Comfort Food and Connection: Howl at the Moon’s Impact on the Community!

#015 - Various supportive programs operational in Howl at the Moon Cafe, located in Thunder Bay, Ontario. The cafe functions as a recovery-friendly community center, offering group supports for those impacted by addiction. It hosts various groups such as the healing circle, Women and the Good Life Support Group, and other programs based on the AA model but designed by an elderly indigenous person. The discussion also iterates a future vision of incorporating similar groups for men and other targeted needs. In addition to fostering addiction recovery, the cafe also introduces new food items to its menu. The inclusivity of the cafe encourages volunteers to contribute their time and skill to keep the cafe running and to foster a sense of community. The cafe aims to launch 'Smart Recovery' in mid-March.

Transcript

 so many people have been affected in so many ways by addiction, whether it's their own addiction  or somebody else's addiction and this particular support group really caters to people who have been affected by somebody else's addiction

We had a great day yesterday, man, to be honest, so it was nice to  get out. We had some good laughs. 

 Yeah, it was  it was really helpful. Thanks a lot for helping me out there yesterday. 

And now that we're selling a few extra things there, I really  I really need a vehicle that, that's more conducive to picking up extra supplies.    What happened was  my friend Al  he's   And an older gentleman who's retired, he's been helping me out since I opened the place up. He's got a, an SUV and he really likes to be a part of Howl at the Moon   and helping.

And his way of helping is to  to drive me around once a week there to pick up supplies for Howl at the Moon. But   yeah, really awesome.  But Al ended up needing  some surgery on his one hand. And  that put him out of condition for about three or four weeks.     I know, right? Hey,  I wish it must be for sure.

And he's doing real good and he's excited to come back to help out. I know he enjoys driving me around and I appreciate him driving me around. I'm really   really grateful for his contribution. That's what he loves to do for this place. But I was really honored and. Glad that you stepped up and offered to  to help me  

so I'm curious to know  what additions,  you have going  on your menu? 

 I think we talked

Marker

 about it a couple episodes ago, but we did introduce some food right around  Christmas time,  around New Year's there. We've got  hot dogs, we've got sausage on a bun, we've got chili cheese nachos, popcorn chicken, spicy potato wedges.

Yeah.  Chili and cheese  we've got those really cool neon signs that probably lots of people have seen when they're driving down Cumberland Street. They like the street right up, right? Yeah, exactly. They're pretty awesome,  is there like a hit item on the menu, like one that sells more than the other, or do they all do pretty well?

Yeah, everything's moving for sure. It's a pretty limited menu. We've only got about seven or eight items. But  out of everything  that we're selling there  I think probably the popcorn chicken and the chili cheese nachos are just like, I almost can't keep up with them, which is great.

 People   are really enjoying those items. It's just   it's just good comfort food at a real   good price. And I think people enjoy it.  And plus those two items are really conducive to sharing  so when we get some tables in here, a lot of times people will grab some chili cheese nachos or popcorn chicken, and they'll just end up sharing it at the table, which is awesome  and  I appreciate the support and it's certainly helping to garner a little extra revenue for the healthy moon project and help us to keep the doors open here  which is great.   Very cool. Yeah.  It's  I think that's a huge part of  any business owner   is  adaptability  being able to  introduce things that work and then    eliminate things that aren't doing too well. Or  there's always a time and place 

for all programs,  yeah  totally.  Like we've had people for months telling me.  That if I was selling more stuff, they'd buy more stuff. They're like  Jody   I can only drink three or four coffees at the most.  I'm trying here, I'm trying here, but  I just can't do it, right? And I get it.

So they were like  bring some food in. And   so we worked towards that goal, and now we're offering it. And I'm glad to be doing that. It's  it's working out pretty good,   that's another thing, too. I've walked in here a few times   in the past when There's  organizations or groups that  will book this space for like birthday parties  or do their own thing.

It's a sober event, of course, but I've seen you allow =groups order food from elsewhere and had it brought in here. So that's always an option too. People have the option of booking the space for   Birthday parties and stuff like that   yeah, and  so I'm curious 

to know more about that Yeah,  people have been using the space for all kinds of cool stuff.

Like we've had we have had birthday parties.   We've also had  sober celebration dates in here   milestones on their healing journeys, which is so awesome  and   and we actually  we had a wedding here in the fall, which was really cool.

That was pretty, pretty awesome. A sober wedding. We actually had  a baby gender reveal party here.  There's a baby shower upcoming later on  in March, actually. So you're fully booked?    Like people are using the space and I'm really grateful for that. Now, having said that   we're still taking bookings.

So if  you want to do your sober event here, feel free.  I'd love to try and accommodate that for you.  And then, yeah ongoing agencies are continuing to use the space  for programming, which is pretty cool. And  we've also been doing some  some new in house grassroots programs, too, that   that I wanted to share a little bit about today, because  I think they're really important in the last  month  we introduced   a couple of new programs, and one of them is the    the Women and the Good Life  support group.

And   it's a safe place for women to gather and support one another through Sacred Circle work  art therapy, land based activities, group led initiatives, and it's  it's for women and Two Spirited people, and it's run exclusively by women and Two Spirited people, and  it's been a real big hit.

We've  we've had two of those  so far. We've been running that every other Monday night, and   the feedback from people who have attended has been super, super positive, and   it was  my friend, and  Clara Moses and I, we've been talking about this particular group now for  a couple of months because we really both agreed that   that it would be a really good fit here at Thunder Bay and that there were women who would be really   interested in coming to a place that's supportive  and  it just helps women    with growth and to meet and encourage other women  and  finally we pulled the trigger on that and launched that program.

 I guess it would have been maybe where we now end of February, I guess we had the first one earlier this month and now we've had two. So that programs every other Monday night and    it's been pretty awesome. Both times we've had over 20 women show up and    and the feedback has been really positive.

Jody 

curious to know a little bit more about the structure when the women get here, what does the structure entail? If you 

can elaborate on that. Yeah.  So I'm actually not here for that group, so I can't say specifically  cause I've never seen it. They, it's done on purpose      that I'm not here.

I actually leave that night because I think that it's important that this group is just why you're out on 

like a 

evening. Not, yeah, at another coffee shop.  I just saw that post. I thought that's right. 

Yeah. I'm like, 

well, what's he do it off? I don't take too many days off, but for this women's group, I think it's important  That there are just women here in this space.

Women and two spirited people. And  so that's how we've got it set up.  I did catch a glimpse of it while the lead woman was setting up and  it just looked amazing. Like  women were bringing their bundles  they had the room set up in, in a circle with chairs and  there was some great sharing and some great encouragement going on and   yeah    originally  we  set the group to, to run from six till eight o'clock, but both times it's run quite a bit past eight o'clock just because     it's.

I guess people have been really enjoying the time that they were spending here and the activities that were being offered and then the discussions that were being had inside of that group, which is super cool. I'm  really glad to have that. I think it's an important thing. I know I had it was like maybe the fall of last year there  we've had  some women come in here, friends of mine who are struggling with addiction and  they were looking, they were coming in here looking for some guidance and looking for some support  and  I'm happy to offer some encouragement for sure.  

 Me being a man I can't relate completely with some of the things that women    are dealing with  and my friend Clara happened to be sitting here that one night when one of these women came in and I said   man, we could really use   a group  where  there were strong women leaders  where some of these women who are struggling could come in   and mentor  come in and get some teachings   and  get some encouragement    and counseling.

   And that's where the idea came from and we ended up launching the group.  Yeah. That's fascinating. 

 Jody you mentioned a positive feedback. Yeah. I'm  curious to know what some of that feedback  

has been. Yeah.      I ended up coming back just  as the first group was letting out  and  it turned out that  I did know a lot of the women who attended and I was just outside as the group was letting out.

And  yeah    I was asking people   what they thought about it. And it was amazing. Like it was just  really positive that the women were really happy with  the idea of  this being an ongoing  project and an ongoing program here at Health Moon, they   they encouraged me and said    we like this, keep it going.  Just  yeah, just generally really positive feedback. And I think everyone's really happy  that this program is happening here at Health Moon. So it goes to show like 

the power of  storytelling in a  in a trusted 

space. Exactly. Exactly. There's, 

it's just, it's, there's some sort of.

healing component in that. And  and I, we can speak from experience going to like wellness meetings ourselves that   we may not.  Resonate with  a hundred percent of what's said, but there's always something that I can take away in that hour or two hours. It might just be like five minutes.

Exactly. That's all one needs sometimes to push over to the next week or the next month. Yeah, totally. Totally.  It's super powerful, man. And   so you have this going on. What else do you have going on 

in the space? Yeah. So I want to  eventually Incorporate the reciprocal program to this women's group and have a healthy men's support group as well.

We haven't launched that yet, but we're going to do that sometime soon.  So what I do ideally, my vision is that  we're running the women's group every two weeks on Mondays. I'd like to  on the opposite off week run the men's support group  because I think that it's important to have that support group for men as well for the exact same reasons.

I think that    a lot of men could really use healthy role models    healthy mentors and,   we could share some experiences and some teachings and just encourage each other. So I'd like to    to launch that sooner than later. It's in the works. We're just trying to get the  the framework set up and get the right people involved to, to do it.

Because this is all, these programs that I'm talking about right now  are all grassroots. So there's no agency support per se. There's no  there's no outside support.   These are put together by people  on the ground level here, grassroots level who just really want to help and make positive change and impact here in Thunder Bay.

    And  for me, it's important to have the right people involved  because I want to protect this space too and make sure that people are safe. So I want to have the right people leading these groups and the right people involved in these groups, people I trust in here at Health and Moon.

Knowing that they're going to be doing things for the right reasons.     So yeah, the men's group is up and coming, but it really is going to be a, just  a mirror image of the women's group  and  yeah, it's going to be pretty awesome. So we're going to do that  on the off Monday there  in between the women's group.

And we're just going to try and get men together who might be looking for a fellowship  and  yeah, and  some good teachings   and mentorship here. And  we're going to offer that at too. So that's upcoming   for 

the participants.  Is there like an enrollment process for the participants or they can just  show up or get their name on the list?

Just 

totally drop in. Gotcha. Gotcha. As long as they're aware 

of the times. Yeah, exactly. Are you looking for something specific in the facilitator for the men's group? Or   you're just waiting for someone to approach you? 

How does that work? I've got people in mind who I'd like to take that leadership role.

I've just got so many things on my plate that it's been  it's been a bit slow. Coming.  I'm, I've  got  all these little projects that I'm trying to balance and juggle at the same time.  Yeah. But  but this one is getting close and it's not  it hasn't been held up because I don't have the right people.

It's more a matter of just connecting with those people   and   talking about the idea and getting that commitment from them to, to step up and do it.   But there are people that I have, I've aligned to, I know would do amazing work  in that role. So  I'm not concerned about that.

I know  that'll come together the way it needs to come together soon. Amazing.  

 You got a women's group in place. You got a men's coming soon and so what else do you have going on in this space? 

 We launched another  grassroots   Program as well, which I'm really excited about.

It's also been really well attended and I think it's really necessary So once a month on Wednesdays, we have a support group for people who have either lost somebody to addiction Okay, or for people who love somebody who is still living out there in active addiction. Okay, and  you know It's same thing.

Like it's been months in the making because I've had people approach me and say, listen, like I think we could really use this kind of a support group. And I absolutely agree. I think that this particular group is really in demand here in Thunder Bay because and I know from personal experience  that can be a really lonely place  when there's somebody out there who you  really love or really care about  who's addicted and you just want them to heal, but  they're not ready and they're not there yet.

And it can be a really stressful time in a person's life and it can be a really lonely time too.  Because  you just  feel At least from my own perspective, like a lot of times I felt    nobody really cares. Nobody really wants to listen, so I'm just going to carry this burden on my own,   and same thing is true  with  people who have lost somebody to addiction.  I feel like that can be a really lonely place too. Although I haven't lost a child    or a spouse to addiction, thank God  but we've had people show up, like we've had several mothers show up to the support group since we launched it who have lost kids   and the whole idea behind the support group is that  I really want to build   that community where we can just get together and we can   help each other and we can listen to each other's stories.

So we've had this group twice now and the way it's  worked is that,  people have shown up and  it starts off just as a bit of a social and   we  let people just mingle a little bit because  a lot of times the people of this group have that, that one thing in common, they've either lost somebody to addiction or they love somebody who's still out there living that way.

And then would start off and just share a little bit about my story. And how there's people out there who I care about who are still addicted and what motivated me to launch this support group. And then we open up the floor to anybody who wants to share  and there's no pressure for anyone to share, but a lot of people do want to share their stories  they want to talk about it and  that's really powerful  like we've had moms come in here  on that particular night and they're talking about some pretty heavy stuff,  they've lost their kids to overdoses. And  that's a lot of pain to carry, but I feel like they, they come here  to share that and to To listen to other people's stories that may have some parallels and some similarities and I feel like there's a lot of healing that happens from that and I've seen it firsthand at this particular support group. 

We're really building bonds  for people and I feel like a lot of people have been suffering and struggling alone for a really long time with some of these issues that we're talking about. And I think that them coming together in this space here has been really helpful and the feedback has been  really positive for this particular support group too.

So that's only running once a month right now  but    we've done it twice and  both times it was really well attended. And  the feedback  was really positive too. I think the people who came were really glad that they did come and I expect  that's going to grow as well. That's amazing.

I find that these meetings always lead me to connection, not only at the meeting, but  someone that I can reach out to outside the meeting. And with this whole  support group for those  individuals that have someone  that's in their lives that, that's struggling with addiction or lost someone to addiction,  A, it's bringing awareness that, hey, these meetings do exist.

Yeah.  And they're right here in our backyards. As in Thunder Bay or  you go to any city, you can look hard enough. And now  post pandemic, there's all this stuff online too. There's these zoom groups and, I love this because not only are we inviting people here to how about the moon that you are, that you're inviting to how about the moon, but they're forming these connections that can actually help and work for them outside 

of the space too.

For sure.  For sure. Yeah. And I think that is important I'm just really happy to be able to offer this stuff out of this space because I think that the space is really conducive to helping people and  people feel safe coming here. And   it's not just about the live entertainment aspect and the community building, although that's very important, but offering these specific workshops and programs that are targeted at certain people.

 I think it's just important. I'm really  happy to be able to offer these things  and I think the community is really happy to have a space to come to, to get some of these resources as well. Like some of the things we're talking about are offered to  maybe not exactly the same, but they're offered through agencies  and different things like that.

But some people aren't necessarily comfortable going   to those places  sometimes  they're. don't feel that sort of institutional feeling. They're just not really conducive to healing. People might feel really uncomfortable and. And not be really comfortable opening up and healing, but like we built   this rapport here and for whatever reason, people come into this space that we've got here in downtown Port Arthur, and they feel really comfortable and they feel really safe.

And I'm really grateful for that. That was my whole goal in building. This was that I wanted to create a safe, sober space where people could feel comfortable coming together and heal. And   I hear it all the time that  people are comfortable coming in here and opening up   and I've seen it   like so many tears have been shed in this place already and not in a bad way.

Like it's people literally like releasing  some of that emotion, like coming out of their shells  and that's real healing. And it's happening here at Health of Moon all the time. And I just want to keep. Adding things to it  so if there's anything to that, any of our listeners would like to see happen here, like specific support groups that we're not offering yet  feel free to reach out about to me about it.

And we can talk about a way to make that happen. Like we've got the space here and there  there are time slots that are available. And   if it's something that I feel like is going to be helpful, To the community and to the recovery community and people who are still  struggling with losses and so on   I'm happy  to  to accommodate  those requests.

Yeah.  

I like what you said about  the space in general. Those of you that are listening that haven't checked it out, I encourage you to come check it out. Because it does have this like warmness to it. This welcoming vibe. I can't really describe it. You got to see it for yourself. And I can see how a lot of these programs here, people want to show up.

People want to have that interaction and share those stories. In these closed like when these groups are going on. It's like a closed system. It's just whoever's there. They're sharing because they all have that one thing in common or those things in common that we talked about.  So it's not open to the public where they're coming and going during these times.

So it's very well a closed kind of system.  And you  want to have to be here to get that. Full effect. But if you haven't checked out the space, how at the moon cafe in Thunder Bay, Ontario, come over and check it out and so you got those programs going on.

Do you have anything else that you wanted to touch base on? So there's  

like ongoing stuff to  and I appreciate you taking the time to ask some questions about what's going on here because I think it's important for people to know  because we are offering some good programs for people  ongoing.

Like we've got that healing circle too. And  that's Ron Kanutzke and Anne Hope and they sponsor that. And   that happens every Sunday and we've been getting an amazing turnout every Sunday night at seven o'clock for that healing circle. Just  a great meeting and  a great social, a great way to share and connect and heal.

And   the way that, That program looks is that the room is set up again in a circle and the elder lights a smudge  and then   usually sings a song with his hand drum to open up the ceremony and we pass an eagle feather around and  each person gets an opportunity to hold that eagle feather and   And share something that  that they want to talk about.

And there's never any pressure either.  There are people who literally just come to that circle to listen as well. So they'll just have the feather  and say thank you and pass. And that's okay too. But there are a lot of people who really do take the opportunity  to share. And  I love  those circles or any program actually that we offer where people share because I find it fascinating.

I find it really interesting to listen to people's stories and where they've been   and what they've been through   and  how they've dealt  with these things and how it's shaped them and maybe any advice that they might have or  just  ideas that they may have.  

 I love the listening and the sharing and that sharing circles are really awesome opportunity for people to come in and do that. And that's every Sunday night. And   we've been getting consistently between 25 and 35 people at every single time. Wow. What a turnout.  It's amazing.  A lot of people come often.

So there's a lot of repeat customers for that particular program, but there's also new people too. And even Ron said, he's also running a healing circle over at the Smith there. And it's been running for a long time and  it's absolutely a great circle. But even he's alluded to the fact that  there have been people who've going, I've been going to  that healing circle for months and years, and they don't open up to the extent that some people who have been coming here just for  a couple of weeks too.

And again, I think it's really, the space is really comfortable and conducive  to that  and I don't know exactly why that is. It's  like you said, like you just got to come on in and experience it, but there's really good energy in this room. And I think  it's because it's being done from a good place.

 There's a real. Since a community in here, there's a lot of people pulling together to make this project work.   It's like this health. The moon is so much bigger than me. I just started it right and I'm here all the time helping out and working and I'm grateful for that.   But there's  a literally like a small army of volunteers  who Participate in this project in different ways, and I think that's what makes it  really special because nobody gets paid.

Nobody asks for anything. The people that are here helping out  they do it because they believe in what we're doing here, and they think that this project is making a difference. Good impactful change here in Thunder Bay and it is and I think that makes it even more special, right? Like these are people who are here because they absolutely want to be here.

They're not here to collect a paycheck They're not here for anything other than the fact that they want to be here and they want to see this project thrive And I think that's part of what makes   this space Really special  because  what other spaces are in the city?  That's like that  where you've got people literally volunteering their time just to come in and make sure that things are running smoothly and that we have all the tools, resources  skills  that we need to keep this place going, right?

Absolutely, Jody.  Thank you for that today. And  do you have anything else that you'd like to add? Yeah, I'll share 

 A little bit more too.  There's another  program that's ongoing here just since we're talking about all the stuff that's happening here.  We also have  a Wellbriety meeting that happens every Tuesday night.

And  that's an incredible. meeting as well. And I'd encourage people to come out.   It's really casual and laid back. And  it's sponsored by the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre. And  Brydie is Like an AA meeting, it still talks about  the 12 steps, but it's    from an Anishinabek perspective, there was an elder who wrote a book called the Wellbriety Book, and it just  it really makes a lot of sense, and there's some really great information in that book, and we talk about that book, and    there's a lot of  non Anishinabek folks who come and benefit from that meeting as well, and   I'm pretty sure a lot of our listeners know  that I'm not Anishinabek, but  I really love That while variety meeting it  it's just a  really good thing.

 And I think that anyone who hasn't come to check that one out should really come and check it out because  it's powerful healing too. So  what nights is that, Jody? So that's every Tuesday at 

six. Tuesday night. Tuesday at six. Yeah. And you mentioned a book   can you elaborate a 

little bit more on this book?

Yeah.  So there's actually  a book called The Wild Variety Book. Okay. And it was written by an elder. And what he did was he took the 12 steps from the AA program, but he  tailored the book more so from a perspective of Anishinaabeg views on healing connection with  spirituality connection with the land.

 And that's what the book is. And the book's a really easy read. I've read it a couple of times. I really enjoy it. But what we do at the Wellbriety Session is that we  read through the book chapter by chapter, but  you can join us anytime and just take a copy of the book and read it on your own time because there's relevant stuff in every single chapter of that book.

And  yeah, and then we have a bit of a discussion about  some of the things that  that the elder talks about. And there's a lot of really relevant information in there. A lot of things that  I personally think   are  really important on that recovery journey. That book touches on.

And  so  we talk about that.  And we worked through the book and  yeah  come on in. We've got extra copies here of that book too. And   until those copies run out  I'm happy to provide you with a copy. The Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre has  provided several copies for  the Health Moon Project here to give to people when they come and attend.

 And the book's really powerful. Like it's one of those recommended readings for me, anyhow. I'd say  if you're new to recovery and you're going to read.  book, this would be one of them that I'd recommend for sure.  It's  really good. And it's helped me a lot of my journey too.  

 And there's now like a whole meeting based around that book. And now we didn't invent that. The well Bridey meetings been happening around town and  other places too for quite some time. Okay. But we're really happy to be offering that  Bridey meeting here because I think it's an  awesome tool.  

 And 

the other ones in town, do they use the same book? They 

do, yeah.  Yeah, they do. Very cool.    The format might be a little bit different.  I haven't been to a Wellbriety meeting outside of Health of the Moon for quite some time now. Okay.  But    typically the facilitators do take a bit of a course  on how to run  the meeting.

So I think that there'd be definitely parallels at any other Wellbriety, Wellbriety meeting around town.  Gotcha.  Yeah,   so that happens on Tuesday nights, and the Thunder Bay Indigenous Friendship Centre will also buy your first beverage when you come to that one. They are a major sponsor of that particular event, and I'm really grateful to have their support too.

So that's happening.= Additionally, we haven't launched this yet, but we're going to be launching a program called Smart Recovery.  And it's going to be hosted by a local gentleman who has taken the training on that as well.  We're going to do a soft launch on that   in the middle of March. And I'm new to Smart Recovery.

I'm just learning a little bit about it, but  I've been exploring it  online and checking out some of the information with regards to what their meetings do  and what they entail. And  I think it's going to be another really awesome addition to what we're offering here out of the  health and space, and that'll start in mid March.

Mid March. Hey, Smart 

Recovery. I've actually never heard of that term before. Just  give me a little bit of education on  what that entails. 

I'm learning too. Okay. And   so I don't have too much to share about that, although the person who was running it  I have a lot of faith in him and he approached me and suggested that this might be something that we might want to offer out of the space and  knowing him and his background and where he's been on  his journey and where he's come from   and where he is now.

 I take his recommendation pretty seriously and I feel like this could be a really good program to offer. So I wish I could share a little bit more information right now, but I'm still learning a little bit about  about what that's going to entail as well. But I do believe that it's going to be a good  a good  program to, to have here at Health and Mid as well.

Amazing. It looks like you're almost 

booked every night of the week. Yeah, we do. You're getting 

there. We've got stuff going on for sure.  Like  lots of good programming. And then of course, in addition to that, like we've always got  the live entertainment too, which is awesome.  Karaoke, comedy shows, bands, that stuff is ongoing, but   but the programming   is important.

Like it  we're really, I think. filling a gap here in Thunder Bay and providing a service to people who need it. And again  I'm just so grateful to be able to do that out of the space. And I appreciate the ones who come here and use this space. I appreciate the ones who have stepped up to help me in the space. It really is a community effort here at Health to Moon.  For sure. 

Jody, thanks for sharing all of that today.  And  is there anything else that you'd like to add  before we 

close this conversation down? No, I think that's a pretty good overview of what's going on in healthy moon these days.

And  thanks for your time and thanks for asking some questions. No worries. And as always a 

pleasure sitting down here with you on a Sunday. Okay, take care. You too. Bye.