Impact Statement from NWO Voices (Jack Dawson, Laura Meuckon, Lyndon Hughes)
The Independent Journalist team at Northwestern Ontario Voices have begun the work of addressing many issues facing residents in the communities of Fort Frances, Kenora and Dryden; but the stand-out issue across the region is overwhelmingly homelessness and addiction.
In our premiere episode of NWO Voices Kenora, Community Host Leanne Favreau discussed the topic with Janalee Jodouin, a community advocate for homelessness. This interview was an overview of the subject and a look at Jodouin’s success lobbying for an out-of-the-cold shelter in Red Lake Ontario, a community a few hours north of Kenora. The main messages gathered from the conversation included the need for community engagement, culturally appropriate initiatives, and simply put, the need to take real action. Jodouin was clear to note her frustration after being invited to several community boards and think-tanks from the municipal to the non-profit level where she explained experiencing a lot of talk, but little action.
As Journalists representing the region of Northwestern Ontario, we know this conversation was a catalyst for action and we are set to press those in power for answers and next steps on this important issue.
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About LJI
LJI Impact is the section of commediaportal.ca where the journalists and their organizations participating in CACTUS' Local Journalism Initiative can share their greatest successes.
Through the written stories, photos and videos you see in the LJI Impact section, you'll be able to read first hand accounts about how the presence of a community journalist is making a difference in communities across Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative and the Community Media Portal.
The Community Media Portal is a gateway to the audio-visual media created by community media centres across Canada. These include traditional community TV and radio stations, as well as online and new media production centres.
Community media are not-for-profit production hubs owned and operated by the communities they serve, established both to provide local content and reflection for their communities, as well as media training and access for ordinary citizens to the latest tools of media production, whether traditional TV and radio, social and online media, virtual reality, augmented reality or video games.
The Community Media Portal has been funded by the Local Journalism Initiative (the LJI) of the Department of Canadian Heritage, and administered by the Canadian Association of Community Television Users and Stations (CACTUS) in association with the Fédération des télévisions communautaires autonomes du Québec (the Fédération). Under the LJI, over 100 journalists have been placed in underserved communities and asked to produce civic content that underpins Canadian democratic life.
