“Customers welcomed back to indoor dining as restrictions ease in Ontario”
After a month of take-out and pick-up orders it’s nice to see customers enjoying the indoor space again, says Brandon Emery, a barista at the popular Happy Goat Coffee Company on Bank and Hopewell.
“Little Italy has hopes of emerging from the food desert”
A variety of tantalizing cooking scents wafts down Preston Street. Yet Ottawa’s Little Italy is also viewed as a “food desert.” A planned new supermarket could change things, but that may depend on what kind of store it is.
Food deserts are urban or suburban areas where residents are unable to access affordable and nutritious food within a reasonable distance — a 15-minute walk in urban areas.
“Nathalie Maione uses furniture to fight for inclusion”
Capital Current continues its occasional series profiling some of the people who are making a difference in our community:
Fifteen years ago, Nathalie Maione offered up her truck to deliver furniture to an immigrant family in Ottawa. It was supposed to be a one-time thing.
“I saw that the family, all they had was suitcases. It really hit me that somebody can leave their home country, leave everything behind and come with basically a suitcase and their memories.”
“Coping with COVID: Journaling could be a useful self help tool this winter, experts say”
For many Canadians, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic meant a return to old hobbies and pastimes. Hetal Jariwala, an Ottawa resident, finally had time to return to journaling, a self-care method she’d neglected because of her busy schedule as a software developer.
Journaling, a form of expressive writing, is a tool used in therapy. Over the last few decades it has been studied for its ability to build resilience and reflection skills in patients. It’s also thought to have numerous health benefits.
Jariwala, 31, says journaling helps reframe her mindset, so that when problems arise she feels more capable of handling them during the isolation the pandemic has brought on.
“Ottawa’s hard-hit tourism sector faces an uncertain future amid pandemic”
As with many business owners who rely on tourism, Andre Schad has had a rough year.
Schad owns the local restaurants Tavern on the Falls and Tavern on the Hill with his wife Chantel Biro-Schad. The lack of day-time business from tourists was immediately apparent, said Schad. And he doesn’t expect things to improve for a long time.
“Officials hopeful they can keep Ottawa homeless shelters safe from COVID-19”
When Canada went into lockdown in March, many feared the impact it would have on Ottawa’s unhoused community. But despite initial predictions, Ottawa’s homeless population has seen few cases and no community transmission of the virus.
COVID-19 pandemic offers Roma woman reprieve from deportation
For many Ontarians, the constant worry for loved ones’ safety prompted by the coronavirus pandemic is new. For one Ottawa family, the unknown is life as they know it.
Roksana Hajrizi has been fighting her mother’s deportation to Poland since mid-2019. Now, with COVID-19 declared a pandemic, two sisters are desperate to keep their mother in the country.