Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 18, 2024, Winnipeg, Manitoba MONDAY MARCH 18, 2024 ● ASSOCIATE EDITOR, NEWS: STACEY THIDRICKSON 204-697-7292 ● CITY.DESK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM SECTION B CONNECT WITH WINNIPEG’S NO. 1 NEWS SOURCE ▼ CITY ● BUSINESS One person hospitalized after apartment fire ONE person was injured after a fire broke out in a three-storey apartment building on Saturday. Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service said crews rushed to a blaze at an apart- ment building in the 200 block of Young Street at 4:05 p.m. and were able to put it out by 4:29 p.m. The WFPS said smoke was coming from the building when they arrived but firefighters were able to go inside to battle the fire. All residents were able to get out of the building on their own, but one was assessed by paramedics and taken to hospital in unstable condition. No damage estimates or cause are known at this time. The building sus- tained fire, smoke and water damage. The city’s emergency social services team is helping residents find a tempor- ary place to stay. Creates award to assist people of Indigenous descent who are studying nursing RRC Polytech student gives back to college A STUDENT nurse, whose studies were interrupted for two years by pandemic-related struggles and mental health challenges, is helping other students even before she gradu- ates. Sophie Walker, who is months away from completing her bachelor of nurs- ing degree from Red River College Polytechnic, said she has created the Journey Award at the institution so future nursing students of Indigenous descent, who face obstacles as they enter their second or third year of the program, can have a chance to receive a minimum of $1,000. Walker said over the next five years she and her family will annually match donations up to $1,000. “This is for someone who is strug- gling, whether with a new diagnosis or mental health, or needs help with coun- selling and can’t afford it,” she said. “If, after I’ve graduated, I wanted to fund it myself it would cost me $38 bi-weekly. If all it takes is $38 per pay- cheque and I can contribute $1,000 to take off of someone’s back, it is positive for me.” The 24-year-old said she has wanted to be a nurse since an aunt, who is a nurse, told her more about the profes- sion when she was in Grade 11 in Por- tage la Prairie. She said after high school, she was accepted into the RRC Polytechnic nursing program and started her stud- ies on Dec. 2, 2019. Three months later, COVID-19 changed things for Walker and the world. Her classes for the better part of the next two years were virtual instead of in-person. Walker said the isolation, and the fear caused by the deaths and sicknesses around her, resulted in her dropping out of school in fall 2021. “I’ve always had a high (grade point average),” she said. “I would have sailed through the program if the pan- demic hadn’t happened.” Then it got even tougher. “I was hospitalized in July and Au- gust of 2022,” she said. “2023 was a year of recovery with psychiatric ap- pointments. “It has been smooth sailing ever since.” Walker said the college allowed her to resume her studies at the same point where she had left off. David Petis, RRC Polytech’s execu- tive director of advancement, said what Walker is doing is “truly commendable.” “It is heartening to see her drive to help Indigenous nursing students fa- cing barriers, like the ones she experi- enced, in their own education journey,” Petis said. “We know the alleviation of financial concerns helps reduce stress levels and allows students to focus on what’s more important: their health and their education. Young people like Sophie are stepping forward to show students facing these difficulties that they are not alone. “A gift like this allows students to thrive and with the support of our donor community, we hope to see this gift matched for an even deeper impact to students who may need it.” The successful applicant will be chosen by a selection committee with their contact information shared with Walker so she can call to congratulate them. The application deadline is Sept. 15. As for Walker, even though she hasn’t graduated, she has set her sights on continuing her studies in the field of medicine. “I want to go to med school and be- come a doctor,” she said. “I don’t have any doctors in my family, but I’ve become interested in medicine during my studies to become a nurse.” kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca KEVIN ROLLASON MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS Sophie Walker is months away from completing her bachelor of nursing degree. PHOTOS BY JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS LOOKING AHEAD TO LAKE LIFE Corey Gorrell (above left) and wife Randi of Blue Bay Saunas demonstrate one of their custom-made saunas at Cottage Country’s Lake and Cabin Show at Red River Exhibition Place Sunday. Evan Joyal (below) and Bri Jolicoeur check out the sights on a lake lift sold by Gower Electric & Elevator Services. Sewer break shutters south Winnipeg daycare SOME south Winnipeg children have been washed out of their day- care for days and they don’t know when they’ll get back after an underground sewer pipe broke. Parents of children at the Waver- ley Heights Child Care, located inside the South Winnipeg Com- munity Centre’s Waverley site at 1885 Chancellor Dr., were called on Wednesday to pick up their chil- dren after a city sewer pipe col- lapsed, resulting in a loss of water service in the building. Now the parents have been told the daycare and community cen- tre will continue to be closed for an indeterminate amount of time this coming week. A notice on the community cen- tre’s website says the site is closed until further notice. “Despite our efforts to accommo- date events and programs through temporary measures, the City of Winnipeg has instructed us to close the facility for public safety,” the notice says. “We understand the frustration this may cause to all our distin- guished members who had events booked in advance… we appreciate your understanding during this un- foreseen circumstance.” But one of the parents affected by the daycare closure, Lindsay Sawyer Fay, says she can’t help but become frustrated. Sawyer Fay said on Saturday that her five- year-old daughter, Carrie-James, has missed almost three days of daycare. “I’ve had to take my daughter to work,” she said about what hap- pened on part of Thursday and again on Friday. “Now we are being told it will now be sometime next week until they get the water back up and running. “But there are families who don’t have the flexibility we have and there could be income costs.” Sawyer Fay said when she or her husband drop their daughter off at daycare in the morning and head to work, it is the daycare which takes the child to and from kindergarten, so without it being open parents have also had to figure out how to get children to school. She said no excavation work is being done at the site over the weekend because the city has to get Manitoba Hydro to mark where any underground electrical or gas lines are before crews can begin digging to see how extensive the pipe damage is and what has to be done to repair it. A spokesperson for the daycare and the community centre could not be reached for comment. Coun. Janice Lukes (Waverley West), who represents the area and is also chairwoman of the civic public works committee which oversees sewer and water issues, said the collapse is located where it is the city’s responsibility, not the community centre’s. “We don’t know how long the community centre and the daycare will be closed until the ground is opened up and crews assess the situation,” Lukes said. “We don’t know.” Lukes said they will know more on Monday and she will post an up - date on her website and Facebook page. “I know this is a major inconven- ience and I apologize,” she said. kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca KEVIN ROLLASON Selkirk aide program SELKIRK and area students can now learn to be a health-care aide while studying in their own community. Assiniboine College has announced its rural rotating comprehensive health-care aide program is coming to Selkirk on April 15. Registration is now open. “Our rural rotating training sites are integral to our work to address the grow- ing needs in health care,” said Suzanne Nicolas, the college’s dean of nursing, in a statement on Thursday. “These sites also help keep learners in these communities to close the labour gaps all across the province.” Marion Ellis, Interlake-Eastern Regional Health Authority CEO, said the new program “is a welcomed and valuable opportunity for residents of this area to attain education that contributes to caring for people with health needs.” The six-month program — nine months for international students — helps train people to care for patients in clinical settings. Health-care aides perform several duties including helping patients with their well-being, meal and mobility assistance, and reporting patient conditions. To register for an open house on March 19 at 6 p.m. or to get more information, go here: assiniboine.net/study-here/visit-us/ information-sessions ;