Latest news with #Zuk
Winnipeg Free Press
16-06-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Blazing Willows weaving professional connections
Joanne Zuk is fired up. The Winnipeg-based business strategist and consultant is the founder of Blazing Willows, a curated community and event series where women and gender-diverse professionals can network and share ideas. Zuk was inspired by a trend she noticed in the organizations she's worked with over the last three years. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the professionals she encountered were feeling a sense of disconnection from their peers. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press BIZ - Blazing Willows Photo of Joanne Zuk, (shorter hair), a business strategist with clothing business owner The article is about Blazing Willows, a series of events where women and gender-diverse professionals who have often felt left out of traditional networks can get together. This is for a biz article that will appear in the paper later this week. Must Have Pockets because it's where the first Blazing Willows event was held. Story by Aaron June 11th, 2025 'We're really lacking meaningful opportunities to just connect without selling (and) just connect for the purpose of building community,' Zuk said. At the same time, as a self-employed consultant who works from home, Zuk was noticing a lack of connection in her own professional life. In January, she hosted the first Blazing Willows event at Must Have Pockets, a clothing store in south Winnipeg. She advertised it on LinkedIn as an opportunity for solo consultants to compare notes and the 20 tickets sold out in short order. Participants enjoyed wine, snacks and networking. Midway through the event, Must Have Pockets owner Leanne Ryan gave a short talk on how to optimize a capsule wardrobe to simplify one's life. The only rule for participants was the event remain pitch-free, so they could concentrate on relationships over sales and connection over business. Zuk donated event proceeds to the North Point Douglas Women's Centre. Meantime, 250 people joined the Blazing Willows mailing list, Zuk said, including CEOs, early-career professionals and retirees looking for a place to connect with younger generations and share wisdom. 'It was an interesting response,' Zuk said. She sent a survey to the mailing list, asking people why they had signed up and what they were looking for. Nearly 100 people responded and it became clear to Zuk people were looking for an inclusive, sales pitch-free space for real connection. Subsequent Blazing Willows events will be open to people from any profession. There's also a LinkedIn group people can join after they sign up for the mailing list at Zuk launched the initiative in January as Old Girls Club — a riff on the term 'old boys' club' and the idea networking and influence should be hoarded in back rooms by the same people who have always held power. After realizing the name didn't quite capture what she was trying to create, she changed it. She was inspired by a conversation she had with Paul Guimond, an elder in residence at Red River College Polytechnic. Guimond told her about how willow trees bend without breaking. Their roots stabilize landscapes and support entire ecosystems. The 'blazing' part of the name, according to Zuk, speaks to the fire and vision it takes to carve new paths forward. The new name aligns more fully with Zuk's vision of a community where people show up for one another with integrity, reciprocity and support. When Robyn Penner Thiessen heard about Blazing Willows on LinkedIn, the diversity, equity and inclusion consultant signed up immediately. 'As an entrepreneur running my own business, it is lonely because you're not part of (a) larger organization,' Penner Thiessen said. 'To be with other like-minded women who are working to create something that has impact … is something I was interested in.' Zuk is an authentic person and that's coming through in Blazing Willows, Penner Thiessen added. 'It's not just a surface-level group and she's not just a surface-level person.' Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Zuk is hosting the second Blazing Willows event Wednesday evening at a co-working space in Osborne Village, with proceeds benefiting Clan Mothers Healing Village. Tickets are sold out. Blazing Willows community members will dictate what future gatherings and endeavours look like, Zuk said. While she is hosting and supporting the initiative, it will evolve based on what participants care about. 'I always (used to feel) like I was in competition with the women around me and it wasn't really until the last couple of years of my career that I (realized) that is the dumbest, dumbest way of looking at things,' she said. 'There's opportunity for us to create something different if we work together (and) if we grow together.' Aaron EppReporter Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. He was previously the associate editor at Canadian Mennonite. Read more about Aaron. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
02-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
Cessation of war in Europe 80 years ago brought Winnipeggers together in record numbers
When the news reached Canada in May 1945 that the German army had surrendered, and the threat and horrors of the Nazi regime had finally been defeated, Canadians from coast to coast took to the streets to celebrate. And as they often do in times of joy and jubilation, Winnipeggers gathered that day at the intersection of Portage and Main. An image by famous Winnipeg photographer L.B. Foote captured the moment — troops, citizens and dignitaries congregated around a small grandstand erected at the famous intersection. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Bill Zuk, secretary of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society's Manitoba Chapter, has been helping organize commemorative events to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe — VE-Day. 'It was a universal reaction, and a very spontaneous and organic reaction around the world on VE-Day,' said Bill Zuk, secretary of the Canadian Aviation Historical Society's Manitoba Chapter. 'There was a happiness that enveloped people, and people just took to the streets, including here in Winnipeg.' The corner of Portage Avenue and Main Street has become known more recently as a spot where Winnipeggers gather to celebrate when local sports teams win championships. But it was at that same famous intersection where Winnipeggers gathered 80 years ago to celebrate what has become known as Victory in Europe Day. Wednesdays A weekly look towards a post-pandemic future. This Thursday marks the 80th anniversary of VE-Day. On May 8, 1945, the Allied powers formally accepted the German army's unconditional surrender, marking the end of the Nazi regime and the reign of Adolf Hitler, and the cessation of six years of combat in Europe, in a war estimated to have taken the lives of between 60 and 75 million people worldwide. 'The mood that day was just a national jubilation,' Zuk said. 'City hall and the Eaton's building, and most of the buildings downtown were decorated, and people just started showing up at Portage and Main. There were parades and outdoor concerts, but it wasn't very organized, it was more that people just started to show up. 'It was very organic, and scenes like that were repeated all over the world.' L.B. FOOTE / National Air Force Museum of Canada Victory in Europe Day Parade in Winnipeg, May 8, 1945. It also came with a great sense of relief that the nation was finally moving on from the war. 'The war was all-encompassing at that time,' Zuk said. 'In most families, men and boys were away fighting, and thousands of women were working in armament factories, so it became a common cause, and the focus of people's day-to-day lives.' Zuk also has a personal connection to the Second World War with several of his relatives fighting abroad, and one losing their life in battle. He is one member of a group working to organize a series of events in the coming months to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War, including a VE-Day celebration and reception for veterans and their families that will take place Thursday in the Rotunda at the Manitoba Legislative Building beginning at noon. The event is expected to be attended by as many as three Second World War veterans who are all now over the age of 100, including 103-year-old Charleswood resident Len Van Ron, who was among the thousands of soldiers in Normandy on June 6, 1944, during the historic D-Day landing, when Allied forces stormed the beaches in then-Nazi-occupied France. Zuk says Van Ron's story is just one example of the bravery and sacrifices Canadians experienced during the war, and as we near the anniversary of VE-Day, he hopes history records how important Canada was to the overall war effort, and to the Allied victory. 'Canada really punched above its weight,' he said. 'We had 60 squadrons in the air force, we had two or three major armies in combat freeing entire nations like Holland, we had the third-largest navy in the world, we trained the pilots who flew in the war, and we had the convoys that supplied the food that sustained (Britain) during the war. City of Winnipeg Archives The former Eaton's building on Portage Avenue was decorated with flags to celebrate VE-Day. 'We did so much more than people would have known. Canadians paid in blood and in sacrifice.' Ontario-based historian and author Ted Barris, who has written extensively about the Second World War, agrees that Canada pulled its weight and showed its value as a young nation in the war, and said part of the reason so many Canadians got behind the war effort was because they knew very clearly who the enemy was and what they were fighting against. 'In the First World War, it wasn't always clear who the enemy was, because it was mostly a war being fought in Europe over territory,' Barris said. 'But in the Second World War it was very obvious who the enemy was, and how large that threat was. 'You had fascist leaders who were clearly power-hungry, racist and territorial, and with the power and the might of their armies just did whatever they hell the wanted, so that enemy became evident a lot more in the Second World War. 'And with a visible enemy you had men who would say, 'This threat is so great that I am willing to fight, even if it comes at my own peril.' 'Men were willing to die to stop this threat.' Barris hopes that courage and those sacrifices continue to be understood and valued as we near the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War — it officially ended Sept. 2, 1945, with the surrender of Japan — and also hopes Canadians appreciate the scope of the joy and relief that washed over the country when the Nazis were defeated and VE-Day was celebrated eight decades ago. 'It was celebratory, it was upbeat and happy,' he said. 'Kids were running up and down the streets banging on cans and letting off firecrackers and burning effigies of Hitler and so on. City of Winnipeg Archives Hurtig Furs' Portage Avenue store created a victory display in honour of VE-Day in 1945. 'Everyone recognized that they had survived, the war is behind us, so now let's roll out the good times and look forward to a brighter future.' And as Zuk and others in Manitoba continue to plan Thursday's celebration, he said the 80th anniversary of VE-Day should also serve as a reminder to Canadians about what can happen when dictators and authoritarian regimes take power. 'I think we're once again in a very perilous time,' Zuk said. 'But one thing the Second World War taught us and what VE-Day reminds us of, is that we have the ability to come out of this the right way.' Dave Baxter is a Winnipeg writer.
CBC
30-01-2025
- Health
- CBC
New provincial funding for addictions expected to bring first of its kind service to Windsor
Windsor will get new 'stabilization beds' for people seeking addiction treatment — but what are they? 2 hours ago Duration 1:38 Social Sharing It's a well-known gap in addiction treatment in Windsor-Essex: After detox, people are left waiting weeks or months to get into a recovery program. Outreach workers and health experts say people often relapse during this waiting period, and some don't end up making it to treatment. "Sometimes you just lose people, they go through withdrawal management and then they have to wait for an appointment or wait for a treatment bed and that's where the real high risk period is," said Bill Marra, CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. But new funding announced by the province Monday for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub in Windsor-Essex includes a fix: stabilization beds. Healthcare leaders in the region think these could be a game changer for those on the pathway to recovery. What are stabilization beds? Stabilization beds would be available to people who have completed withdrawal management, also known as detox, and are waiting to get into a treatment program. According to Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team (WEOHT) executive director Joyce Zuk, this type of bed and attached supports for people leaving detox are the first of their kind in the region. WEOHT is one of the co-leads on the HART hub. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare's withdrawal program includes having people stay in their facility for four to five days. Then after detox the person is usually sent home as they wait for treatment. But Zuk confirmed to CBC News that a stabilization bed will allow someone to stay in supportive programming until they land a spot in a residential addiction treatment facility or a community-based program. Leslie Laframboise, an outreach worker in downtown Windsor, says this is really needed. "If they leave detox and they have nowhere to go, they end up back on the street, back using again, back in a bad mental health state, which then it takes a while to get them back to where they want to get back into treatment. So it's just a vicious cycle," she said. How many beds is the area getting, and where? Right now, Zuk and Marra, whose organization is also a co-lead on the HART hub, say they have few details. They don't know how many stabilization beds the region will get, but they're expecting more information and a funding letter to arrive soon. It's also unclear where the beds will be located. And stabilization beds aren't the only ones expected to be added to the region. Both Zuk and Marra said the HART hub should also bring additional residential treatment beds and transitional housing beds. Transitional housing is for people who are in recovery and have just completed an addiction treatment program. These spaces often have social workers or treatment counselors who can help people stay on track, teach them to build routine and support them in getting a job, housing or reuniting them with their children. Brentwood Recovery Home, a residential treatment facility, is expected to receive some of the funding and open up new treatment and transitional housing beds. CEO Elizabeth Dulmage said that in the proposal they asked for more treatment beds and at least 34 transitional housing beds. She said Brentwood's transitional units would need some renovations before opening, but she's confident they could quickly be made available. "It's no secret that the need for treatment beds has far exceeded our capacity to be able to meet those needs and so any additional beds are more welcome than you can imagine," she said. Dulmage added that she's hopeful the stabilization beds will make a difference by allowing people to come into treatment feeling ready.
Yahoo
29-01-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
New provincial funding for addictions expected to bring first of its kind service to Windsor
It's a well-known gap in addiction treatment in Windsor-Essex: After detox, people are left waiting weeks or months to get into a recovery program. Outreach workers and health experts say people often relapse during this waiting period, and some don't end up making it to treatment. "Sometimes you just lose people, they go through withdrawal management and then they have to wait for an appointment or wait for a treatment bed and that's where the real high risk period is," said Bill Marra, CEO of Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare. But new funding announced by the province Monday for a Homelessness and Addiction Recovery Treatment (HART) hub in Windsor-Essex includes a fix: stabilization beds. Healthcare leaders in the region think these could be a game changer for those on the pathway to recovery. What are stabilization beds? Stabilization beds would be available to people who have completed withdrawal management, also known as detox, and are waiting to get into a treatment program. According to Windsor-Essex Ontario Health Team (WEOHT) executive director Joyce Zuk, this type of bed and attached supports for people leaving detox are the first of their kind in the region. WEOHT is one of the co-leads on the HART hub. Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare's withdrawal program includes having people stay in their facility for four to five days. Then after detox the person is usually sent home as they wait for treatment. But Zuk confirmed to CBC News that a stabilization bed will allow someone to stay in supportive programming until they land a spot in a residential addiction treatment facility or a community-based program. Brentwood Recovery Home, a residential addiction treatment facility, is one of the organizations that will be able to open additional spaces for people looking to recover or stay in transitional housing. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC) Leslie Laframboise, an outreach worker in downtown Windsor, says this is really needed. "If they leave detox and they have nowhere to go, they end up back on the street, back using again, back in a bad mental health state, which then it takes a while to get them back to where they want to get back into treatment. So it's just a vicious cycle," she said. How many beds is the area getting, and where? Right now, Zuk and Marra, whose organization is also a co-lead on the HART hub, say they have few details. They don't know how many stabilization beds the region will get, but they're expecting more information and a funding letter to arrive soon. It's also unclear where the beds will be located. And stabilization beds aren't the only ones expected to be added to the region. Leslie Laframboise has been an outreach worker in the City of Windsor since 2021. She regularly goes out at night and hands out supplies to people who are living on the streets. (Jennifer La Grassa/CBC) Both Zuk and Marra said the HART hub should also bring additional residential treatment beds and transitional housing beds. Transitional housing is for people who are in recovery and have just completed an addiction treatment program. These spaces often have social workers or treatment counselors who can help people stay on track, teach them to build routine and support them in getting a job, housing or reuniting them with their children. Brentwood Recovery Home, a residential treatment facility, is expected to receive some of the funding and open up new treatment and transitional housing beds. CEO Elizabeth Dulmage said that in the proposal they asked for more treatment beds and at least 34 transitional housing beds. She said Brentwood's transitional units would need some renovations before opening, but she's confident they could quickly be made available. "It's no secret that the need for treatment beds has far exceeded our capacity to be able to meet those needs and so any additional beds are more welcome than you can imagine," she said. Dulmage added that she's hopeful the stabilization beds will make a difference by allowing people to come into treatment feeling ready. Planning has already started for these services and Marra says they'll be slowly ramping up at the beginning of April.
