The Municipality of Port Hope’s mayor is encouraging residents to share their thoughts and ideas about how to make Northumberland County’s new youth wellness hub a success.

Olena Hankivsky is excited about the potential for the Port Hope-based youth wellness hub, which is part of the Youth Wellness Hubs Ontario (YWHO) network.

Youth wellness hubs, of which there are now more than 20 in the province, are designed to make it faster and easier for young people to connect to mental health and substance use services. The concept of a YWHO site is to provide integrated services in one location.

Hankivsky said community members can help ensure the centre meets area young people’s needs by having their say now about what supports and services are needed at the hub, which is slated to be permanently located at 15 Cavan St. in 2025.

“It will be a game-changer,” Hankivsky told kawarthaNOW. “The youth in our community, they fare far worse on all the metrics of health and well-being compared to Ontario averages. This is an opportunity for us to make those improvements.”

“There are going to be many opportunities in the community for folks to be involved in the hub,” Hankivsky said, adding a steering committee is in the works. There’s also an advisory committee of family members and a youth committee “to drive the priorities that youth want to see.”

“It’s not static — it’s constantly going to be changing with the evolving needs of our youth,” she added. “I just invite everybody to come together and to work together … we can all then share in that goal of making sure our kids are OK.”

Across Ontario, youth wellness hubs (YWH) are designed to provide high-quality integrated youth services to support the well-being of young people aged 12 to 25, including mental health and substance use supports, primary health care, community and social supports, and more. YWHO is an Integrated Youth Services (IYS) initiative designed to address the service gaps in the youth mental health and substance use sectors in Ontario.

Northumberland County’s Rebound Child & Youth Services, the agency at the lead of the new hub, hosted public engagement sessions to let residents know about the YWH and hear what services they’d like to see to support mental health wellness for area young people.

Earlier this month, Hankivsky joined other politicians and stakeholders in Port Hope for the Ontario government’s official announcement about the new hub for Northumberland County. The Port Hope hub is one of 10 new additions to the network of 22 YWHs already opened since 2020, bringing the total to 32 across the province.

“As we expand the number of (youth wellness hubs) across the province, young people in Port Hope can connect to the mental health and addictions care they need, in one convenient location, closer to home,” said Sylvia Jones, Ontario’s deputy premier and health minister, in a media release.

The goal is to connect youth aged 12 to 25 and their families in Northumberland County and Alderville First Nation to convenient and free mental health, substance use, and primary care services in a safe, youth-friendly space.

“We’re going to have wrap-around services,” Hankivsky said. “We’re going to have that coordination and that integration.”

Rural communities in the area will also be supported by a mobile hub model, making it easier for youth to drop in for in-person counselling or peer support close to where they live, the media release noted.

The hub will provide other services that include family support, education, employment, housing and access to community programs such as financial assistance for recreational programs and legal support. These services will focus on delivering culturally appropriate and trauma-informed care, according to the province.

Between 2020 and 2023, Ontario’s 22 YWHs connected 43,000 youth and their families to mental health, substance use, and wellness services, accounting for more than 168,000 visits, the province noted.

For more information or to get involved, visit the Rebound Child & Youth Services website at www.rcys.ca or call 905-372-0007.

YWCA Peterborough Haliburton is gearing up for the return of the non-profit organization’s popular community fundraiser on Friday (May 24) after a four-year hiatus, with a slate of local dignitaries set to welcome its return.

“Walk A Mile In Their Shoes” runs from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Friday at Confederation Park, across from City Hall in downtown Peterborough. Around 100 participants, volunteers, sponsor representatives, and community supporters will gather at 11 a.m. in advance of opening ceremonies at 11:30 a.m.

Dignitaries delivering remarks at the opening ceremonies include YWCA Peterborough Haliburton executive director Kim Dolan, Peterborough-Kawartha MP Michelle Ferreri, Peterborough-Kawartha MPP Dave Smith, Peterborough County warden Bonnie Clark, Peterborough deputy mayor and councillor Joy Lachica, deputy police chief Jamie Hartnett, Selwyn Township mayor Sherry Senis, Peterborough County OPP detachment commander Chris Galeazza, and Hiawatha First Nation Chief Laurie Carr.

The walk itself takes place from noon to 1 p.m., leaving Confederation Park to head south on George Street to King Street, east on King to Water Street, north on Water to McDonnel Street, and west on McDonnel back to the park on George Street.

Following the walk, participants can enjoy lunch and music at the park until 1:30 p.m.

A long-time tradition for local YWCA organizations across Canada, the Walk A Mile event was last held in Peterborough in 2019. Previously known as Walk A Mile In Her Shoes, the event has returned with a more inclusive name but with the same purpose: to raise funds for YWCA programs and services helping women and children recover from gender-based violence.

Proceeds from Walk A Mile In Their Shoes will support the YWCA’s “Journey of Care,” which encompasses each of the programs and services the organization offers to the women, children, and gender-diverse people they serve.

“From our Crossroads Shelter to our START Program and everything in between, your support ensures that a woman who is fleeing gender-based violence not only has a safe place to recover, but also the wrap-around healing programming she needs as she stands on her own, walking her path to the life of her choosing, free from fear and violence,” reads a media release from YWCA Peterborough Haliburton.

Since the first Walk A Mile event in Peterborough in 2009, more than $950,000 has been raised for YWCA Peterborough Haliburton.

For more information, to register for the walk, to sponsor a participant or team, or to donate directly to the event, visit walkamilepeterborough.com.

kawarthaNOW is proud to be a media sponsor of Walk A Mile In Their Shoes.

The previous chief of Curve Lake First Nation will talk about the women who inspire her in a conversation with the former federal Cabinet minister responsible for women and gender equality in the third instalment of the Women United Speaker Series, presented by United Way Peterborough & District.

Held over Zoom from noon to 1 p.m. on Monday, May 27th, the free talk will see Emily Whetung — Chief Emerita of Curve Lake First Nation and director of Indigenous Partnerships, Business Development at Ontario Power Generation — speak with Maryam Monsef, Women United Chair and former Peterborough-Kawartha MP and cabinet minister for women and gender equality.

For Women United Peterborough, one way to encourage women, those who identify as women, and allies to make change in the community is to celebrate those who have come before and have already used their passion, connections, and talents to challenge the status quo. The Women United Speaker Series does exactly that by giving inspiring women of diverse background the platform to share their stories.

“So much good (is) happening in our community because of great women and yet we know so little of their stories and their impact,” Monsef tells kawarthaNOW. “This is one platform to raise awareness, learn from their wisdom, and appreciate their impact.”

An international initiative of United Ways across the globe, Women United is made up of 70,000 women in more than 165 communities in North America. Locally, it is an inclusive network of those with the mission of transforming the lives of women, those who identify as women, and their families.

“By highlighting the resilience and contributions of local women of impact, Women United is raising awareness about the current status of women in our community and offering tangible practical solutions that can make a difference,” says Monsef.

Whetung grew up in Curve Lake First Nation before leaving to get her law degree. She returned to the community, got married, and practised real estate law in Peterborough for a decade while she raised her two children.

In 2019, she was elected as Chief of Curve Lake First Nation at just 34 years old and served for three years. She was also the representative plaintiff in a class-action lawsuit fighting for clean drinking water for First Nations in Canada, which reached an $8-billion settlement in 2022.

In her role at Ontario Power Generation, Whetung uses her background to encourage learning from the generations of experience of Indigenous communities.

“We have to make sure we don’t forget the lessons learned by past generations and we have to build on their successes — all of which were hard won,” Whetung says.

Such hard-earned successes is also what she will be exploring during the Women United Speaker Series, as she shares her appreciation for the women who “cleared the way” for her: the first woman in Canada to be elected as chief of a First Nation, the woman who started the first on-reserve day care centre, and her own mother who told her she “had every right to be in any space.”

“I think it’s important for women to share experiences, opportunities, and struggles so we can learn from each other,” says Whetung. “I wanted to share my gratitude for the women who have made me who I am and tell parts of their story. I hope it inspires other women the way it has inspired me.”

Whetung is the second Indigenous woman to participate in the Women United Speaker Series, with the series launching on March 25th with Dr. Dawn Lavell Harvard, director of First Peoples House of Learning at Trent University.

“Like our first speaker Dr. Dawn Lavell Harvard, Chief Whetung comes from a long line of strong, resilient women,” Monsef says. “The leadership of Indigenous women like her has benefited our communities and our country.”

“Dawn’s presentation was a topic of conversation, with much reverence for her and her mother. People wanted to learn more about her and talk more about the issues she raised. That is a tall order, I know, but I believe in the power of conversation and so far, our speakers have only reinforced that belief.”

The Women United Speaker Series continued on April 29th with Lynn Zimmer, who co-founded the first women’s shelter in Canada and was a longtime former executive director of YWCA Peterborough Haliburton.

For her part, Whetung is hopeful that speaking about the women who have inspired her will offer the same source of inspiration to those in attendance at the May 27th webinar.

“I hope everyone leaves the Speaker Series with a sense of opportunity,” Whetung says. “I hope there is a sense of opportunity to innovate, to work together, to be allies to each other and, most importantly, to challenge the status quo.”

Currently, Whetung is mentoring a workshop of Indigenous girls to promote opportunities in STEM at the University of Saskatchewan, after having held the workshop at Trent University last year, and the experience is a reminder of the goal of the Speaker Series.

“Each workshop has been a great reminder to take the time and have real conversations,” she says. “Listening and encouragement go a long way. That, to me, is the foundation of Women United.”

Visit www.uwpeterborough.ca/women-united-speaker-series/ to register for the lunch webinar on May 27th or to watch the previous two speakers in the series.

A 57-year-old Woodville man is dead after his motorcycle crashed head on into a pickup truck on County Road 507 north of Buckhorn early Sunday afternoon (May 19).

At around 1:05 p.m., Peterborough County Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) and emergency crews responded to the scene of the collision that occurred on County Road 507 near Mississauga Dam Road, around 15 kilometres north of Buckhorn.

According to witnesses, a southbound motorcycle crossed over the centre line on a bend and was unable to return to the southbound lane before crashing head on into a northbound pickup truck.

Both vehicles caught on fire, but the two occupants of the pickup truck — the 25-year-old male driver and 26-year-old female passenger — were able to get out and escaped without injury other than the effects of the airbags that deployed in the collision. Both vehicles were subsequently destroyed by the fire.

Witnesses on scene attempted CPR on the driver of the motorcycle until emergency crews arrived and continued the efforts. However, the motorcycle driver, a 57-year-old man from Woodville, was pronounced dead at the scene.

County Road 507 remained closed for several hours while police investigated and documented the scene. Anyone who may have witnessed or has video/dash camera footage of the collision and has not spoken with police is asked to contact the Peterborough County OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

A home in Peterborough suffered major damage on Sunday evening (May 19) after a barbeque caught on fire.

Just before 6 p.m., Peterborough Fire Services responded to a report of a barbeque fire at a Glenforest Boulevard home.

The report was upgraded to a structure fire while fire crews were en route to the home.

Fire crews were able to extinguish the fire, which had spread through the entire attic area.

The cause of the fire was a barbeque located on a covered porch. After the barbeque caught on fire, the flames spread to the house, resulting in an estimated $450,000 damage.

There were no injuries, as all occupants had vacated the home before fire crews arrived.

Hiawatha First Nation, the Peterborough Victoria Northumberland and Clarington (PVNC) Catholic District School Board, and Ontario Power Generation (OPG) are coming together to host a skilled trades fair for Indigenous students.

Taking place Thursday (May 23) at the Hiawatha Life and Culture Centre, located at 431 Hiawatha Line on Hiawatha First Nation, the event is geared towards Indigenous students in grades 7 through 12 and their families and aims to raise awareness about opportunities in the skilled trades sector.

Students and their families will be able to connect with highly skilled journeypersons and tradespeople from many of Ontario’s skilled trades, including Indigenous tradespeople and business owners, said PVNC Catholic District School Board in a media release.

The Hiawatha First Nation Skilled Trades Fair runs from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. for students. and will then be open to the public between 2 and 5 p.m. The event will begin with drumming from the Michiisaagig Minomin Drum group and opening remarks from Hiawatha First Nation Chief Laurie Carr.

“Hiawatha is honoured to co-host this skilled trades fair for Indigenous students and their families,” Carr said in a statement. “We know that there are over 360,000 job openings across Ontario, with one in five of these new job openings expected to be in the skilled trades by the year 2025.”

Carr said there are currently more than 140 skilled trades in essential industries such as construction, mechanical, electrical, automotive, and manufacturing.

“Hosting this career fair will ensure our First Nations youth know about in-demand careers that exist in the trades and that skilled tradespeople are vitally important to not only our First Nations, but to the overall economy,” she added. “This is a first step in supporting our youth in their success and journey of being one of the next generation of skilled First Nations tradespeople.”

OPG said it is proud to support the Hiawatha First Nations trades-focused career fair.

“Across Ontario, we are working to strengthen the Indigenous workforce, which will play an important role in electrifying life,” said Kenn Ross, OPG advisor, Indigenous relations. “Right now, many Indigenous skilled trades are helping to build important infrastructure and energy projects, including OPG’s Darlington refurbishment.”

“Many more qualified candidates are starting their journey through OPG’s Indigenous Opportunities Network. We hope this career fair can answer questions and provide rewarding and fulfilling opportunities in the in-demand trades.”

VIDEO: Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP)

Indigenous students from all regions of PVNC Catholic District School Board will have the opportunity to attend the trades fair.

“This event signifies a profound collaboration and commitment to the education and empowerment of the Indigenous youth in our schools,” said Jacqueline Gorveatt, the Indigenous education lead for PVNC Catholic District School Board, in the release. “This is a unique opportunity for students to see themselves in the skilled trades and to meet and be inspired by Indigenous tradespeople who have been successful in their field.”

A highlight of the event will be a hands-on demonstration by Anishinaabe chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur Shawn Adler, who will cook and speak to his own experience in the skilled trades.

Students in grades 11 and 12 can participate in the Ontario Youth Apprenticeship Program (OYAP). OYAP is a co-operative education experience in a skilled trades placement. Students are able to earn credits while gaining valuable work experience and competencies. The Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development provides funding for this opportunity.

A skilled trade is a career path that requires a particular skill set, specialty knowledge and training and is usually hands-on, OYAP noted on its website. Some skilled trades require an apprenticeship.

There were 91,634 apprentices active in the province as of April 3, 2023, according to the Ontario government. The province announced in December 2023 a substantial investment in key programs to prepare young people for in-demand jobs in the skilled trades.

A Quebec couple suffered serious injuries after their vehicle collided with a moose in southern Algonquin Park early Sunday morning (May 19).

At around 1 a.m., the Killaloe Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) responded to a report of the collision, which happened on Highway 60 near Tea Lake, around 48 kilometres northeast of Huntsville.

After the vehicle struck the moose, it left the roadway and hit a tree. The two occupants of the car, a 45-year-old man and 40-year-old woman from Quebec, were transported to a hospital in Huntsville.

The woman, who received life-threatening injuries, was later transported to a Toronto trauma centre. The man, who received non-life-threatening injuries, remains in the Huntsville hospital in stable condition.

The OPP officers who responded to the scene had just finished investigating another collision between a vehicle and a moose. There were no serious injuries in that collision.

When responding to the scene, one of two Muskoka Paramedic Service ambulances also struck another moose. While the ambulance was extensively damaged in the collision, no injuries were reported.

The OPP are warning motorists that an increasing number of moose have been coming out of the forest and onto roads, particularly in the area of Algonquin Park, in an effort to escape from swarms of insects such as black flies.

They are asking drivers to keep theirs eyes on the road and ditches ahead while driving in the area and to observe posted speed limits so they have adequate time to react should a moose appear on the road.

Highway 60 was closed in the area while police documented the scene.

Students from both Fleming College and Trent University set aside any academic rivalry to represent Peterborough at the Enactus Canada post-secondary sustainable entrepreneurship competition this past week.

Enactus — an acronym for “entrepreneurial,” “action,” and “us” — is a global platform encouraging universities and colleges to start social enterprises and do community work to address the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Originally founded in 1975 as a U.S. non-profit organization, Enactus expanded in 1995 and now operates across 33 countries and more than 1,000 post-secondary campuses.

“We’re training the leaders of tomorrow to do business in a way that is sustainable and doesn’t harm the environment,” says Raymond Yip Choy, School of Business professor at Fleming College and faculty member for Enactus Fleming College. “We’re looking at the triple bottom line, which is not only profit, but people and planet.”

Enactus Fleming College was launched in 2017 and now makes up one of the larger teams to have competed against 66 other schools in Canada in the Enactus Canada National Exposition in Toronto from May 14 to 16.

Having won the regional championships in the youth empowerment competition earlier this year, the team competed at the national level in Toronto this week with a presentation on their project called “Keys to Me.” Through community partnerships, the project teaches high school and post-secondary students about life skills through a set of modules surrounding financial literacy, mental health and well-being, entrepreneurship, and other skills for success.

Enactus Fleming College held three pitch competitions for budding entrepreneurs and gave away thousands of dollars in prizes and opportunities for community grants. Reaching out to five different cities, the project has impacted more than 1,600 youth.

“We are teaching students they can be entrepreneurs because most of our employment in the Canadian economy comes from small and medium businesses,” says Yip Choy. “We need these students to be starting businesses and many of them don’t know they can, so we’re teaching them through this project.”

The Fleming team finished third place in the competition, won the 2024 RBC Future Launch Project Accelerator Best Project, and was named the top school in Canada for student engagement.

This year has built on the school’s success as, in the past few competition seasons, Yip Choy was awarded top faculty advisor and the team was the first recipient of a collaboration award from Enactus Canada.

“We are an award-winning team,” says Yip Choy, noting that Enactus Trent University also showed great progress from last year’s nationals. “Peterborough absolutely punches above its weight category.”

In the main competition, Enactus Fleming College shared a 12-minute presentation speaking to both the “Keys to Me” and “Paper Planet” projects. The latter extends the life of used office paper by turning it into compostable planting plots, and planter kits (consisting of 25 planters, seeds, soil, instructions, and lesson plans) are then sold to classrooms.

“What we’re doing is stopping stuff from going into landfills, and we’re making something that is commercially viable,” says Yip Choy, noting that if they secure a stable production facility, they would offer employment for people who are differently abled. “It checks all the boxes on environmental sustainability, business practices, teaching youth how to live better, and providing employment.”

Enactus Trent University spoke on their current project, which preserves food waste like orange peels which are often not discarded properly to convert into organic products like a protein.

“Their next step is partnering with the businesses who showed some interest and figuring out how to collect the orange peels in a way that’s going to work and be sustainable,” says Melanie Buddle, the faculty advisor for Enactus Trent University.

“They’re working on checking in with other departments on our campus like chemistry to see that they’re getting the right formulation. So, they’ve already done test runs, but their next step is to actually get it to go bigger and bring it out into the community.”

Though they were in competition with one another, both Fleming College and Trent University teams were proud to have represented Peterborough together.

“Having two Enactus teams at the two post-secondary institutions in Peterborough provides a really great opportunity for some mentorship and collaboration,” says Buddle. “Fleming has been very generous in helping our team.”

The two teams have also collaborated on Project Tikinaagan, which assists First Nations communities by offering training, resources, and support — inspiring Enactus Canada to encourage more Indigenous work in nation-wide projects.

“Every project is not just a business, it’s almost an innovative idea or something that can help another group or help support a community,” says Buddle.

Despite the success of Fleming College’s team and the role they play as mentors to Trent students, Yip Choy acknowledges they may have to make changes given the uncertainty of the faculty’s future due to the recent suspension of 29 programs at the college — including business courses that some of the faculty teach.

“I don’t know if we’re going to have a business school in a few months,” he says. “Our passion is these students, and we need them to continue, so we may have to consolidate our projects and scale down a bit.”

While the future of the local platform is uncertain, Yip Choy is certain it would pose a major loss to the students involved.

“Students come in and they get to work with other passionate students who are high performing,” Yip Choy says. “They learn entrepreneurship, they learn teamwork, they learn to present, they learn how to talk to investors, they learn customer service.”

“It’s real-life stuff and what happens with these students is enough for students to get jobs. It’s really important that this continues at Fleming College because the benefit to our local community and even the communities overseas is significant and life changing.”

To learn more about Enactus Fleming College’s projects, visit enactusfleming.ca.