BeCause & Effect

Daniel Hidalgo joins us to talk about his organization CommUNITY204, a grassroots organization focused on helping marginalized and houseless communities through lateral love, empathy, and heart work.

Peter McMullen, Executive Director of Lighthouse Mission, shares his personal journey through addiction and homelessness. His story highlights how Lighthouse Mission transforms lives with compassion, hope, empathy, love, and a commitment to community.

Three expert panelists join us to talk about the benefit and necessity of volunteerism in our city, how to get involved with the causes you care about, and the importance of volunteering/mentorship to the health of our communities. Guest panelists: Ashley Seymour - Executive Director, Volunteer Manitoba Daneil Hidalgo - Founder/Director, CommUnity204 Rana Ahmed - Mayor’s Volunteer Service Award recipients from the 2024 Annual Volunteer Awards

Mark Stewart, Executive Director of Salvation Army Winnipeg Centre of Hope, talks about his lived experience with homelessness 18 years ago, how the Salvation Army’s mission has grown and evolved over the years, and the partnerships and collaboration happening to put an end to poverty in our city.

Tessa Blaikie Whitecloud, CEO of Siloam Mission, talks about what investment needs to be made in our community to end the homelessness crisis in Winnipeg, how her team at Siloam are using a trauma-informed, results-based approach, and the progress that’s being made on this challenging topic, in our city.

In celebration and reverence of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th, Elders Belinda Vandenbroeck and Oliver Boulette join us to talk about Truth and Reconciliation, the value of ceremony and prayer, and the importance of listening and learning about our shared history.

Why Recovery Matters is a deep dive on the processes, outcomes, and stigmas of recovery and addiction, with three recovery experts with both lived and learned experience: Greta Waples, Rehabilitation Counsellor at St. Raphael Wellness Centre, Angie Lohr, Executive Director at Two Ten Recovery Inc, and Steve Low, Treatment Consultant/Acting Clinical Director at Aurora Recovery Centre.

Matthew Hodgins is a certified Addictions Counsellor at St. Raphael's Wellness Center who has dedicated his life to addictions recovery. He specializes in men's issues, including how and why men are vulnerable to addiction and the barriers to treatment. Matthew runs a men's recovery group through the SRWC, if you'd like more information, visit srwc-mb.ca/

Patty Wiens, Winnipeg's Bicycle Mayor and Board Member of Bike Winnipeg sits down to talk about the importance of cycling infrastructure, how riding a bike can improve mental and physical health, and the economic benefits of switching to riding a bike on your morning commute. Producer: Juan D. Lavao

This week's episode features All Wiebe, Peer and Community Engagement Trainer and Advocate for people experiencing homelessness who has lived experience himself. Al talks about how his experience living out of his car shapes his work today, his tireless advocacy and training, and some ideas and solutions from around the world to help with Winnipeg's homelessness crisis.

Malaihka Siemens, Student studying Education at the University of Winnipeg and Build From Within program participant talks about her Indigeneity as it pertains to education, her cultural bonds and connections to Winnipeg, and her experience with the Build From Within program, that helps indigenous students become teachers.

Amber Clark-Wesley, Board Chair of The Pitikwé Skatepark, talks about how she got involved with Pitikwé and her work creating a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for youth to feel a sense of belonging in downtown Winnipeg. We talked about downtown revitalization, systemic barriers, intergenerational trauma, and working with partners and colleagues to reform systems and structures of oppression, and improve the outcomes for indigenous youth experiencing those systems.

Today's guest on the BeCause & Effect Podcast is Brigette DePape, Climate Planner at Narratives Inc. (https://narrativesinc.com/) Brigette and her family are also finalists in the Live Net Zero Challenge put on by Canadian Geographic, where they're challenged to reduce their carbon footprint and live as close to net zero emissions as possible. Read more about her experience here: https://canadiangeographic.ca/live-net-zero/households/depape-rodriguez Brigette stopped by the CJNU Studios to talk about her work with Narratives, how she finds motivation to continue fighting for what she believes in, and how the average citizen can contribute to reversing the climate catastrophe.

Stephanie Scott, Executive Director of the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, joins us to talk about her work with the NCTR (http://www.nctr.ca/) and the importance of collecting and preserving Survivors' stories and the effect of Indian Residential Schools on our country. On March 14, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) and its host, the University of Manitoba announced a $5 million lead gift from The Winnipeg Foundation to support the building of a new permanent home for the NCTR.

Today’s guest is the 5th and final episode highlighting filmmakers from the Cinematoba program, in partnership with the National Screen Institute. Alice Teufack is the filmmaker behind the film Grand Frère about André Doumbé, a Cameroonian refugee and Franco-Manitoban. Alice and I talk about André’s life and legacy, her decision to completely change careers from the world of finance to the world of filmmaking, and the experience creating her first documentary film for Cinematoba.

Today’s guest is Hilary McDonald, an archeologist and photographer by trade, and she’s the 4th filmmaker in our series of conversations with Cinematoba filmmakers, whose film We Haven’t Yet Said Thanks is available now, at www.wpgfdn.com/ Hilary and I talk about her film that she shot in her hometown of Flin Flon. We talk about the mining industry and how that culture permeated the town, the arts scene up there, and how her film combined the themes of generosity, change, industry, globalization, with respect and gratitude for the land.

Today’s guest is Jessica Landry, screenwriter, director, and filmmaker who wrote and directed the Cinematoba film Testament, which debuted at the Cinematoba Film Festival back in September. Jessica and I talk about her powerful film Testament, her creative process, generosity, generational trauma, religion, guilt, mentorship, and so much more.

Today’s guest is Faustina Dalmacio, who is one of five filmmakers selected for the first ever Cinematoba Film Fest, a partnership between The Winnipeg Foundation and The National Screen Institute. Faustina’s film is called After School, and it’s about two young sisters who have an after-school adventure, and how their community helps them when they lose their way. We talk about her experience growing up in a Filipino immigrant family, her approach to Cinematoba as a first-time-filmmaker, and how she conveys the themes of family, generosity, and community in her film.

In this episode, filmmaker Carolyn Gray talks about her Cinematoba film, Escape!, which is based on a true story, exploring the unique bond between an unlikely duo, Dean, a cancer survivor and magician, and Phil, a child struggling with his own illness. Together, their bond creates real magic. We also talk about her process, her origins, why she chose Dean to make a short film about, and how his story profoundly affected her artistic career.