Find common ground on ‘dream’ SUV

Mosque’s restorative justice program helps newcomers find their way

The Masjid Bilal is a chunky grey building just off Logan Avenue surrounded by warehouses and railyards. It looks more like a bunker than a mosque.

But on a summer Friday afternoon, its green-and-white carpeted interior is humming with activity. Two men in white robes and flat woolen caps are seated on the carpet poring over a copy of the Qur’an. A few young boys dodge through hallways, poking curious noses into open doors. At the back, next to a table piled with prayer mats, two girls in hijabs share schoolyard gossip. In the kitchen, women are cooking up pots of rice and chicken for people who will soon arrive for Friday prayers.

The Masjid Bilal is a community hub for members of Winnipeg’s African diaspora as well as Muslims from many other countries.

It’s also home to the Bilal Community and Family Centre, an innovative, community-centred nonprofit that is meeting vital needs for newcomers in this city.

Jets’ Perfetti motivated to prove his worth following ‘life-changing’ contract

Adam Lowry’s wedding was the main event, of course. But the Winnipeg Jets had even more reason to celebrate this past weekend as they returned from their off-season homes for a spirited summertime gathering.

Parents praise water-safety education

Winnipeggers at Kildonan Park Pool were offered education about water safety on Sunday and one parent who had a previous drowning scare said the lessons could save a life.

One of several events this summer hosted by the Manitoba Coalition for Water Safety as part of National Drowning Prevention Week, the poolside event saw volunteers from the Lifesaving Society educating people on things like how to throw a rescue line and how to “swim to survive” which requires participants to fall in a pool, tread water for one minute and then swim 50 metres to safety.

Ashley Shepherd said she and her six-year-old son Logan, who was taking part in some of the exercises Sunday, had a close call at Birds Hill Park in 2024, with the incident happening in seconds.

She recalled how she turned around to help her young daughter who had lost her footing. A second later, her son fell off a floaty into the water and was quickly swept away. She went after the boy in a flash, but found herself tangled in seaweed and panicked, going under herself, a nearby couple coming to their rescue.

Homeless standstill can’t be addressed until province, city collaborate

What we have here is a basic failure to understand the dynamics of homelessness.

Last week, the Free Press documented the friction between Osborne Village residents and business owners and homeless individuals seeking refuge at Oak Table, a drop-in centre that provides food, shelter from the heat and cold, and access to social services.

Oak Table operates out of space in St. Augustine Church, located on River Avenue just east of Osborne Street. The aforementioned residents and business owners, as well as employees of a daycare that operates out of the same church, all expressed concerns about discarded drug paraphernalia, garbage and open drug use by the people visiting Oak Table.

It’s not hard to sympathize with people who are tired of dealing with this mess and mayhem. Still, it should be said that Oak Table, a private not-for-profit organization affiliated with an umbrella social services agency called 1JustCity, is not in the wrong place.

‘Heartbreaking loss’: Sandy Bay First Nation offers condolences after apparent dog attack

Leaders with the Sandy Bay Ojibway First Nation are offering their condolences after an animal rescue worker died following an apparent dog attack in the community and say the “stray and aggressive” animals are a longstanding issue.

Amanda Nobiss, 37, was volunteering in the community on the shores of Lake Manitoba with K9 Advocacy. Her remains were discovered on Friday morning.

The Manitoba First Nations Police Service said in a news release that it had been contacted by a friend of Amanda’s who was trying to locate her, around 12:45 a.m.

Using her cellphone location, police determined she appeared to be in Sandy Bay, said the release. Resources were dispatched to the area, including a drone, but due to the large radius of the cellphone “ping,” no one was located until 6 a.m.

Longtime CNIB volunteer says he’s still amazed at people’s resilience

After decades of helping blind and partially sighted Manitobans live their dreams, Ken Curtis says he’s still inspired by the courage and strength the clients of the CNIB demonstrate every day.

“For me, they’re just the most unbelievable people in the world,” he said.

Curtis has been volunteering for 40 years with the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, which helps blind and partially sighted people find innovative ways to achieve their goals.

“The bravery that these people show in terms of what they’ve accomplished and who they are and their positive attitude, I just fell in love with all of our clients,” he said. “And of course many of them are good friends now.”