People First Radio Vancouver Island Mental Health Society

Pamela Steen shares the details behind her December Bling-A-Thon in support of the Canadian Mental Health Association. “Don’t feel shallow or shy about dressing in a way that makes you feel good,” she said. “If it’s sweatpants with holes in it and that makes you feel good, just own it. If it’s sequins, just own […]

People First Radio pays a visit to Coco Cafe, a social enterprise in the Vancouver Island community of Cedar. Their mission is to provide employment, training, and socialization opportunities for people with developmental disabilities within their community.We hear from general manager Marc Taschereau,  Coco Cafe employee Jacob Brockman, support worker Cecelia, and Deborah Cooper.   […]

Opening a recent article in The Walrus, Kevin Patterson evoked the Nanaimo of a few decades ago. What he described sounds in many ways rougher than what you might picture today. A resource economy in decline, unemployment passing twelve per cent, and jokes about Hell’s Angels and Nanaimo Bars seeming not too far from reality. […]

Catching up with Carmen Lavoie about Vancouver Island University’s end of life doula course, which made its debut this past September. Lavoie also spoke about the taboo around discussing death, and shared tips on how to have conversations about the end of life process. “Death and dying, those words can be very helpful,” she said. […]

Kelsie Kilawna shares the story behind a new kit meant to help Indigenous communities in crisis navigate interactions with the media.

Ian Bushfield and Sophie Burke join People First Radio to explore an end of life guide they’ve co-authored for humanists and non religious people.