Heidi is a public health nurse on the GBPH Harm Reduction Team and has experience in harm reduction in urban and rural settings and enjoys opportunities to work directly with clients, as well as on population-level initiatives.

For more information on Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions Conference click here.

Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions Conference will hear from Craig Ambrose, Chief of Owen Sound Police Services, on the role of policing in solutions for small communities. His experience will inform his talk entitled “What we have tried isn’t working… so how do we try to balance our approach”

Craig Ambrose grew up, worked, and raised his family in rural Waterloo Region before moving to Grey County and being appointed Chief of Police in January 2019.  He started his policing career over 35 years ago with the Waterloo Regional Police Service.  He held progressively more responsible duties throughout Waterloo Region including assignments in general patrol, undercover work, drug enforcement, homicide, Professional Standards, public order, incident command and criminal intelligence. He gained valuable supervisory experience in all of those areas and culminated in running patrol operations for the city of Waterloo and the supervision of all investigative units as the Inspector and Acting Superintendent of the Investigative Services Division. 

Chief Ambrose sits on both the OACP Community Safety and Crime Prevention and CACP Information Communication and Technology committees. Aside from the daily activities of running a police service, the Chief also oversees the Owen Sound Emergency Communications Centre, a service that provides dispatch communications and IT support to over 60 police and fire services throughout Ontario.

More on Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions Conference click here.

Stuart Reid is confirmed as a speaker for Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions Conference coming up on March 29. His talk will be: Helping Youth in Transition: Rent Supplements Keep Youths Housed.

This program addresses the needs of youth, 16 to 24 years of age, facing homelessness in Grey Bruce, through a rent supplement along with counselling and mentoring to ensure best outcomes.

Over the past year, the project has offered a monthly rent supplement to the first cohort of 12 youth from the By-Names list. By-Name Lists allow communities to know every person experiencing homelessness by name and facilitate efficient decisions around how best to refer housing resources.

YMCA Housing Services delivers the supplement as well as wrap around services, mentoring, and transitional supports that have the potential to significantly change the life trajectory of participants. The rent supplement adds to the supports available from the associated County, meaning that youth will have more money in their pockets, and sovereignty over their situation and finances.

The project aims to lend dignity and autonomy to youth in transition. Our model will track the impact of this supplement and will reflect the changes in life trajectory of the 12+ individuals engaged in the effort.

The program received originating support from the Laidlaw family and the Laidlaw Foundation, the Joseph & Marilyn Hunt Fund, and the Next25 Fund, Project partners include CFGB, United Way of Bruce Grey, Grey Bruce Poverty Task Force, YMCA of Owen Sound Bruce Grey, private donors, and other foundations.

Stuart Reid joined the community philanthropy movement in 2016 as Executive Director of Community Foundation Grey Bruce. A graduate of York University in Toronto, he has over 30 years of leadership experience in Canadian art museums and the non-profit sector. As a passionate advocate for community wellbeing, he is an active volunteer and a board member for the Canadian Crafts Federation. Stuart is an award-winning writer, a certified yoga instructor, and loves living near the shores of Georgian Bay in Annan, Ontario.

More on Harmony Centre’s Small Communities Solutions Conference click here.

I had the pleasure of meeting with Matt Evans, one of the first ‘residents’ at Harmony Centre. Harmony Centre uses the term ‘resident’ to describe the folks who base themselves out of the many studios available for rent. I was interested in meeting with him and learning about his organization: OSAID – Ontario Students Against Impaired Driving.

Lorraine:Can you tell me a little about yourself?
Matt: As a teenager I was involved in Katimavik, a programme that engages youth through volunteer community service work. The programme sparked my interest in working with youth and with community projects.

Lorraine:Can you tell me what OSAID is about?
Matt: The mission of OSAID is to impower youth to eliminate impaired driving. It is a student-led, peer-to-peer charity that helps to develop valuable leadership skill in teenage volunteers. OSAID tackles a critical issue – impaired driving, the number one criminal cause of death and injury among youth. Although impaired driving is an old known issue for adults, it is a NEW concept for teens since they are entering that area for the first time.

Lorraine:How did OSAID begin?
Matt: In the mid 1980s teachers, police officers, and students were realizing that the reason so many students were being injured or dying was because they were in a car – and they’d been out partying, and drinking, and then driving. The evidence was found in the memorial pages in high school yearbooks and road statistics collected by the government. Conversations started in Gananoque and soon spread.

In the 1990s I was hired as provincial co-ordinator. Over the next decade, OSAID grew from 50 chapters to 500 chapters due to the efforts of one staff (me) and over 5000 volunteers. Students, teachers, volunteers, police, public health, and many civic-minded people were all involved. There were regional workshops and national conferences with motivational speakers and leadership training for the youth. The result? There was a 51% decline in youth impaired driving, a faster decline than in any other age group in the province.

This programme ran successfully with provincial chapter numbers in the hundreds, until the pandemic caused a drop in the number of groups due to the change in schooling routines. Now there are only 40 provincial chapters, and consequently student injuries and deaths due to impaired driving have risen over the past few years.

Lorraine:How are you addressing this lack of a local chapter?
Matt: Grey/Bruce County at one time had an OSAID chapter at practically every school. Now, there are only a few schools that are active. We have tried everything – but it really takes a teacher or student to step up and say, “I am going to promote awareness around this issue at our school”. We still need to get the message out.

Lorraine:How will you go about finding the support you need?
Matt:May 15, 2025 has been designated as SAID DAY.  This project won the provincial initiative of the year by the Ministry of Transportation. SAID Day encourages schools, businesses, and community organizations to participate. The first 40 schools to sign up get free T-shirts and awareness-raising swag. It would be wonderful if we can find a principal, a teacher, or a student willing to start a chapter in Owen Sound.

Lorraine:How can we find out more or get involved?
Matt: For more information about OSAID, to get involved, to find activities and resources, or for information on what schools, business, or community organizations can do, go to  www.osaid.ca.

In late January and I had the pleasure of meeting with Jeff Elie, the new chair of the board of Harmony Centre. Jeff has been actively involved with the Centre since 2023, and we met in the splendid Greaves Auditorium for a chat.  I was curious about his background, and wondered what his position at Harmony Centre entailed.

Lorraine:Tell me a little about your previous work experience, Jeff.
Jeff: I spent my career in corporate communications, mostly in the US with large Fortune 500 manufacturing companies. I carried out marketing strategy, corporate communications, crisis communications, and any external communications that were needed.

Lorraine:What about community service?
Owen Sound has been my home for more than 35 years, and I’ve always felt that it’s important to give back to the community. I’ve been involved in many environmental, arts, culture, and charitable organizations through the years — sometimes in leadership roles, and sometimes just rolling up my sleeves and pitching in.

Lorraine:Why did you become involved with Harmony Centre?
Jeff: I was invited to sit on the board right out of the blue. I had just stepped down from a previous commitment, and Harmony Centre felt like the right thing at the right time. I haven’t looked back since.

Lorraine:What do you do at Harmony Centre?
Jeff: Well I chair the meetings, and I do a little bit of everything really, where needed. A couple of weeks ago I came in to the office when the operations manager was away to fill in and handle emails — next thing I know I’m lending a hand removing radiators and cutting out old steam pipes… I do whatever is needed!  I’m involved in Harmony Centre administration, and I do much of the marketing, public relations, and communications, because that’s my thing.

Lorraine:What do you think are your own strengths as board chair?
Jeff: I have a good organizational mind, and good communication skills which are beneficial to an organization like this.

Lorraine:What do you try to bring to the board and to Harmony Centre?
Jeff: I try to bring what I brought to my career, which is a level of professionalism, strategic thinking, and interpersonal skills — because 90% of success is relationships.

Lorraine: How do you bring on new board members? How do you source them?
Jeff: We rely on word of mouth and advertising. Sometimes people step forward, or people bring people forward.

Lorraine: What do you look for in a new board member?
Jeff: We look for someone who is familiar with the Harmony Centre culture, who understands what Harmony Centre is, and who has a good understanding of Owen Sound. We look for people who have an interest or passion in helping provide quality cultural and community programming; people who place value in investing in the community.

Lorraine:How do you measure your performance as a board?
Jeff: There are two questions we ask ourselves: are we enriching the community, and are we financially sustainable. If we are meeting these goals, then we can fulfill our mandate, which is to share welcoming, accessible, and affordable spaces for use by the community. We measure success by taking stock of our achievements: Harmony is still alive and strong after 13 years; our rental spaces are filled; we take pride in the fact that we took more than 1,400 bookings in 2024; and, we pay it forward by handing out thousands of dollars in rent subsidies every year.

Lorraine: Is there anything you’d like to share?
Jeff: Just that Harmony Centre is a model of social enterprise, and it’s a resounding success — the goals that were set out at the beginning have been achieved. But nonetheless, it requires a lot of work and resources to keep this place running, organized, sustainable, and enriching.

If you are interested in volunteering with Harmony Centre or joining our board, please get in touch with us. Terms are three years long, and can be renewed for a second term. That’s long enough to really get involved, and to make a difference for the community.

Harmony Centre is organizing a gathering of minds intended be a launchpad for workable solutions to some of the most difficult issues facing small towns today.

Who Should Attend Harmony Centre’s Small Town Solutions Conference:

• Local Government Officials: Mayors, council members, city planners, and rural development officers.
• Community Leaders: Leaders of local organizations, small business owners, educators, and non-profit representatives.
• Residents: Active community members who are involved in grassroots movements and local initiatives.
• Experts: Urban planners, economists, environmentalists, and technology innovators.

Get your ticket by February 15 and receive 20 per cent off the $50 registration fee!

Click here to register today!