Margaret Wright – A Celebration of her Life and Legacy by Joanne Bazak-Brokking
Margaret Wright
March 23, 1959 – March 28, 2024
This piece was contributed by our friend and former Board member Joanne Bazak-Brokking and printed in our Fall 2024 Newsletter.
Margaret loved life, cherishing every moment. Living with Pulmonary Hypertension, a serious lung condition, taught her not to take a single breath for granted. She chose to ‘seize the moment’ and live an extraordinary life.
Reflecting on Margaret’s life and legacy, I was inspired by the breadth of her community work and influence through her social justice advocacy and direct actions. Her personal mission was to work together with others to make a difference in the lives of people “living in poverty” (her preferred language). Throughout her life, she showed courage and dedication, despite serious health problems and many hospitalizations. Her wisdom and optimism sparked new ideas and innovative projects. She had a unique way of working and communicating, ensuring people living in poverty always had a voice at the table and were involved in actions. She lived the adage, “Nothing about us, without us.”
We first met through ‘Walk, Wheel and Ride for Dignity’(WWRD), a province-wide action advocating for raising ODSP, OW and minimum wage rates, and creating more affordable housing. Margaret self -appointed to be in charge of food, wanting to ensure “people were fed” This would be a recurring theme in her work- always making sure people had food.
While WWRD brought our community together in amazing ways, minimal progress was made with our advocacy efforts. Knowing I was dismayed, Margaret approached me with her latest idea. “What do you think about working on creating a community centre?” My jaw dropped. I saw the need for a centre but questioned how this would help with income security or affordable housing – but there was something in her radiant smile and expression that told me to think about it.
Later, I realised Margaret was right. Indeed, we needed to continue our advocacy efforts going into the future but we had to recognize that today, people are cold and need shelter. Today, they are hungry. Today, they are lonely and isolated, needing a place to belong and contribute. We decided to start conversations to create a community centre that would be called ‘Our Space’. The name was Margaret’s idea; the community centre was her dream.
Margaret’s history of volunteer work and contribution to social justice in the Peterborough community is outstanding and inspirational. While not a complete list, she was:
- One of four elected members of Mayor Ayotte’s Action Committee on Poverty.
- Board member of the Peterborough Community Legal Centre (PCLC) from 2007 – 2024. Forever grateful for the help she received, she wanted to give back to others.
- Founding member of the Peterborough Poverty Reduction Network (PPRN) and continued to serve on the board until 2024
- Active member of the Basic Needs working group of the PPRN and co-chair of Communications
- Active member of the Peterborough Food Action Network – developed a website concept that made it more user friendly and helpful
- Inspiration for, and founding board member of Our Space Community Centre
- Active member of Peterborough LETS Market (enables people to earn extra income)
- Moderator for Pulmonary Hypertension online support group
With every role and project, Margaret would bring forward the voice of people. “How can we involve people living in poverty? What actions can we take?” When conversations bogged down or were too bureaucratic, she would ask “How is this going to help people living in poverty?”
In 2009, Margaret was awarded the YMCA Annual Peace Award in recognition of her dedication, advocacy and tireless work with people living in poverty. While honoured, her work continued unabated.
Margaret believed that no one in Peterborough should live with the hardships and horror of poverty. As a board member of the PPRN, she contributed to the creation of a vision statement, firmly believing it was possible, if we worked together.
“We envision a community free from poverty, where all people live with dignity and health, and have:
- secure and affordable housing, food, & income, and are able to meet their basic needs
- employment with living wages
- access to education and training at all ages”
PPRN: Our Plan for Poverty Reduction 2016
She had an unshakable faith in the talents and abilities of every person to not only help themselves, but also to help others. All they needed was a place to belong and the right opportunities to realise their potential. This could be teaching someone to play chess, helping with food prep, inspiring with poetry, creating art or sweeping floors. She was excited when anyone got “back on their feet and running again.”
Before launching Our Space, Margaret and others met to create a manifesto of guiding principles that were actualized.
“Our Space is a community centre that welcomes everyone! It is planned and run by people who live in poverty and/or are aware of poverty issues. Our strength comes from our people who share their talents, skills, life experiences, and time. It is a safe, caring place where people treat each other with dignity and respect. Our Space strives to either help lift people out of poverty or make life more agreeable for people who are unable to escape poverty.”
Kawartha NOW Our Space Community Centre
When Our Space was shut down, Margaret and many others were devastated. More recently, she was overjoyed when the PPRN bought Trinity church with a plan to work with One City and other partners to develop a new community centre/hub. Even though she was ill, she continued to advocate for the involvement of people living in poverty. May we, as a community, work together to support the development of this new community centre.
Margaret, you inspired and taught us; worked with us in many ways. You shared your talents, precious energy, love and hope. Now, you breathe freely again and soar. May we breathe with you, carrying on as we work together in rhythms of love and unity to build a more inclusive, compassionate, community free from poverty.
Joanne Bazak-Brokking is an occupational therapist working in partnership with people with mental health challenges to improve their lives and activist for communities working together on actions to end poverty. Former Board Member, Peterborough Community Legal Centre.