Eric Gaudet has spent the last decade as Bashaw's local friendly pharmacist, getting to know families and individuals in this small town and becoming an indispensable part of the community as a primary care provider. In a rural community without a hospital and with family doctors in extremely short supply across Alberta, the role of a licensed prescribing pharmacist is super important. But that's not what makes Eric's story fascinating. It's not even the fact that Eric has recently been accepted into an elite national pilot program to explore innovative models of primary care delivery in Canada - although that is also really cool! No, the real reason that I wanted to share Eric's story is that his approach to patient care is so wholistic, open minded, empathetic and down to Earth. Every one of us have experienced issues with our health where we need help finding the right course of treatment or even just answers to what is going on and what our options are. Eric definitely has a way of leaving people feeling heard and seen, and rather than treating a symptom, he is deeply interested in addressing the full picture of health and what is going on for that person in their day to day life such as mental health, financial situation or relationship stress. In this episode we discuss all of the above and Eric shares some of the things he's learned along the way and what he loves about his work.

Lorne Gushue is a member of the worship committee at Yellowknife United Church, an affirming church located in a large public building in downtown Yellowknife. In the aftermath of wildfires that threatened homes, health and livelihoods, the needs of the local community have been top of mind for Lorne and the rest of the leadership team of their church. A church that is currently without a full time minister. And yet, as you'll hear through Lorne's incredible story, there are some amazing things happening at Yellowknife United Church! Through partnerships with schools, businesses and local health and social services, they are offering programs to support people experiencing homelessness, finding creative ways to share and rent their church space, and hosting diverse and inclusive events in their auditorium, like last week's meditative ecumenical labyrinth walk! Lorne's passion and compassion for his community is so apparent, and it was an honour to hear him share the recent story of evacuating from and returning to that community.

It feels like we're all facing one kind of storm or another right now, whether it's the strain of increased living costs, interest rates and inflation, or the lack of affordable housing, or the pain of feeling isolated, lonely and disconnected. Debt, food insecurity and homelessness are on the rise and the number of Canadians who feel optimistic about the future is dropping. Humans are suffering. So I wanted to talk with someone this week who brings compassion to human suffering and specializes in supporting people who are struggling. The kind of support that helps people not just improve their immediate situation but the kind of support that targets their suffering at a deeper level.

Daniel McMillan is a clinical psychologist in Calgary and founder of the Assured Psychology clinic where he specializes in adult and couples therapy. He is also the author of a brand new children's book called "Badger and Turtle - Face the Storm", a beautifully illustrated story about common relationship and connection patterns that Dan regularly uses in therapy sessions. In this podcast we explore the challenging reality that as humans we all fundamentally need connection and yet we've all been hurt and have developed defence mechanisms that often hold us back from being vulnerable and get in the way of meaningful and healthy connection. Dan shares some great stuff about his approach to exploring these delicate issues with individuals and couples, and some of the tools he uses such as Emotionally Focused Therapy.

To check out Dan's new book visit http://danmcmillanbooks.com/ and to learn more about Assured Psychology, check out https://assuredpsychology.com/

Robin has a way of always presenting a new and refreshing perspective on an old story. Miracle stories, like the feeding of the 5,000 or the gospel story of Peter walking out to Jesus on the water, are stories that we've heard so many times we almost forget to "think" about them. So in this episode we're diving into some miracle stories and talking about how our common interpretations of them have maybe missed some of their deeper meaning for our lives today.

Donna Ross is a 33-year educator. She is a Cree-Métis from Saskatchewan and

member of the One Arrow First Nation, Treaty Six territory. Donna began her teaching

career as a classroom teacher with Tsuut’ina Nation and continued to support First

Nations learners in subsequent positions with Siksika and Stoney Nakoda Nations, and

is currently an Indigenous Designer of Learning with the Calgary Regional Consortium.

Donna brings passion and a deep knowledge of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit histories, the impact of residential schools, and the infusion of Indigenous ways of knowing into Alberta curriculum and organizational culture. Donna is also a proud Kokum.

In this conversation, Donna generously shares many personal stories from her career as well as heart wrenching stories of her family members' experiences in residential schools and their impacts on subsequent generations. Supporting the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action for education has been a huge part of Donna's work, including the development of educational resources and foundational knowledge which you can find out more about by visiting www.empoweringthespirit.ca.

Shandi is a queer poet and organizer in Lethbridge.  In this episode we discuss the origins of Shandi's incredible poetry, the genesis of her bold and impactful community project called the "Coming Out In Faith Monologues", and her own personal faith journey and coming out story. We also talk about violence against the LGBTQ2S+ community and the importance of going beyond celebrating during Pride Month and taking action, in order to create a society where all are safe and affirmed for who they are.

Victoria Bucholtz (She/Her) holds a doctorate in History from the University of Calgary, with a cognate field in gender theory. Victoria is a LGBTQ+ facilitator and currently teaches at Mount Royal University. She is a transgender rights activist, entertainment producer, and drag queen. An avid mountaineer, skier, and dog mom, she lives in Calgary, Alberta in the Treaty 7 Region.

You can also learn more about Victoria's work through the Queer Education Foundation, which offers diversity and inclusion training with a focus on the LGBTQ+ and BIPOC communities.

Jason Clark has worked in youth ministry for many years and has recently moved to our little town of Bashaw, Alberta where he's now running the Bashaw Youth Foundation, working with youth at the Bashaw School and also getting involved as a leader in our Bashaw United Church. His energy and creativity seem to be endless, and already in the past few months of living in the community there has been a tremendous response from our youth in attending new events and programming that Jason has been creating. Today we are talking about how and why Jason was drawn to working with youth, his vision of what could be created here in Bashaw, what he's learned about teenagers in all these years, and what happens to our youth and our communities when teens are not supported emotionally and spiritually through what can be the most difficult and influential years of their lives.

The Christmas season is a time of giving, generosity and coming together as a community, no matter where you live. But there's something going on in the tiny little community of Bashaw that is unusual and almost inexplicably magical, and it is literally transforming lives. You could look at the Sugar Plum Ball event, or the Angels Among Us campaign, you could study the impacts of the Bashaw Food Bank and the annual Christmas hampers, or the Bashaw United Church's new care packages for seniors that are being distributed around town right now. It wouldn't matter which community program or event you examined, you'd find that behind every single one of them there has been a cultural paradigm shift in Bashaw in recent years that has magnified the impact and effectiveness of everything that we do to support those in need, and has fundamentally changed the way we create community. If you want to know what the secret is, you'd be hard pressed to find a better person in town to share it with you than Jackie Northey. Thanks for listening, and Merry Christmas!

"From The Wild" is a web film series that explores incredible journeys in wild food and beautiful, wild spaces. Its creator, Kevin Kossowan, is an award winning filmmaker and foodie who has worked with Michelin Star chefs and filmed on almost every continent on the planet. He's been a blogger since the days when you had to explain to people what a blog was, and his craft of storytelling combines with his craftsmanship with a camera and with wild food ingredients in the bush camp kitchen, at the fireside and out in the field, like a perfectly balanced and blended cocktail enjoyed with friends under the stars. In this podcast episode Kevin and I dive into his life and the origin story of From The Wild, we discuss the significance and role of "beauty" in elevating our eating experiences, and toward the end we go into the deep end a bit with questions about life and death and what makes a meal or a moment sacred.