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WEL Manitoba investment fund signs on with Canadian company in push to meet province’s menstrual products mandate

An all-women, angel investment fund in Winnipeg is opening new doors for a Toronto-based company that produces organic, toxin-free tampons and pads.

WEL Manitoba recently voted to fund Marlow, a health startup that aims to revolutionize period care with the first-ever lubricated tampon designed for smoother and more comfortable insertion.

The fund’s investors were so impressed with Marlow they started linking the company with employers and retailers in the keystone province even before investing in the company, said Katie Hall Hursh, managing partner.

Those connections are being made in the lead-up to Sept. 1 — the day when all provincially regulated companies must provide free menstrual products to their employees.

Fringe reviews #1: Choose your fighter, then your venue

Absolutely not a cult, Afeni, #Black Eye, Chekov Shorts, Fakespeare, The Ghost of a Flea, A Sexy Pigeon Show, The Shelter, Things That Go Bump, Viento.

Home residents turn to agency after operator lays off 70 staff who unionized

Residents of a Winnipeg retirement home have taken matters into their own hands after the majority of the facility’s home-care aides were laid off following their unionization.

A committee of residents have banded together to work with a private agency to staff Shaftesbury Park Retirement Residence after many of its existing aides complete their final shift on Monday.

“It is heartbreaking because there are a lot of vulnerable people here who are not capable of advocating for themselves,” said Joelle Robinson, who has lived at the home since 2023 after she suffered a brain aneurysm. “We’re trying very hard to make it so that our residents aren’t completely up the creek.”

Robinson, a retired lawyer, joined Terry Hopkinson and several other residents of the South Tuxedo home to create a committee and send out a request for proposal to eight companies that specialized in seniors care.

Long-held core values of openness, inclusion, empathy set Convalescent Home apart from the personal care home pack

Life in a personal care home isn’t something many dream of. In fact, these days, it’s more common to dread the idea.

Manitoba has 124 licensed care homes. Some have been criticized for substandard care, chronic understaffing and depressing meals, or flagged for neglect, abuse and lack of transparency.

Though there are provincial standards in place, there is little consistency among them. More than a few are evasive, unwilling to communicate about issues of importance to residents and their families.

So, imagine finding a care home determined to do it right.

Bee2gether Bikes out of The Forks after lease confusion

Tandem bike rentals aren’t on offer at The Forks this summer — and the longtime company behind them is claiming financial loss, calling the change unexpected.

City tries to find the right balance in regulating personal e-vehicles

Patty Wiens was already a cycling enthusiast when she got an electric bicycle in early 2023, but she didn’t realize how much it would transform the way she got around Winnipeg.

She started riding throughout winter and stopped relying on her vehicle. Eventually, she sold her car.

“It’s not a replacement for a bike,” she said. “It’s a replacement for a car.”

Wiens, who has been dubbed the “Bike Mayor of Winnipeg” by a global cycling advocacy organization, said her e-bike is a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way to get around the city, especially as the cost of living mounts.