Making a difference: Meet Me at the Bell Tower, 5 years later

WINNIPEG — Every Friday, no matter how cold it is outside, a group of dedicated Winnipeggers join together to stop violence in the city they call home.

Just over five years ago, Meet Me at the Bell Tower started because young people were becoming frustrated at how often they would get together at funerals, hospitals or vigils.

“We said no longer will we be waiting for something bad to happen to get together,” community activist, Michael Champagne said. “We see the North End and our community here as a vibrant, diverse and strong community.”

Any given Friday, 40 to 80 Manitobans start gathering at 6 p.m. for an evening of discussion, support and encouragement. The evening kicks off with someone ringing a historic bell at Winnipeg’s old gingerbread city hall.

“There was a fire in that building, so that bell has history, and when we ring it, the sound of that bell echos across the neighbourhood and reminds anyone who is listening, there is a group of helpers that care about them,” Champagne said.

“There’s also hanging a banner of hope… we ask our children to hang that banner of hope as a statement about the kind of community we want to live in.”

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After the the bell tower meeting outside, the group moves inside the Indigenous Family Centre to start planning how they can make the event better the following week, allowing anyone in attendance to join in and share their ideas.

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Kakeka Thundersky is one of the young people who spends most of her Friday nights at Winnipeg’s North End bell tower, taking part in powerful conversations about missing and murdered indigenous women, Shoal Lake 40, youth employment and more.

“It’s exciting to get more women involved in the discussions and the conversation but I do think we need a little bit more,” Thundersky said.

“I think it’s important for women to be involved in the community because that’s a voice that you don’t often get to hear.”

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The University of Winnipeg student spends most of her free time volunteering at shelters such as Siloam Mission and Salvation Army, along with other grassroots groups like Got Bannock.

“My inspiration would be my mom,” Thundersky said. “My mom was really active, she was an anti-asbestos activist and she was big into getting the inquiry into missing and murdered indigenous women… growing up with my mom doing all that work really influenced and inspired me to continue that work.”

Thundersky is hoping to encourage more young women to come out to community meetups such as Meet Me at the Bell Tower so they can find out what they’re interested in and connect with people who can help them develop their talents.

“Part of why young people being in leadership positions is so important… is indigenous young people too frequently, especially in Manitoba are put into situations where their voices are silenced,” Champagne said.

“We try to provide space for young people to share their experiences and their truths, and then the rest of us as a family try to lend resources and support to those young people.

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Champagne thinks of Meet Me at the Bell Tower as an intergenerational neighbourhood classroom with relatives from across the city coming to the North End to learn. The goal is to ensure suggestions for solutions can come to fruition.

WATCH: Meet Me At The Bell Tower marks five years in Winnipeg

4:32 Meet Me At The Bell Tower marks five years in Winnipeg

“By simply asking for help and sharing our gifts we find it’s a very effective way to empower young people… we can build a solution that doesn’t duplicate services but supports and enhances what’s already happening out there.”

Now, other groups across Canada are using Winnipeg’s bell tower meetups as a model to create change in communities.

“When we look into the First Nations, Inuit and Metis community, we see still, in 2017, alarming rates of suicide amongst our young people, which is why it becomes critical for us as helpers and organizers and family members in the community to be hopeful always,” Champagne said.

“We don’t have to wait for the bad thing to happen before we celebrate what is good about life, we don’t have to wait for negativity or loss or grief before we are motivated to celebrate the goodness in our families or in our neighbourhoods.”

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“So don’t wait, don’t wait for that sadness or darkness to get you, find the pieces of brightness and light, in and around your life, and hold on to that, invite more people to come and take a look at that light, and within that light you’ll find your gift, share it, practice sharing it, and understand that you have a responsibility with that thing that you’re good at, your gift, the world needs it, even if it’s something that you think is small, like being a good friend, making other people laugh, you could save a life.”