Fraser Valley Focus

Every year, more than 4000 people take their own lives in Canada. One is too many, of course. And suicide leaves so many of us with self-doubt, trauma, and so much more to cope with. One family is working hard to offer better access to support services for families and individuals, with the aim of suicide prevention without the obstacles of cost, or accessibility. The Morrison family of Abbotsford has founded the BeMorr Society to provide education, peer support, and funding for access to mental health care in the Fraser Valley, and beyond.

No, don’t worry, April 30th is still a long way off, but now is the time to start thinking about how you plan to file your taxes this year. If you are self employed, you have a little longer, but there are still some ways you can make the process easier and save money along the way! Today, we’re going to talk about an easy to use special filing system, what you need to do right now if you started a small business in 2020, and how to know if you should hire someone to file your taxes for you, or if you should file them yourself.

The Fraser Valley Regional Food Bank was launched March 1st 2020, before anyone realized what was about to happen in the coming weeks. The already huge need has since exploded, and many families in the Fraser Valley face real hardship. The Cloverdale Community Kitchen serves families across our entire Valley, not just in Cloverdale. 

Download an information sheet about the Kitchen, by clicking here: Cloverdale Community Kitchen PDF info sheet.

Shortly before Christmas, the call was put out for help, and our Valley responded generously! Hampers went out to needy families, and many people were helped with dry goods, as well as fresh produce and frozen foods. However, January is now here, and we can’t stop now. This organization, and many others, need ongoing support.

Today my guest is the Director of the Cloverdale Community Kitchen as well as the Fraser Valley Food Bank. He manages not only the food programs, but also the Extreme Weather Shelter, the Cloverdale Community Garden, and fundraisers for the program like Coldest Night of the Year and the Ride for Refugees. Please welcome Matthew Campbell!

Additional resources:

Mycck.ca, the website of the food bank and Cloverdale Community Kitchen (Hours of the foodbank and kitchen programs, apply to be a volunteer, and more!)

Download an information sheet about the Kitchen, by clicking here: Cloverdale Community Kitchen PDF info sheet.

Coldest Night of the Year fundraiser 2021

Cloverdale Community Cycles bicycle repair.

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If you are one of the millions of Canadians who found yourself laid off or otherwise facing changes to your employment this past year, this is the episode for you. Whether you’ve decided to look for an entirely new job, upgrade your skills to keep yourself valuable to your current employer, or even looking for ways to work from home, it’s the skills that make or break you.

Today, we have a different episode for you: an extremely short set of clips, showcasing a handful of great moments from our fall season! Let’s call this the best of the Focus.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

It’s important that we acknowledge that we are gathering on and that this podcast is being created on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – Kwantlen, Tsawwassen, Katzie (pronounced Kay-tzie), and Semiahmoo.

Have you ever wondered why we treat mental health separately than physical health? What might happen if we thought of self-care to be more, just, well, care? What if a healthy mind and healthy body and healthy pregnancy were all considered part of a normal day for women, including therapy or counselling, yoga, pre-and-postnatal care, alongside carbon neutral beauty care? Why not assemble the best team you can to think of all of these parts of a common whole?

My guest today experienced what many of us do – a deep conversation in a hairdresser’s chair – which turned into a mission to create a safe space for women to be better versions of who they already are, with the help of trained experts. She and her business partner – the same hairdresser, incidentally – have opened two (make that three, and a fourth on the way!) locations that offer all of this in a single space, and they are about to open their third.

And I want to mention, when I asked this guest for a biography, she replied instead with this comment, “…We’re uninclined to put ourselves at the front and center of our business as we’re so committed to growing this as a team and lifting the women up around us.”

On that note, please welcome Chilliwack’s Heidi Epp from The Refinery House.

Meet my guest today, who with the rest of her family, has renovated a vintage building in Hope, BC, to create a brand new and very modern brewery that serves and employs a deliberately diverse group. As serious as she is about things like low-impact brewing methods, compostable packaging and practices in the brewery, and telling the story of the indigenous people who’ve lived for thousands of years on the land where her business now operates, she’s equally serious about creating an atmosphere of family and community and FUN in her brewery.

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT:It’s important that we acknowledge that we are gathering on and that this podcast is being created on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – Kwantlen, Tsawwassen, Katzie (pronounced Kay-tzie), and Semiahmoo.

If you love live music, and are often impressed by the variety, quality, and generosity of musicians in the Fraser Valley, you’re going to love today’s episode. Today I talk with a local blues musician who has not only struck out on his own to make his music dream his profession, but has successfully adapted to many bumps in the road. While in the last 9 months, he has completely pivoted his live music business to a streaming model during the pandemic, he has also overcome a theft to his studio, and various other obstacles that might make some of us give up prematurely.

My guest today is outfitted with a string of foot percussion, a road worn Stratocaster, and a contemporary drum machine, and he brings a whole new meaning to the phrase one-man-band.  His distinct, soulful take on everything from rock to reggae over the last six decades has put him in front of crowds across the country. Whether he’s crooning John Mayer at a wedding or bringing clubs to life with Bruno Mars, this guy leaves it all out on the stage with his raw, energetic live performances.

 Raised on the classics like Hendrix and Zeppelin, then influenced by the world of contemporary music, he has created his own blues drenched stamp for each of the 150+ songs in his arsenal.  

Friends, please welcome Johnny Bootleg!

LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT:

It’s important that we acknowledge that we are gathering on and that this podcast is being created on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territory of the Coast Salish peoples – Kwantlen, Tsawwassen, Katzie (pronounced Kay-tzie), and Semiahmoo.

What is your brain really capable of? Do you need a check up from the neck up? Today we’re going to talk about your memory! 

My guest today is a former teacher, who taught physics for 39 years in the Lower Mainland. He’s the founder of a company called Memory Dynamics, and now teaches classes at Fraser Valley Continuing Education in Langley. His classes are for ages teens through seniors, about how to improve your memory and your brain power! He also regularly trains undercover police with memory techniques used for investigations.

He’s got some cool party tricks that I hope he’ll show us today, along with some quick tips to improve your long-term and short-term memory. 

Welcome teacher and memory expert, Graham Best!

While many of us have seen and heard about the Langley Hospice Society around town, it’s likely that we didn’t pay much attention until we were ourselves in need of their services. The Langley Hospice Society provides assistance to families for palliative or bereavement care and support in the Langley’s and surrounding communities. This includes not only in-hospice care, but also grief and loss support programs and services for children, teens, and adults, all without any cost to families, and without any referral needed.

My guest today has been the Communications and Funds Development Manager for the Hospice Society since 2013, and has spent most of her career in nonprofits. She is also the Former Community Giving Coordinator for the Canadian Cancer Society and the Relay For Life. Please welcome Shannon Todd Booth.

Additional Resources in this Episode:

https://langleyhospice.com - reach out through our website for support groups, additional resources of all kinds for children, teens, and adults, individuals or in families, event scheduling, etc.

https://evolution-studios.ca - grief yoga on Friday mornings at the Hospice facility

Children's Grief Awareness Day, third Thursday in November (Paint The Town Blue - campaign for awareness)

Register for the FREE workshop at 3pm PST on November 19 2020 for children's grief awareness through LangleyHospice.com/cgad

Celebrate a Life Campaign tree ornaments sponsored by Cedar Rim Nurseries will be placed at:

Well Seasoned in the Willowbrook area

Rempel Mercantile in Ft. Langley

McBurney Plaza in the City of Langley

Aldergrove Otter Co-Op Retail Centre

Donation Boxes for the tree ornaments are in a variety of local businesses.

The Hospice Society relies on community support from the First West Credit Union Foundation and Envision Financial, G&F Financial, Aldergrove Credit Union, the Rotary Club of Langley, the Soroptomists Club of Langley, BC Community Gaming Grants, The United Way Foundation, and the Langley Hospice Society Thrift Store

For information about any services, or to donate or volunteer, please eMail the Hospice Society at [email protected], on the Hospice Society Facebook page, or call 604-530-1115.