HEADLINES | Every Small Yes: Faith in Action from Coast to Coast
Partner with work of CareImpact and Neighbourly!
Description
What holds Canadian communities together when the world feels frayed at the edges?
Johan digs into stories of ordinary neighbours going the extra mile—from Collingwood curlers who trade brooms for bikes to raise money for hospice care, to volunteers in Cambridge answering the call to be a friend to those feeling isolated. The episode highlights the urgent need for drivers and meal delivery volunteers in East Parry Sound, reminding us that sometimes compassion is as simple as showing up with a seatbelt and a smile.
With plenty of warmth and wit, Johan shares real moments of kindness, neighbourly quirks, and the quiet power of simple acts, leaving listeners inspired to find their own way to make a difference close to home.
Time Stamps
00:43 "Have a Heart"
02:40 Combating Isolation Through Connection
03:59 Neighbourhood Watch | Neighbours Make a "Stink"
05:30 Opportunities in Parry Sound
Other Links
Join The CareImpact Podcast Group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1PgzJWfkq9/
Reach out to us! https://neighbourlypodcast.ca
Email: podcast@careimpact.ca
About the CarePortal: careimpact.ca/careportal
DONATE! Help connect and equip more churches across Canada to effectively journey well in community with the most vulnerable: careimpact.ca/donate
Transcript
These headlines point us back to what really matters. Ordinary
Speaker:neighbors showing extraordinary care. I'm Johan
Speaker:Heinrichs, and this is Neighbourly Headlines. Real stories of
Speaker:kindness, community and faith in action across Canada.
Speaker:Let's take a look at what's been happening close to home.
Speaker:Most days, headlines rush by faster than a curling rock
Speaker:on clean ice. But every so often, a few
Speaker:stories glide right into your heart. If you've ever
Speaker:wondered what keeps Canadian communities from unraveling, here's your
Speaker:hint. It's usually held together by volunteers.
Speaker:Coffee and pure grit. From curlers who
Speaker:care to friendly visitors, to folks delivering meals on
Speaker:frosty roads, today's stories prove that service
Speaker:might actually be Canada's unofficial sport.
Speaker:These curlers care how Collingwood rocks at
Speaker:volunteering. You've heard of sweeping the ice, but
Speaker:in Collingwood, curlers are sweeping hearts, too.
Speaker:The Curling Club of Collingwood. Try saying that 10 times fast
Speaker:doesn't just gather to throw stones. They've made community
Speaker:care part of their DNA. When club member Ron McRae joined the
Speaker:annual Hospice Georgian Triangle Hike and Bike fundraiser, there's another
Speaker:mouthful. He noticed the same familiar faces.
Speaker:Teammates trading brooms for bicycles, all raising
Speaker:funds for local hospice care. That spark turned into
Speaker:something bigger. This year, 120
Speaker:curlers formed the official curler's care team,
Speaker:raising over $37,000, enough to fund
Speaker:essential programs like grief support, pain management
Speaker:and end of life care for families across the region. The
Speaker:club's culture runs deeper than the ice sheet. They host charity
Speaker:bond spiels, teach curling to 250 school
Speaker:kids every season, and even rally to buy a powered
Speaker:wheelchair for a teammate. As past President Mark McLaren
Speaker:puts it, we thrive on volunteering, so I think it's
Speaker:fair to say that these curlers are truly on a roll.
Speaker:Their example reminds us that the best teams don't just aim for the button,
Speaker:they aim for the heart. In the words of one of my favorite corner guest
Speaker:episodes that happens to involve curling. Rather than shouting
Speaker:hurry hard, I encourage you to have a heart.
Speaker:Have a heart. The Friendly Visitor program,
Speaker:where friendship is the mission. In Cambridge,
Speaker:Ontario, city staff are putting out a call. Not for
Speaker:police, not for plans, but for people.
Speaker:The friendly Visitor program pairs volunteers with older adults and
Speaker:individuals living with disabilities who are experiencing isolation.
Speaker:It's simple. Two hours a week to play cards,
Speaker:share a walk or just Talk. Right now,
Speaker:30 people are waiting to be matched, and some have been waiting over
Speaker:a year. The WHO says one in four
Speaker:adults experience social isolation. But in
Speaker:Cambridge, the solution might just start with a knock at the door
Speaker:and a hey, you want to play cribbage? I'm sure Cambridge isn't
Speaker:alone. What opportunities exist in your community to
Speaker:mitigate the isolation that exists today? What impactful
Speaker:relationships and stories could we be missing out on? They could be a
Speaker:simple card game away. It's amazing what two hours of listening
Speaker:can do, because sometimes the most important thing you can bring to
Speaker:a visit is your time. Before we get into our last story,
Speaker:it's time for Neighborhood Watch.
Speaker:This is the segment where we take a peek at some of the real quick
Speaker:calls Canadians have made to their cities about their neighbors. Because
Speaker:sometimes life gets a little creative. After you
Speaker:hear today's call, you can head over to our Care Impact podcast group on Facebook
Speaker:and vote in our poll. Would you call this one in? Would you talk
Speaker:to your neighbor? Would you let it go and pray? Or would you have
Speaker:a hard time not retaliating? Here's today's actual complaint
Speaker:call. A neighbor reported that another resident was
Speaker:purposefully farting at them and asked bylaw
Speaker:officers to arrest the individual for harassment.
Speaker:Okay, now, I've heard of neighbors raising a stink, but
Speaker:this takes things to a whole new level. I can't decide what's worse,
Speaker:the fact that someone allegedly weaponized lunch or that
Speaker:another person thought a city bylaw officer had jurisdiction over it.
Speaker:And let's be honest, this is not one of those situations that's
Speaker:going to get better by taking a deep breath. But it's a reminder
Speaker:that sometimes the best way to keep the peace isn't through
Speaker:enforcement. It's through ventilation. So what
Speaker:would you do? Would you call this one in? Would you talk
Speaker:to your neighbor? Would you let it go and pray for
Speaker:them? Or would you have a hard time not retaliating?
Speaker:You can go vote right now on the Care Impact Podcast Facebook
Speaker:group and check out to see where people are at. And whatever your answer may
Speaker:be, remember, every neighborhood's got its quirks. And sometimes
Speaker:you're the quirky one. Now, on to our last story of the day.
Speaker:Volunteers urgently needed to deliver meals and
Speaker:drive seniors in East Perry Sound. Up north
Speaker:in East Perry Sound and also home to one of Care Impact's
Speaker:wonderful associates, volunteers are the
Speaker:lifeline for hundreds of seniors who need rides to
Speaker:medical appointments or meals delivered to their doors. But
Speaker:that lifeline's getting thin. Program coordinator
Speaker:Leslie Price from East Perry Sound Community Support Services
Speaker:says their volunteer pool has dropped from over
Speaker:100 to fewer than 50. For the first time,
Speaker:they're struggling to cover routes across the sprawling region.
Speaker:Staff are even leaving their desks to deliver meals. Talk about
Speaker:taking fieldwork literally. Each ride, each
Speaker:delivery keeps someone connected, nourished and cared for.
Speaker:Price says it plainly. Access to nutrition and medical
Speaker:appointments are not luxuries, they're basic human rights.
Speaker:She hopes more locals step forward, reminding us that none of
Speaker:us are immune to need. Don't think someone else will do it, she says.
Speaker:Someday we might be the ones waiting for that meal. Hey,
Speaker:I used to deliver meals on wheels, and let me tell you,
Speaker:some of the recipients of those meals are so
Speaker:lonely, and it just makes their day to have someone come to
Speaker:their door. I don't say this news story because
Speaker:it's an amazing story of neighborly care. But I
Speaker:say because there's opportunities out there for us to do simple
Speaker:things, to be good neighbors. If you've got a driver license,
Speaker:a bit of gas in the tank, this might be your chance to go the
Speaker:extra kilometer. Literally. Because sometimes compassion looks like a
Speaker:full thermos, a good playlist and a seatbelt. Click of
Speaker:purpose. From Collingwood's curling ice to Cambridge's
Speaker:coffee chats to Parry Sound's frozen roads, today's
Speaker:stories remind us that compassion doesn't need an audience. It
Speaker:just needs commitment. Each volunteer's small yes
Speaker:echoes across kilometers and generations, proving that
Speaker:care is one Canadian export that never goes out of season.
Speaker:You can't put tariffs on that. I'm Johan,
Speaker:and thanks for listening to today's Neighbourly headlines.
Speaker:These headlines remind us that good news is still all around us
Speaker:if we take the time to notice. Do you have a story of
Speaker:care happening in your neighborhood? Share it at NeighbourlyPodcast
Speaker:CA or join our Care Impact podcast group on Facebook.
Speaker:Neighbourly is an initiative of Care Impact, a Canadian charity
Speaker:equipping churches, agencies and communities with tech and training
Speaker:to care better together. Learn more@careimpact CA.
Speaker:I'm Johan Heinrichs, and this has been Neighbourly Headlines because
Speaker:every story of care deserves to be seen and shared.
Speaker:Turning over tables, breaking
Speaker:off chains when I see you.
