On The Way Home

This week Tim Coldwell, the Co-Founder and CEO of Énska Advisors joins us on the podcast to chat about his incredible journey at the helm of one of Canada’s largest and most innovative general contractors, how he recently chose to re-invent himself by starting Enska Advisors, and finally about his Fifty by 50 challenge to address the well documented skilled trades shortage. You won’t want to miss this inspiring conversation!

This week we are joined by Lara, Alesia, Jill and Denise, four experts from slightly different areas involving Seniors and Homelessness. A doctor specializing in harm reduction and supporting those experiencing homelessness, a social worker specializing in seniors, a geriatrician, and PhD in Health geography. We chat about a recent research paper Jill led with Alesia about how Toronto’s Homeless Shelters are failing our seniors, what Dr. Lara is seeing in her senior patients in Calgary, and what the research is showing Denise around seniors and homelessness in British Columbia. We talk about the challenges, the solutions and our hopes for the future when it comes to supporting seniors experiencing homelessness.

This week, podcast regular Nick Falvo joins us along with Mel and Julie from CHRA and Emily from A Way Home Canada, to talk about a recent study tour that took a group of Canadians to London, England to learn about some of the amazing work they are doing to create affordable housing and end homelessness. We talk about what they learned, surprises along the way, what we can bring back to Canada and what we might be able to share with the good folks in the UK. This podcast was a ton of fun and really eye opening! As well we talk about next year’s plan for a study tour in Finland! You won’t want to miss it!

This week on the pod we are joined by the brilliant Khulud Baig, Director of Policy and Community Engagement at the Women’s National Housing and Homeless Network, and Michele Biss, the National Director at the National Right to Housing Network to chat about their new Solutions Lab project they’ve been working on with a focus on creating Shelter Standards for Women and Gender Diverse people. We chat about how it came about, what the feedback has been so far, and what next steps in the process are. You don’t want to miss it!

Today on the 'On The Way Home' we welcome the senior housing panel to discuss aging.

This week we are joined by Elle, Ebony and Jessica from CMHC to chat about a new tool, “Capital Connect” that helps to connect non profits in need of capital to build housing, and investors who are looking to invest. We talk about how it came about, who it’s for, how it works, and how our listeners can access it. That and much, much more on this week’s On The Way Home podcast.

On this week’s pod, we talk with film maker Alex Sheremet about the documentary he made along with Joel Parrish, looking at the brilliant life of poet and novelist Bruce Parrish. We talk about Bruce’s experiences with homelessness, mental health and addiction, and how he pushed forward to share his art with the world, and why they decided to document his life and work after his passing.

This week on the pod we are joined by researcher Negar Shahryari to talk about what homelessness looks like in the Middle East and South Africa (MESA). She walks us through the research she and her colleagues published, and the challenges they faced in putting it together, as well as what her hopes are moving forward in the future.

 This week on the pod, I speak with CEO of Social Innovation Canada, on the role social innovation plays in solving the housing crisis. We talk about Social Innovation Canada’s beginnings, how they’ve pivoted in the last few years, some great examples of social innovation in housing, who some of their partners are, and finally on her hopes for the future. It’s one you won’t want to miss!