Episode #1: Salomé Mengo and Dalya Israel

In this first episode of our podcast series, Salomé Mengo, an SFU alumna, sits down with Dalya Israel, Executive Director of Salal Sexual Violence Support Centre, for a powerful conversation about the role of community in healing from sexualized violence. Together, they explore why creating time and spaciousness is essential for processing legacies of harm and how these practices support long-term resilience. Dalya shares insights on the often-overlooked dimensions of grief and spirituality, inviting listeners to consider how these elements can deepen healing. This episode offers thoughtful reflections drawn from Dalya’s and Salo’s experiences within the gender-based violence sector, emphasizing that healing is not a solitary journey but one rooted in connection and compassion.

Episode #3: Ira Rishi and Tricia-Kay Williams

This episode is a gentle conversation between host Ira Rishi and Tricia-Kay Williams, a clinical counsellor at SFU who has been working with Black students on campus. Ira and Tricia-Kay reflect on the importance of long-lasting, community-based support for survivors. They explore the deep responsibility and privilege of being entrusted with someone’s story, and what it means to receive that trust with humility. Through their conversation, they invite listeners to shift away from centering themselves and toward becoming attentive-patient listeners, steady resource-givers, and careful space-holders. This episode highlights how humility, presence, and intentionality can profoundly change the way we show up for survivors, and how our attitude, openness, and willingness to truly hold space can transform, not only the healing journey of survivors, but the culture of care within our communities.

Episode #5: Khoa Vo and Daniel Sheriff

In this episode, Daniel Sheriff—social worker and Associate Director of SFU’s Black Student Centre—joins Khoa for a powerful conversation about individual and collective healing. Together, they explore how community can help move people from isolation, shame, and powerlessness toward connection, self-acceptance, and empowerment. Daniel reflects on his own experiences as a Black man, highlighting how systemic barriers like implicit racism impacts healing, and why vulnerability, safety, and brotherhood are essential. The discussion also delves into the transformative role of collective action and advocacy in creating change for individuals and communities.

Episode #2: Khoa Vo and Wil Prakash Fujarczuk

In the second episode of our series, Khoa Vo, an SFU undergraduate student, sits down with Wil Prakash Fujarczuk—a sexualized violence prevention educator, doctoral candidate, and yoga instructor. Wil reflects on a pivotal personal experience that sparked his commitment to gender-based violence prevention and underscores the critical role of engaging men in the pursuit of collective liberation. Drawing from his identity as a queer man and his work as a yoga instructor, Wil offers practices that nurture healing within communities, highlighting the power of embodiment, chosen family, and ritual. This episode is an invitation and call-to-action to solidarity and collective action towards healing and repair.

Episode #4: Paola Quirós-Cruz and Tanu Gamble

In this episode, Tanu Gamble, one of the SFU’s Indigenous Counsellors, invites us to consider communal healing as rooted in relationships and belonging, encouraging reflection on the values we bring into our relationships and how we create spaces where people feel genuinely welcome.

She reflects on how history, intergenerational impacts, persistent institutional trauma, lived experiences, and identity intersect in all that we do, and why healing must honor these layered realities. Tanu highlights the importance of contextualized approaches to healing, encouraging us to rethink how we view personal experiences. What we often see as individual struggles or traumas may actually be the result of centuries of historical, cultural, and societal forces that have continually shaped and affected Indigenous bodies and communities. This conversation invites listeners to approach community care with humility, curiosity, and respect for the diverse paths people take towards healing.

Episode #6: Ira Rishi and Racheal Ligali

In this episode, Racheal Ligali, a Mental Health Nurse, joins host Ira Rishi to explore how communal healing begins through the creation of supportive spaces where survivors feel safe to share their experiences, within families, friendships, healthcare settings, and community spaces. Together, they discuss the role of support groups and shared spaces in fostering connection and helping survivors feel seen, heard, and believed by others who understand their experiences. This episode reminds us that healing requires tangible support, intentional spaces, and collective commitment to create environments rooted in safety, empathy, and compassion, which are essential for survivors to begin their healing.