A Womb With A View

11/14/2025

What did you learn about yourself and your leadership style in your year as an Ontario Community Changemaker?

To be considered a “Warrior” through Indigenous eyes, is to be a person who is of service to the community; protecting the Elders, children, defenseless; caring for and helping out family (extended kin network) in times of need; preserving cultural teachings & ceremonies. The leadership style demonstrated in this Ontario Community Changemaker role was that of an Indigenous Warrior who is dedicated to walk alongside others on the Red Road path towards “mino-bimaadiziwin” (living the good life in Ojibway). I do consider myself a “Warrior”.

What comes next for you?

Taking time to do more healing work so I can be a Warrior who knows their limitations & blind spots as I
want to be a stronger voice and a more reliable contributor to this project and the larger visioning of A Womb With a View. I learned the hard way, that sometimes Warriors get injured in battle and they too, have to rest, take stock of what really matters, mend themselves and attend to the unintended damages that may have occurred while in the midst of something they are passionate about.

As the winter months approach, I / we plan to reach out to the Warming Centres and Encampment residents in Kitchener and Cambridge (as they are now being targeted with sweeps) and offer to share our Yurt, Tent Tipi, insulated tarp and lodge covering AND our mutual aid AND our wellness programming as potential partnership initiatives that can bring additional “displacement /
disconnection” relief.

I / we continue to show solidarity with Fight Back KW and the Unsheltered Campaign which includes representatives from social service, health care and legal services. And I / we attend whatever we can that Artist, Storyteller, Activist, Knowledge Keeper Isaac Murdoch does as we want to be partners in anything that “makes beautiful”.

MIIGWEECH / THANK YOU TO 8 80 Cities and my fellow Changemakers...and to all involved in Project "Finding Common Ground" for the lessons & learnings!

11/14/2025

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11/14/2025

This is such an important concept for many of us disabled people: Sometimes we can do something - and other times we can't. We aren't lying or being dramatic, we genuinely sometimes can't.
And, ironically, often the reason we can't do something now is *because* we did it before. For example, if you saw me out and about yesterday, I will almost certainly not be able to go out and about today! Because I will have aggravated symptoms like fatigue too much to be able to manage it, and I'll need to hibernate and recharge for a few days to get back to that level of functioning.

11/13/2025

Link in 1st comment

11/13/2025

All people, regardless of gender, race, ability, or socioeconomic status, deserve access to free healing and quality support services.

Quality therapy means affordable and accessible, with therapy providers who have the language to hold space for healing-engaged practices, and can understand how identity and class are indeed political - which all affect our well-bring and emotional health.

From Decolonizing Therapy (pp 32-33)

11/13/2025

By evening in parts of Portugal, the top floor of some urban parking towers shifts its purpose. Where cars once idled under the sky, the space transforms into a resting zone for those without homes. Mobile beds on wheels are rolled into place, each fitted with privacy panels, a simple mattress, and soft lighting. These setups are not permanent shelters — they’re temporary night havens where safety meets design simplicity.

The concept is clean and minimal. After the rush of the day, attendants wheel in collapsible beds stored in nearby cabinets. A few folding screens, blankets, and lockers accompany them. No names are required. Those in need arrive, rest, and leave by morning. By sunrise, everything folds away, and the space becomes a parking lot again. It’s a fluid use of vertical urban space — no new land, no new buildings, just thoughtful rotation of purpose.

Quietly supervised for safety, these elevated shelters offer more than just a bed. They provide a psychological lift. Sleeping above the city, sheltered but not hidden, breaks the cycle of being pushed to the margins. It’s a solution that neither isolates nor institutionalizes — it simply shares what already exists, with a shift in intent.

This model speaks to cities everywhere: you don’t always need more infrastructure to show care — sometimes, just a change in timing and access makes all the difference.

11/12/2025

11/12/2025