People First Radio & Media

06/12/2026

After a decade of work with vulnerable populations, Cory Herzog-Fequet went back to school looking to help shine light on a structural issue.

“It’s very meaningful to work one-on-one with people, but…you just see the same issues over and over and over perpetuating indefinitely because they’re systemic and they’re structural,” he said. “I focused on something that I knew was an issue, but where there wasn’t a lot of information on, which is boredom.”

Herzog-Fequet’s thesis focused on the relationship between boredom and substance use for people experiencing homelessness. He’s also the corresponding author on a review on the same subject, appearing in the International Journal on Homelessness. He currently works with a community mental health agency in Kingston, On.

“Boredom is universal. Everybody’s experienced it. Everybody intuitively sort of knows what it is. But there is no universally agreed-upon definition,” he said.

Herzog Fequet says different authors have different definitions of boredom. He says his preferred definition has to do with a mismatch between people’s abilities and the things that are available in their environments.

“Essentially it’s a lack of meaning. It’s a lack of stimulation. It’s all of that sort of looped together, and it results in what we call an undirected response, which is essentially just looking for anything to alleviate the state of boredom.”

Herzog-Fequet says boredom and homelessness go hand in hand.

“A lot of studies identify boredom as the, quote, ‘central experience of homelessness,'” he said.

“Shelter environments in the literature, they’ve been described as very prison-like…they dictate when you can come, when you can go, the rules…I think another big one is just poverty too,” Herzog-Fequet says, adding that many of the ways middle class and affluent people have of alleviating boredom are not available to those experiencing homelessness.

Herzog-Fequet says that boredom can drive substance use.

“A lot of times when people are bored, you’re ruminating on past traumas, and for those that don’t know, people experiencing homelessness tend to have a lot of trauma,” he said. “You’re having these negative feelings, negative cognitions. Substances can help mitigate that in the short term.”

Herzog-Fequet says that to help reduce boredom for people experiencing or transitioning out of homelessness, its important to listen to people with first hand experience.

“ I think the service users actually have a really good idea of what they would find meaningful, what they’d like to do, and those [things] aren’t available,” he said. “ I hear a lot of lip service about meeting people where they’re at. I hear that term a lot, but I don’t see it done very well.”

Herzog-Fequet says he feels service providers are often having conversations with users about what would help, but that those conversations aren’t necessarily trickling upwards towards policymakers.

Listen to the full interview:
https://vancouverislandmentalhealthsociety.org/podcast/talking-boredom-substance-use-and-homelessness/

06/05/2026

The broadcast version of this week's program is online and can be found here:

https://vancouverislandmentalhealthsociety.org/podcast/people-first-radio-june-04-2026/

06/04/2026

Yo Bro Yo Girl co-founder Joe Calendino is working to prevent young people from leading the life he used to live.

A few decades back, Calendino was a full patch member of the Hell’s Angels. Dealing with drug addiction, and involved in a high profile fight in a Kelowna casino in 2005, he was kicked out of the club.

After a period experiencing homelessness and addiction in the lower mainland, a connection with a police sergeant he went to high school with helped set Calendino on the path to turning his life around and sharing his story with youth.

He would meet Brenda, a former district principal whom he would go on to marry. The pair would found Yo Bro Yo Girl, an initiative that runs programming for youth on the lower mainland aimed at preventing them from gang involvement and other harmful outcomes.

Calendino visited Nanaimo in May to share his story with local students. Following a presentation at John Barsby Secondary School, he spoke with People First Radio host Joe Pugh at White Rabbit Cafe.

“ Every child needs to know they’re not alone, right? Everybody faces adversity. Everybody has a struggle, right?” Said Calendino.

“When I was growing up, I felt like I was all alone, right? I had a father who struggled with mental health, schizophrenia to be exact…and in the 70s, there are not the supports that there are today for families and children.”

Calendino says while some elements of the gang life may seem cool to youth, prison, addiction, and death are the likely outcomes.

"Anybody that thinks they’re gonna live the vida loca when you’re in that life, think about when you gotta walk out that door,” he said.

Calendino says Yo Bro Yo Girl brings students together for activities like Qigong meditation or the sharing of a meal. He says it provides an opportunity for youth to build trust with mentors running the programming.

“That two-hour window is where our opportunity starts to develop that connection, relationship, in turn trust,” he said.

“We wanna see kids graduate, right? From there…just seeing a child achieve whatever they wanna achieve, and not getting involved with negative peer groups.”

Listen:

Yo Bro Yo Girl co-founder Joe Calendino is working to prevent young...

06/01/2026

You can find the full broadcast version of this week's program online here:

https://vancouverislandmentalhealthsociety.org/podcast/people-first-radio-may-28-2026/

Featured on the show:

Bill Collins of Radio Sidney speaks about the 10 part radio drama Beware Mysterious Mark, which tells a story of elder financial abuse. Yo Bro Yo Girl co-founder Joe Calendino speaks about sharing his life story with youth in an effort to help prevent them from experiencing gang related harms. Calendino is a former member of the Hell’s Angels and has written about past experiences co***ne, GHB, and alcohol addiction, he was speaking with the program following a presentation at John Barsby Secondary School.

A radio drama warns of elder financial abuse, former Hell's Angel warns youth of the dangers of 'gangster island'

05/30/2026

A new audio drama airing on Radio Sidney tells a story of elder financial abuse. Beware Mysterious Mark is a 10 part series airing Thursdays through July. Producer Bill Collins spoke with People First Radio about the play, and the issue it seeks to bring awareness to.

“It is a traditional kind of radio play. With each episode, there are certain themes that are addressed, and we’ve chosen the dialogue to reflect those themes, everything from loneliness to powers of attorney, to things the medical profession can do with respect to capacity as people age,” said Collins.

He says the story came about after a connection in the community shared an account of elder financial abuse experienced on southern Vancouver Island.

“ I realized…the depth of the story, the passion, the challenges involved in the story, and I thought, ‘Wow, this would be an amazing story to bring to air.'”

Collins says the team behind Beware Mysterious Mark received funding support from New Horizons for Seniors Canada to help bring the story to air. Each episode is followed by an interview with a subject matter expert about the themes covered by the narrative.

Collins says he hopes the show creates conversations about elder financial abuse and brings attention to the issue.

“Awareness is your first line of defence.”

Listen:

https://vancouverislandmentalhealthsociety.org/podcast/vancouver-island-radio-play-warns-of-elder-financial-abuse/

05/26/2026

University of Saskatchewan professor Erika Dyck is the author of Psychedelic Psychiatry: L*D on the Canadian Prairies. She spoke on the subject as part of a larger conversation on the history of the now demolished Weyburn Mental Hospital.

Head to our page for a link to the full interview.

05/24/2026

When it opened in 1921, the Weyburn Mental Hospital was hailed as the last and largest asylum in the British Commonwealth. Managing Madness co-author Erika Dyck writes that in the beginning, it was a symbol of both progress and a bygone era, embodying a set of contradictions from the outset.

Dyck is a Canada Research Chair in the History of Health and Social Justice, and a history professor at the University of Saskatchewan. She spoke with the program about the history of the mental hospital in Weyburn, which was demolished in 2009.

Included in the conversation are the institution’s early decades, Tommy Douglas’ Weyburn connection, forays into psychedelic assisted therapy in the 1950s, and eventual de-institutionalization.

Listen here:
https://vancouverislandmentalhealthsociety.org/podcast/exploring-the-history-of-a-saskatchewan-mental-hospital/

Vancouver Island Mental Health Society - VIMHS

05/20/2026

Not all that long after retiring as a B.C. provincial court judge, Philip Seagram embarked on a busking tour across Canada.

He had a sign inviting people to put money in his guitar case, or to take it if they were in need. Whatever was left over, he would donate to relief efforts for people impacted by the war in Ukraine.

Seagram says he was struck by the way people approached him when looking to take money.

Head to our page to find a link to the full interview.

Vancouver Island Mental Health Society - VIMHS

05/16/2026

In spring 2022, not long after retiring from his job as a provincial court judge in B.C., Philip Seagram set off on a journey from Victoria to Halifax, with the goal of busking in cities across Canada.

" I had no idea what to expect when I set out on the trip. I didn't even know really why I wanted to do it. I just felt this urge to do it," he said.

Seagram's trip began not long after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He would perform on his guitar, with a sign next to an open case inviting people to leave money - or to take it if they were in need. Whatever was leftover would be donated to relief efforts for those impacted by the war in Ukraine.

"One of the things that really surprised me was how incredibly honourable people were in the way that they would take money," Seagram said.

"They would always confirm that it was okay to take. They wouldn't just take the sign at face value. They would ask me, 'is it okay for me to take money?' Or they would say, you know, 'can I have $4?'"

Seagram says one woman even made change with some of her own coins when she took a bill.

" Most of the time I just saw it as, you know, that there's a basic decency in everybody no matter what situation they happen to be in," he said.

"In hindsight, I really realized that it's a lot for someone to step up in public, reach into somebody's guitar case, and take money from it. That takes a lot of courage."

Seagram offered advice for anyone with a big idea gestating in their mind.

"If you have an urge to do something, even if you can't even articulate why you have that urge or, or why you're thinking it's something that you'd like to do, have a shot at it," he said.

Listen to the full interview for more on Seagram's takeaways from his travels, including how kids reacted to his busking, and a chance encounter with a Nanaimo headliner. He's also told his story in the book No Judgement, which is currently nominated for a non-fiction award in this year's B.C. and Yukon Book Prizes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9uwxG-c33Y

Vancouver Island Mental Health Society - VIMHS

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05/11/2026

Dr. Jill Wiwcharuk has been working in street medicine for 15 years. She posts educational reels about her work under the handle streetdrjill.

She spoke with the program about her work on social media and the impact she's seen from it