People First Radio
by Vancouver Island Mental Health Society
People First Radio is a weekly one-hour radio broadcast to educate and raise awareness about issues related to health and wellness — with a particular emphasis on topics related to mental illness and mental health, homelessness and housing, and addiction, harm reduction and recovery.
Episodes
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Down and Out in Utopia explores experience of unemployment in Norway
Kelly McKowen spent years talking with people who were unemployed in Norway. In his book Down and Out in Utopia, the assistant professor of Anthropology at the College of William And Mary provides a look at what can happen if you lose your job in one of the world’s wealthiest and most egalitarian...
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Qualicum Beach marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
Community came together in Qualicum Beach Wednesday, September 30, to mark the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The day begin with a gathering at ts’xwelikwshenawtxw, “the house at the foot of Mount Arrowsmith.” As people spoke over coffee, crafting, and knowledge sharing activities,...
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Prison caregiving program for inmates with dementia inspires film
The Gold Coat Program at the California Men’s Colony State Prison sees long term inmates serve as caregivers for inmates with dementia. Filmmaker Petra Volpe first learned about the program 12 years ago, which prompted a visit, and led to the development of a feature film inspired by the program,...
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Vancouver film set for hometown premiere explores themes of urban Indigenous queer sex work
Justin Ducharme says his debut feature film Seventeen was inspired by his own experiences living in Vancouver. “ Something that I’ve always been really interested in as a filmmaker, and a lot of my work explores is this contemporary urban Indigenous queer experience,” he said. Seventeen is set in...
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‘Minding the City’ offers a first hand look at nature, depression, and public space
In 2013, walking a Winnipeg labyrinth helped Corey Bialek consider a contemplative question: what would it mean to not be depressed? The labyrinth was not curative, but it was therapeutic. “There’s no real magic to it, but the idea is you sort of like sift the central thought as you walk through,...
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Personal connections to toxic drug crisis shared at island overdose awareness day events
Speakers in Parksville and Courtenay joined a chorus of voices all over the world coming together in their communities to mark International Overdose Awareness Day. Observed August 31 or the days leading up to it, International Overdose Awareness Day began as a barbecue remembrance event at the...
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Journalist Rob Csernyik talks gambling health harms in Canada
Rob Csernyik is an investigative journalist who lives in Atlantic Canada and covers the gambling beat. He’s the author of A Losing Hand, a new book that takes a look at the issue of gambling related suicides in Canada. “ We have a very robust industry of legalized gambling, and yet we also have…a...
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National organization offers playbook for small cities to address substance use harms
The Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction(CCSA) has shared a resource meant to help smaller Canadian cities address substance use harms. “The Playbook for Action has over 50 evidence-based interventions that a community could draw from,” said Chandni Sondagar, a senior knowledge broker...
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Victoria organization Peers talks supporting sex workers
Peers Victoria Resources Society recently marked its 30th anniversary. The organization helps sex workers in the capital region. “Sex workers in our area often can encounter stigma when accessing health and social support,” said Executive Director Leigh Elliot. “So folks may not feel comfortable...
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The road to a standard unit of THC in Canadian cannabis
A team at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction is working on a framework for a standardized unit of THC in Canada. “The concentration of THC found in cannabis has really increased over time,” said Shea Wood, a senior knowledge broker at the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and...
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Interactive map scores public land across B.C. for housing potential
A project from UBC’s Housing Assessment Resource Tools (HART) team has identified public land across the province and scored it for housing potential. HART Associate Director Craig Jones spoke with People First Radio about the map. “Anybody in B.C, I don’t care if you are a community member, in...
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Vancouver Island group looking to understand and address stigma in the hospital
A team in the Comox Valley has been working to understand and address the barriers faced by people when they visit the hospital. Sharon Karsten, a professor at Vancouver Island University, and Christohper Hauschild, a Mitacs research fellow employed by VIU, are involved with Walk With Me, a...
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Psychiatrists provide evidence-backed insights on coping
During the outbreak of a new and potentially fatal disease in Toronto in 2003, it fell to psychiatrists Bob Maunder and Jon Hunter to help people in the SARS ward cope. The two have been focusing on coping in their professional lives ever since, and have recently co-authored a book on the…
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“We can’t solve our housing crisis until we solve our crisis of home,” argues author
Journalist and author Jessica Barrett argues we can’t solve our housing crisis until we solve our crisis of home. Barrett is the author of No Place Like Home: The Missing Key to Our Housing Crisis, which combines a macro view of the Canadian housing landscape with stories of individual people –...
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Researchers call for more inclusive focus aids
A group out of UBC says distraction blocking apps are often marketed at neurodiverse people, but little is known about how they are actually used. Kevin Chow and Marvel Hariadi were among the authors of a study that looked into the issue. They spoke with People First Radio about digital well…
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The Bylaw State explores public space, encampments, municipalities, and the courts
A UBC law prof argues that homelessness in Canada is governed by a patchwork of municipal bylaws. Alexandra Flynn is co-author of The Bylaw State, a book that explores municipal government responses to homeless encampments from a legal perspective. Flynn says that the idea for the book came when...
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Talking boredom, substance use, and homelessness
After a decade of work with vulnerable populations, Cory Herzog-Fequet went back to school looking to help shine light on a structural issue. “It’s very meaningful to work one-on-one with people, but…you just see the same issues over and over and over perpetuating indefinitely because they’re...
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New building addition — and new name for Salvation Army Centre of Hope in Nanaimo
After years of construction work, new shelter space is expected to open this month in downtown Nanaimo. The Salvation Army Centre of Hope is located at 19 Nicol St. Formerly known as the New Hope Centre, it houses a shelter and other support programming. Construction has been ongoing since 2023…
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Former gang member shares story with Nanaimo youth
Yo Bro Yo Girl co-founder Joe Calendino is working to prevent young people from leading the life he used to live. A few decades back, Calendino was a full patch member of the Hell’s Angels. Dealing with drug addiction, and involved in a high profile fight in a Kelowna casino in 2005, he was…
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Vancouver Island radio play warns of elder financial abuse
A new audio drama airing on Radio Sidney tells a story of elder financial abuse. Beware Mysterious Mark is a 10 part series airing Thursdays through July. Producer Bill Collins spoke with People First Radio about the play, and the issue it seeks to bring awareness to. “It is a traditional kind of...
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Exploring the history of a Saskatchewan mental hospital
When it opened in 1921, the Weyburn Mental Hospital was hailed as the last and largest asylum in the British Commonwealth. Managing Madness co-author Erika Dyck writes that in the beginning, it was a symbol of both progress and a bygone era, embodying a set of contradictions from the outset. Dyck...
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“Street Dr. Jill” talks influencing on homelessness and healthcare
Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk has been practicing medicine for 15 years, largely working with people living on the streets. Since December, she’s added a new dimension to her work, social media influencer. Wiwcharuk posts under the handle streetdrjill. On Instagram, she has more than 75,000 followers at the...
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Nanaimo supportive housing site celebrates 10 years
A Nanaimo supportive housing site celebrated a decade of giving people a home in the community. On a sunny April day, staff and residents at Boundary came together for a 10th anniversary BBQ. Boundary is in central Nanaimo near the hospital, it’s run by Vancouver Island Mental Health...
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Crafting a high school curriculum on homelessness
Erin Dej, associate professor in the department of criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University, has been helping craft a curriculum to teach high school students about homelessness. “We recognize that young people are seeing homelessness, that they are aware of it, and they have questions,” Dej…
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Unpacking 10 years of a public health emergency
Bernie Pauly of the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research and the University of Victoria speaks about how the toxic drug crisis has unfolded over 10 years as a declared public health emergency. Also featuring the voices of Amanda Farrell-Low, Stephanie Harrington, and Sarah Lee.
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VIU researcher looking at intersection between local government and overlapping crises
Trevor Wideman, a postdoctoral researcher at Vancouver Island University, is looking at municipal governance and health policy, and how it interacts with the toxic drug and housing crises. Christopher Hauchildt is operations coordinator for a community engaged research project called Walk With…
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“Finding a passion…really can save your life” – autobiographical Boy Player hits the stage in Nanaimo
Gabriola Island playwright Frank Moher is putting his own story on this stage. Boy Player chronicles the author’s experience of being orphaned and moving across a continent in his youth. It’s the third in a series of shows from Western Edge Theatre exploring themes of men’s mental health. Moher...
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Nurse, UVic PhD student looking at chronic pain and sexuality
A University of Victoria PhD student is looking at the intersection between chronic pain and sexuality. “ I’m really looking at understanding people’s stories and experiences. And what I want to understand is how chronic pain affects sexuality and identity in people that live with chronic pain,”...
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Drug user group co-hosting its first author talk in Nanaimo
Ann Livingston has spent decades helping drug user groups organize. In the 1990s, she helped co-found the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, and is currently working with the Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users (NANDU). “ A drug user group in the simplest mission statement is to improve the…
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Mountain Muskox providing support for people who’ve experienced trauma in the backcountry
Lexie Morgan is a registered clinical counsellor. She does work with the Sea to Sky chapter of a group called Mountain Muskox, which offers support to people who have experienced trauma or loss in the mountains. She spoke with People First Radio about the group and her work. When someone had...
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“We’re all working hard, I’d like people to know” – Rethinking Drinking panelist shares story
Writer Jordan Kawchuk is preparing to speak as a lived experience speaker at a Nanaimo Foundation event called Rethinking Drinking. “My lived experience is that I’ve been to treatment many times and I wrestle with alcohol use disorder,” he said. “I hope to that the community can see that alcohol...
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Checking the levels on music industry mental health
Independent musicians from around coastal B.C. speak about mental health in the industry, following on the heels of a report from music industry leadership consultancy Revelios that identified significant challenges faced by Canadians working in music. The episode features Revelios president and...
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Victoria company aims to translate in patient treatment experience to online format
Home Based Recovery Executive Director Rob DeClark says he’s spent the last few decades working in the in patient treatment industry. “ The landscape changed considerably in terms of the amount of options and also in terms of the cost of treatment,” he says. DeClark says that when he entered the...
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Hungry stories project looking to spark solutions on food insecurity
Elaine Power says a few decades back, close to the start of her career, Canada started viewing food as the solution to food insecurity. Power is now approaching retirement from her work as a professor at Queen’s University focused on food insecurity, while the number of Canadians who are food...
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A visit to the Ethics Bowl
The Ethics Bowl is billed as “a space where discussion is used to untangle the nuanced topics.” Ethics Bowl events see teams present positions on complex topics like and face questions from judges and fellow competitors. Example subjects covered include the moral implications of life sentences...
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Victoria filmmaker’s Mildlife aiming to avoid tropes in depicting disability
Victoria filmmaker Cory Thibert says he never saw a family like his depicted on screen, which was the starting point for his debut narrative feature film, Mildlife. “ Both of my parents live with cerebral palsy,” he said, “I’ve never seen that represented.” Thibert spoke with People First Radio...
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Nanaimo stage show explores emotional journey of an artist
Clown Fish tells the story of Paul Tedeschini’s journey through life as an actor moving across Canada and navigating various emotional challenges. The show is being performed by Tedeschini at Nanaimo’s OV Arts Centre through March 1st. He visited the CHLY studio, along with the show’s director...
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After lifetime in resource industries, island resident reflects on sustainability
North Cowichan resident Royce Warren has spent much of his life working in resource industries. “I’ve been a forester, I’ve been a miner, I’ve been a commercial fisherman. I’ve farmed for a number of years,” he said. “A lot of that was earlier on in my life and I decided to go to university and […]
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Friends found group offering free pet care for those in addiction treatment
Priya Sharma and Kayleigh Busch met working in the field of mental health and substance use support in Victoria. The pair say they consistently noticed a need among the population they serve. “Time and time again, we work with individuals who show that they’re motivated and they’re putting in all...
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A visit to 1030 Old Victoria Road
The manager of a Nanaimo supportive housing site says that almost one year on from breaking ground, the community is coming together around 1030 Old Victoria Road. “Even those folks that were coming in with those tricky questions in the early days are wanting to be a part of what we’re doing…
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Medical psychiatrist explores interaction between generative AI and psychosis
Dr. Alexandre Hudon, a Medical psychiatrist, clinician-researcher and clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and addictology at the Université de Montréal spoke with the program about the potential interplay between psychosis and generative AI, a topic he also explored in an...
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Reflections on a changing relationship with the gym
Toronto based freelance journalist Zahra Khozema spoke with the program about her evolving relationship with the gym, and her decision to give up her membership, via what she called one of the most difficult emails she sent in 2025. “ What made me send that email was I think a mix of burnout and...
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Play set in dementia care home seeks to make space to talk about memory loss
Nanaimo playwright Joëlle Rabu is bringing dementia to the spotlight with a show that hits the stage at the Malaspina theater later this month. Set in a dementia care facility, I Don’t Belong Here: Stories and Songs at the Edge of Forgetting is portrayed through the eyes of 22 different…
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Cowichan Valley exhibit brings local artists together to explore mental health
Vancouver Island artist Philip Mix says that as a kid, all he wanted to do was drawn. Now 70 years old, Mix says at some point along the way, he figured it was more than likely a coping mechanism for him. Mix is one of numerous artists who contributed work to Recognition and Recollection, an […]
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Breaking down conditional approval of drug to treat Alzheimer’s
To mark Alzheimer’s awareness month, Heather Cooke, Manager of Research and Knowledge Mobilization at the Alzheimer’s Soceity of B.C. spoke with the program about recent developments in Alzheimer’s treatment. “We still see this prevalence of stigma, and that can be stigma from others, but it can...
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Aging out of care focus of Senate Human Rights Committee report
Melanie Doucet, Executive Director of the National Council of Youth in Care Advocates, says there can be a hard cut off for people raised in the foster system when they reach adulthood. “ Parents don’t just go, ‘hey, you’re 18 or 19 now, so I’ve done my job and here’s a garbage bag of your...
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Western prof talks relationship anarchy
Treena Orchard says an approach to intimacy and human connection called relationship anarchy is becoming especially popular among millennials and Generation Z. The associate professor at Western University’s school of health studies spoke with People First Radio about the subject, which she had...
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Talking the model for a planned sober supportive housing site in Victoria
A planned supportive housing site in Victoria will offer 20 spaces to men in recovery. Located at 1153 Johnson St. It’s the result of a partnership between BC Housing, the City of Victoria, and The Victoria Cool Aid Society. Angela Moran, Director of Housing and Shelters with the Victoria Cool…
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Nanaimo supportive housing planned for those aiming to minimize substance use
A planned supportive housing development in Nanaimo aims to offer spaces for people looking to minimize exposure to substance use. Called Sparrow, it is set to go in the former Travellers Lodge on Nelson Street. Funded by the provincial HEARTH program, the building is being leased by BC Housing,...
About this show
People First Radio is a weekly one-hour radio broadcast to educate and raise awareness about issues related to health and wellness — with a particular emphasis on topics related to mental illness and mental health, homelessness and housing, and addiction, harm reduction and recovery.
Hosted by
Vancouver Island Mental Health Society