Old’s Cool: Heart of the community
Zahra Dhanani and Mariko Nguyen opened Old’s Cool General Store based on two guiding principles:
Relationships and spending time together in person matters.
On their model of ‘making consciousness convenient’, Dhanani and Nguyen work to create a community-centered space in their neighborhood. The store, which features household items, gifts and goods from local artisans, also features a community fridge and a free library. Old’s Cool aims to support its local community, but also focuses on the support and representation of the Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (QTBIPOC) community members and entrepreneurs.
For the past several years, Old’s Cool has sold orange t-shirts for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation with partial proceeds going to the Anishnawbe Health Foundation. With each purchase, they encourage their patrons to wear the t-shirts out in public on Orange Shirt Day and raise awareness through conversation about the impact of the Residential School System. As Residential School locations are being searched across Canada, these conversations are imperative.
We want to acknowledge and thank Zahra and Mariko for their hard work and continued support of the Anishnawbe Health Foundation. They are living in reconciliation and initiating important conversations that will be essential to change and healing for Indigenous peoples in Canada.