At Home in Muskoka

I’m delighted to close season two of the podcast with a conversation with Fay Martin from Places for People. This is a critical listen for anyone struggling with a sense of hopelessness as we continue into a season of upheaval. As Fay says, “doing what you can with what you have is a great antidote for feeling powerless and vulnerable”. Join us as we talk about the importance of using community resources to address community issues as an alternative to waiting for somebody else to fix things

Show Notes

Places for People’s next fundraising campaign is selling degrees so they can repair the furnace in one of their properties. Donate today on their Facebook page: Turn Up the Heat for Places for People – Every Degree Makes a Difference!

Research into the social tipping point for effective change cited by Fay (and hats off to Heather for pulling these results showing between 3% to 25% together for us): 

• Social tipping dynamics for stabilizing Earth’s climate by 2050 | PNAS
• Social tipping point and optimism
• Research Finds Tipping Point for Large-Scale Social Change | Annenberg

Find Places for People Online: 

• Instagram: @p4phaliburton
• Facebook: @placesforpeoplehaliburton
• Website: https://www.placesforpeople.ca/

Find the Muskoka Community Land Trust Online:

• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn:  @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

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Beth Houston joins me in today’s episode to talk about Gravenhurst Against Poverty, a cornerstone organization in Muskoka that creates community through food, programming, and transportation. We talk about what GAP is doing right now, what it would like to do, and what it will take to make our big dreams for Gravenhurst come true.

Show Notes:

• Read G.A.P.'s Impact Report and 2024-2028 Strategic Plan
• Volunteer in one of their many programs
• Donate to Gravenhurst Against Poverty
• Mark your calendars for Coldest Night of the Year on February 22, 2025 and subscribe to the GAP newsletter to follow the details

Find Gravenhurst Against Poverty Online:

• YouTube: Gravenhurst Against Poverty
• Instagram: @GravenhurstAgainstPoverty
• Facebook: @GravenhurstAgainstPoverty
• Website: gravenhurstagainstpoverty.com

Find Us Online:

• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn:  @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

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In today’s episode the Coordinator of the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario, Franz Hartmann, walks us through five ways to make homes affordable in Ontario. 

Five Ways Home is a project of hope by a staggering array of people from across the political spectrum, including environmentalists, planners, and farmers. Built on a foundation of deep research, it’s a set of actionable solutions to Ontario’s housing crisis that’s written for people, not policy-makers.

Show Notes

• Download Taking Action Together: Five Ways to Make Homes Affordable in Ontario
• Watch the Five Ways To Make Homes more Affordable videos: 
• Introduction to Five Ways Home (3 min)
• Make housing affordable and part of liveable communities (1 min)
• Invest heavily in non-market affordable housing (1 min)
• Build smarter and faster (1 min)
• Build a wide variety of housing types (1 min)
• Build in the right Places (1 min)
• Click the Take Action button and share with your friends, family, neighbours, and MPPs

Find Five Ways Home and the Alliance for a Liveable Ontario Online: 

• YouTube: @liveableontario
• Instagram: @allianceforaliveableontario
• Facebook: @liveableontario
• Website: fivewayshome.ca

Find Us Online: 

• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn:  @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

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In today’s episode, we meet Nat Pace, the network director of the Canadian Network of Community Land Trust. They lead us through the history of the modern land trust movement and the mission of the CNCLT to support the movement in Canada. A must-listen episode for anyone interested in organizing around community land stewardship.

Show Notes

• Attend the 2024 Community Land Trust Summit on October 18-19th via livestream
• Learn the history of New Communities Inc.
• Understand how community land trusts can facilitate the return of land to Indigenous communities.  
• Follow the progress of the Calgary Urban Indigenous Community Land Trust Development Project

Find the Canadian Network of Community Land Trusts Online: 

• YouTube: @canadianCLTs
• Facebook: @canadianCLTs
• LinkedIn: @canadian-network-of-community-land-trusts
• Website: communityland.ca

Find Us Online: 

• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn: @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

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Aaron Binder is a long–time business owner and entrepreneur across multiple industries, with political experience and a passion for environmental and micromobility advocacy. He’s the director of the Better Way Alliance, Canada’s member-driven, ethical employer network that invests in workers, knowing that they are their organization’s greatest assets. 

The Better Way Alliance advocates for decent employment practices and desperately needed commercial rent reform that develop resilient and community-focused Main Streets across Canada, including right here in Muskoka.

Show Notes

• Read about the business case for ethical employment
• Join the Better Way Alliance
• Read the Commercial Rent Report
• Support the Commercial Renter Bill of Rights
• See all the other cool stuff Aaron is up to at aaronbinder.com

Find the Better Way Alliance Online: 

• Twitter: @betterwaycan
• Instagram: @betterwayalliance
• Facebook: @betterwayalliance
• LinkedIn: @better-way-alliance
• Website: betterwayalliance.ca

Find Us Online: 

• Twitter: @muskokaclt  
• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn: @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

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Len Ring from Climate Action Muskoka joins the show today to discuss the history of CAM, the urgency of taking action to stop global warming, the interconnectedness of climate action and community building, and what we can do (and are doing!) collectively and as individuals to mitigate climate change.

Show Notes:

• Read about the intersection of climate and housing: Want to Fight Climate Change? Fix Housing | Task Force for Housing and Climate
• Subscribe to the CAM Newsletter and the Muskoka Drawdown Podcast
• Read the Building Back Better series
• Download the Climate Change Curriculum created in partnership with the Retired Teachers of Ontario [PDF]
• Join the Community Carbon Challenge
• Learn about Muskoka’s Climate Action Plan

Find Climate Action Muskoka Online: 

• Facebook: @climateactionmuskoka
• Instagram: @climateactionmuskoka
• YouTube: @climateactionmuskoka5792
• Website: climateactionmuskoka.org

Find The Muskoka Community Land Trust Online: 

• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn: @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Join Kate Trueland from Community Living South Muskoka and I as we discuss the impact inclusive spaces can have on the experience and enjoyment of Muskoka for residents and visitors with developmental and physical disabilities. 

Show Notes:

• Get your tickets for Music at the Meadows 2024
• Read By The Numbers: A statistical profile of people with mental health and addiction disabilities in Ontario [PDF]
• Subscribe to the Community Living South Muskoka Newsletter

Find Community Living South Muskoka Online:

• Instagram: @community_living_south_muskoka, @musiccatthemeadows and @morrisonmeadows
• Facebook: @CLSouthMuskoka
• YouTube: @communitylivingsouthmuskok6652
• LinkedIn:  @community-living-south-muskoka
• Website: clsm.on.ca

Find the Muskoka Community Land Trust Online:

• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn:  @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kelly Jones is a powerhouse community builder and anti-poverty advocate, and it’s likely you’ve already met her through her work at Bridges out of Poverty, the YWCA, Residents Against Muskoka Poverty, or Gravenhurst Against Poverty.

In today’s episode, Kelly generously shares her story of building a life here in Muskoka, and uses it as an example of how life-changing an invitation into community can be.

Show Notes:

• Find out more about 3DCP Muskoka
• Register for the next Bridges out of Poverty workshop
• Become a Circles Ally

Find us Online:

• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn: @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 2014, Dr. Norman Yan completely failed to retire from his career in the science of understanding the human impacts on Ontario’s lakes, how the damage can be fixed, and how future damage can be prevented. 

Why this failure to retire? Because he’s an integral member of of the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed, a local charity that turns science into community-wide action to protect the Muskoka watershed. You can support the work of the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed by donating at fotmw.org.

In today’s episode of At Home in Muskoka, Dr. Yan joins me for a conversation about how the natural environment is part of our community, and what we can do to strengthen our relationship to the land and water of Muskoka. 

Show Notes:

• Donate to Friends of the Muskoka Watershed here
• Follow Dr. Yan's Research here
• Read A Lake Management Framework for Global Application here

Find the Friends of the Muskoka Watershed online:

• Facebook: @friendsofthemuskokawatershed
• Instagram: @friendsofthemuskokawatershed
• LinkedIn: @friends-of-the-muskoka-watershed
• X: @friendsmuskokaw
• YouTube: Friends of the Muskoka Watershed

Find the MCLT online:

• Twitter: @muskokaclt  
• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn:  @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

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We’ve reached the end of the first season of At Home in Muskoka, and I couldn’t be more thrilled about the conversations we’ve had so far. In this final episode before our break to prepare for next season, I share the presentation I gave at Ignite Gravenhurst about community land trusts, and stewarding community assets for community health.

If you are or know a community builder, either an individual or an organization, and have an idea for a good conversation to have on the podcast, please reach out by using our contact form

Catch Season Two of At Home in Muskoka when it’s ready by following us online:

• Twitter: @muskokaclt  
• Instagram: @muskokaclt
• Facebook: @muskokaclt
• LinkedIn:  @muskokaclt
• Website: muskokacommunitylandtrust.org
• Patreon: AtHomeinMuskoka

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.