County FM’s eight-part documentary podcast series, Voices from the Shadows — Homeless in a Rural Community, won Best Documentary at the National Community Radio Association annual conference in Sydney, Nova Scotia. General Manager Craig Mills was on hand to collect the award.

The series was produced in 2022-23, the product of exhaustive research into the fabric of the community, including the places where it doesn’t quite hold. The work involved a team of over 15 volunteers and 60 interviews. Individual episodes trace addiction, mental health, trauma, facilities such as Kate’s Rest, and, as in an episode entitled “The Kindness of Strangers,” those who try to help.

“It’s a huge honour for the station, and for the volunteers and individuals who helped tell this important story,” said Mary Ann Farrell, who sits on the station’s Board.

99.3 County FM (CJPE) launched in 2014, under the vision of Jim (JJ) Johnson, who put in everything he had to create a voice for the community to which he had come to live.

Now, ten years later, “The Voice of the County” is one of the largest community radio stations in Canada. It has a team of 100 volunteers, and an active Board chaired by Mr. Johnson, and including Mike Harper, Phil Knox, Christine Searle, Astrid Young, Geoff Craig, Ken Murray, Lynn Pickering, Mary Ann Farrell, Mark Despault, Sheila Hurley Mathers, and Nancy Griffin.

Over those same ten years, the County experienced a massive shift; JJ was not the only city dweller drawn by the peace, beauty and activity here. Since his arrival, the entire population has been transformed. While the numbers are still holding steady at about 27,000, they are deceptive.

According to the County Foundation’s Vital Signs report, in the five years from 2016-2021, 5200 people left the county, and 6200 arrived. That’s a net intake of about 1000 people. The population count, in other words, was steady. But the same phenomenon occurred in the five years before that, when 3500 left and 4000 came.

These numbers add up. Over half the people who live here now have moved in from the city. And about 10,000 long-time residents have moved out. County FM’s documentary charts the impacts of this huge demographic shift.

People are leaving the County because they cannot afford it, and the people arriving are coming, at least in part, because they can. In the past ten years, over a third of the permanent population of the County has been replaced.

City dwellers come with big city dollars. Property prices doubled in the same decade. Yet over 10 percent of County residents live with low income, or an after-tax income of less than $36,400.

Voices from the Shadows investigates this societal crisis. The documentary makes Prince Edward County representative: what is happening here is happening in rural communities all over Canada.

As Craig Mills noted, “The documentary represents the voices of homelessness, past and present, and the people trying to help them today.”

Scripts by Astrid Young are complemented with interviews by Phil Knox, Dave MacKay and Mark Rodgers. Wendy Mesley, host Jim JJ Johnston, Andrew Dailey and Chuck Dailey narrate, and the project was managed by Gillian Carson. Pat Larkin, Craig Mills, Liz Simpson, Lorraine Wilson, Cliff Prentice and Larry Richardson helped with production and research, while Lenni Stewart provided some of the music.

The award caps off a lively year for the station, which is fresh from a successful fund-raising campaign. This spring’s Radiothon raised $72,000, exceeding its target by $2000.

The radio documentary can be heard here.