Monday 9am/9pmET

Winner of Dreamvisions 7 Radio Network’s
Spring Host Extravaganza 2019!

The Story Walking Radio Hour with Wendy Fachon

Tune in to Nature’s loving vibes. Listen to nature-inspired stories and interviews with environmental educators for new ideas about how to make our world a better place. Sustainable Living Newswriter, nature walker and youth educator Wendy Nadherny Fachon hosts the Story Walker Radio Hour to talk about issues that matter and to introduce you to people who are coming up with creative… sensible… solutions. Let’s engage with Earth… with Spirit… and with one another… heart to heart… to solve problems and co-create more meaningful life stories. By integrating environmentalism into our professional vocations and passionate avocations, we contribute to building a healthier, more beautiful and sustainable world

www.storywalking.com  and www.wendyfachon.blog
Join Wendy on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/StoryWalkingRadio

New! Wendy’s Special Book to Be Published

The Difference Maker is Wendy Fachon’s inspirational memoir of her son, Neil, a high school student and environmental activist who espoused a different style of leadership. He was touched by many lives, and he touched many lives in return, before passing away at age 20. Download the pdf version for free. If you enjoy the eBook and wish to spread its positive messaging by helping Wendy publish the narrative in paperback for wider distribution; enclose a $1, $5, $10 bill or check in an envelope and mail it to: Wendy Fachon, P.O. Box 2221, East Greenwich, RI 02818. Fans can also help by sending a brief review to wendy@netwalkri.com.

Broadcasts Weekly Monday 9am & 9pmET

Wendy’s Planet Health This Week

Monday 9am/9pmET

Pesticide Free Parks, Lawns & Gardens in Providence

Guests: Emily Koo, Sustainability Strategy Manager in the City of Providence’s Office of Sustainability and Lee Ann Freitas, Director of the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center

When we apply pesticides, herbicides and fungicides to our lawns, gardens and trees, these chemicals harm the surrounding environment. These toxins find their way into our air, our food, our water and our parks. How can we fix this problem?  We can turn to Nature for safe solutions. Emily Koo and Lee Ann Freitas from Pesticide Free PVD talk about how they are creating a pesticide free city, and they share lots of tips and tricks, including biological methods. This episode begins with two fun stories – Praying Mantis and Web of Life – to get everyone to start thinking about the pesticides issue before diving deeper with our guests.

Emily Koo serves as Sustainability Strategy Manager in the City of Providence’s Office of Sustainability, where she implements a wide range of programs and monitors progress towards the city’s sustainability and equity goals. She supports city departments, community organizations, businesses, and residents in making sustainable choices, including recent efforts to reduce neurotoxic chemical exposures throughout the city. She also manages public outreach and communication about the work of the Office of Sustainability.

Lee Ann Freitas, has been working with plants, insects and nature for over 30 years. With a degree in Horticulture and graduate work in soil microbiology, her approach to gardening is with soils and ecosystems in mind. As director of the RWP Botanical Center for the last 5 years, she has initiated a holistic, chemical-free method of gardening to the Center’s growing practices and works to bring those practices Park and City wide.

INFORMATION RESOURCES FOR FURTHER EXPLORATION

Learn more and take the Pledge to go pesticide free at https://www.providenceri.gov/sustainability/pesticidefree/

Story Walking Photo Blog: The Entomologist and the Etymologist – https://netwalkri.com/blog/f/the-entomologist-and-the-etymologist

Check out the Top 10 Tips for a Pesticide Free Lawn & Garden
https://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/pesticidefreePVD-10tipsonepager_engesp.pdf-10tipsonepager_engesp.pdf

Download the Spring 2021 Report: City of Providence’s Pesticide and Chemical Free Management Practices prepared by the Audubon Society of RI
https://www.providenceri.gov/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/pvd-parks-environmental-practices-report_onlineedit.pdf

Plan a visit to the Roger Williams Park Botanical Center:
https://www.providenceri.gov/botanical-center/

Follow the Providence Office of Sustainability @SustainPVD on Facebook and @Sustain_PVD on Twitter! https://www.facebook.com/sustainPVD/ and https://twitter.com/Sustain_PVD

Sign up for the SustainPVD newsletter: https://www.providenceri.gov/sustainability/newsletter/

Learning Opportunities

Groundwork Rhode Island has both an Adult Job Training program and the Green Team Youth Employment program. GroundCorp Landscape and Harvest Cycle Compost are social ventures that provide employment to graduates of their programs and allow them to implement on-the-ground environmental projects in Providence. https://groundworkri.org/

The Growing Futures Boot Camp is sponsored by the Rhode Island Nursery and Landscape Association (RINLA). Program participants work for a week in Arcadia Management Area, learning and doing meaningful work to repair and restore public lands including trail restoration, fire road clearing, tree and shrub pruning, and other entry-level forestry and horticulture work. https://growingfuturesri.org/boot-camp/

Learn more at www.storywalking.com ,  https://netwalkri.com email wendy@netwalkri.com or call 401 529-6830. Connect with Wendy to order copies of Fiddlesticks, The Angel Heart or Storywalker Wild Plant Magic Cards.

Subscribe to Wendy’s blog Writing with Wendy at www.wendyfachon.blog.
Join Wendy on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/StoryWalkingRadio
The Empowerment Factory https://www.theempowermentfactory.org/

BIO: Story Walking Radio Host, Wendy Nadherny Fachon empowers young people, by showing how to step forward into each new life learning adventure with clarity, confidence and positive energy. Wendy began her youth work training in the school of life by observing and listening to her own daughter and son as they faced the challenges of growing up with bullying, fickle friends, and tough teachers. When her nephews, aged 5 and 7, lost their father on 9/11, she joined the boys and her sister on their bumpy journey along the road to recovery from deep trauma and upheaval.

As Wendy’s children grew into their independence, she entered into youth work and earned her RIPQA certification, Rhode Island’s 21^st Century Community Learning Center program quality training. At the same time, she joined a holistic community, which informed and inspired her Story Walking practice, and in 2011, Wendy created a lyrical Storywalker CD, Fiddlesticks, to introduce the concept of Story Walking to children and parents. Wendy’s stories and associated lessons combine mindful walking, word play, environmental education and spirituality to nurture the personal development of her followers. From there, Wendy began leading programs for in-school and out-of-school-time (OST) enrichment.

One of her first youth work assignments was to form an after-school walking club to help an unusually obese child get more physically active, make friends, and increase self-esteem. At the core of the Story Walking practice is the concept that each individual is the main character in his or her own unique life story, holding the power to weave the fabric of that story through the conscious energetic choices of words, thoughts, intentions and actions, elicited in response to both fortunate and unfortunate situations. Inevitably, each story becomes an important piece of the great storied tapestry of humanity.

In 2014, Wendy published her Storywalker children’s book, The Angel Heart. Dedicated to her late father, this poetic story presents a metaphor for finding the peace, love and joy within ourselves when confronted with sadness, loss and grief.

In 2016, Wendy’s faced the unimaginable, when her 19-year-old son, Neil, was diagnosed with DIPG, an aggressive, rare, inoperable form of the brain stem cancer. Doctors said he would be dead within three months. Neil’s story was an epic battle on multiple fronts, where he rose above overwhelming adversity to outlive his prognosis enough to create a lasting impact on the world, before finally departing from his physical body. His story continues beyond his passing, as his spirit guides Wendy and the rest of his family in finding ways to bring greater hope and joy to children experiencing life threatening illnesses and other challenges. After a year of caregiving and a time of intense grief, Wendy was guided back to her Story Walking practice with a higher sense of purpose and seeks to expand her practice through the Story Walking Radio Hour.

Affiliated with The Empowerment Factory, Wendy is recognized for her creative collaboration with many youth-focused organizations and Title I schools. She is also a regular contributor to Natural Awakenings healthy living magazine, writing articles about children, health, and environmental issues.

Learn more at storywalking.com, email wendy@netwalkri.com or call 401 529-6830. Connect with Wendy to order copies of Fiddlesticks, The Angel Heart or Storywalker Wild Plant Magic Cards.

Subscribe to Wendy’s blog Writing with Wendy at www.wendyfachon.blog.
Join Wendy on facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/StoryWalkingRadio