Community
Impacts of COVID-19 on the Community
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed most aspects of life. Here at SFU’s Vancity Office of Community Engagement, we continue to explore some of these changes. We examine the societal impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic through our Below the Radar Pandemic Conversations series and have had conversations with experts in fields ranging from medical professionals to professors of peace studies to local activists.
During the month of June, we have published conversations related to some societal impacts of COVID-19. This includes interviews with Angela Marie MacDougall of the Battered Women’s Support Services Society, community activist Kimberley Wong, and Janice Abbott of Atira Women’s Resource Society.
The Pandemic and Increases in Gender-Based Violence with Angela Marie MacDougall
In the sixth episode of our series, we talked with Angela Marie MacDougall, Executive Director of Battered Women’s Support Services. With our host Am Johal, she discusses how COVID-19 is affecting gender inequality and violence within intimate relationships.
COVID-19 and Community Organizing with Kimberley Wong
On our next episode of the series, Am spoke with Kimberley Wong, local community activist. Kimberley is the current Chair of the City of Vancouver’s Chinatown Legacy Stewardship Group, the co-chair of Vancouver Just Recovery Coalition, and is the Community Development Coordinator for the Hua Foundation. She talked about her work in Chinatown and how COVID-19 has affected it.
Advocating for Women During COVID-19 with Janice Abbott
On our eighth episode of the series, we were joined by Janice Abbott, the CEO of Atira Women’s Resource Society. Teammate Paige Smith and Janice discuss how the pandemic has affected Atira’s work in combatting violence against women. Janice discusses the many diverse initiatives Atira has, including their popup refuge for women in the DTES, their expansive housing support systems, and their new safety protocols.
Find more interviews from our Pandemic Conversations series on Below the Radar.
Latest Updates
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December 18, 2024
December 18, 2024
Between October 30th to November 10th this year, the 21st annual Heart of the City festival animated the Downtown Eastside with over a hundred community-oriented events under the theme Threads of Connection.
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September 25, 2024
September 25, 2024
The release of States of Injury — with Wendy Brown marks Below the Radar’s 250th episode—a major milestone since the podcast’s inception in 2018.
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July 10, 2024
July 10, 2024
On June 22, the cast and crew of Project Limelight’s production of East Side Story were greeted with applause as a full house welcomed the young performers back to the Fei and Milton Wong Experimental Theatre stage.
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January 10, 2024
January 10, 2024
Our Below the Radar podcast mini-series See How We Run! looked at local arts collectives and organizations, highlighting conversations about creation, spacemaking, accessibility, and self-determination within the framework of Vancouver’s cityscape.
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August 15, 2023
August 15, 2023
With details of our 5-year anniversary celebration event to come, let’s take a sneak peek of the upcoming season.
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July 26, 2023
July 26, 2023
Since September 2022, we’ve held 42 events and workshops, released 33 episodes, and engaged more than 25,000 podcast listeners. During that time, working diligently behind the scenes—editing podcast audio, and supporting communications and events programming—was our interim Programs Assistant Samantha Walters, who we are pleased to announce has now moved into a continuing role in the office.