Our Team
Grace Eidse
I have a Master’s degree in Education and have developed and delivered training programs in Canada and in Africa. In 2005 I established a not for profit company that helps immigrants settle in Manitoba. My personal strengths are learning languages and facilitating communication between people and cultures, and I also love gardening.
My work has been very rewarding, but after spending 20 years at a desk job, I felt an urgency to leave the city. I wanted to get out on the land – live a more physical life. I want to reduce my dependency on fossil fuels, hydro-electric power and imported goods. I want to join those who are working to live more respectfully and harmoniously in nature. I want to plant trees, regenerate the soil, grow and preserve my own food, harness power from the sun and wind, and live more sustainably by using local resources.
I was drawn to Myriad Village because it provided me with a community that shares my vision. I want to help Myriad become a place where people from around the world come to learn, teach, practice and develop skills for self-sufficiency.
Check out the house icon under my photo to view the hempcrete tiny house I built on the land.
Brad O'Neill
I would like to share a few bits about me here and hope to share so much more with you in person. Others might think my journey long and hard, but I have seen it to be the exact thing that got me to HERE. I have a great passion for building and fixing and working with natural building materials and methods. There are many trending words to describe what I simply call building for Beings and the Earth. I love sharing my experience with those that wish to take it to the next level. You will often hear me asking others to come “ be part of…”
The next generation is where I choose to invest. My hope is to be seen as a brother, a father, a grandfather, and a loving friend to all. I believe in being discerned by my actions more than my words. I have endless faith in the young people of today and strive to share my never give up attitude with great passion! Children are a blessing I enjoy beyond words; a blessing that is ever present in the smiles they bring me. What more is possible?
There is much work to be done and together we can be the change that we wish for in our lives and in the world.
Justin Lecocq
My partner Nickeeya and I offer a meaningful contribution to the environmental crisis. Myriad Village represents the next step for our family to build a sustainable future for humanity. Our goal is to function as a carbon negative family while developing models and opportunities for others to do the same. While reducing our cost of living, we can create space in our life to continue our meaningful contributions to this beautiful planet.
For 10 years I worked for a non-for profit wildlife advocacy group, I was able to play a role in numerous effective campaigns to preserve the integrity of our natural environment. For 8 years I have studied green and natural building methods applicable to Manitoba’s climate. Including 1 year working as a timber framer. I have gone on to work in partnership with “Beyond Creative Design” as a general contractor and designer. I have spent a better part of these 8 years designing our own house. Our “Eco-Nest” is a 980 sq ft, passive solar, straw-bale, timber-frame house. I am also a certified permaculture designer.
Above all I value Honesty, Love, Humility, Nature, & Change. I live in awe of the cosmos and honour life in all forms; From the Bacteria and Fungi that live inside of me to the brilliant universe that encompasses my true form. I have committed this life to embody harmony within the earth.
Holly Alexandra
I am grateful for all the roots before me, present connections, and all the new projects for the greater good. Myriad Village is a key component in this vision of a healthy future, and I am eternally grateful to have been invited to learn more about it soon after it began. I aspire to meld my work/life together holistically by supporting and advocating for peace-building, alliances with key players in community development, and maintaining passion and current knowledge of environmental healing techniques. I feel that life can become purely a miracle and full of love from the state of being in harmony with nature.
“No one is to blame. But we are all responsible.” (to heal…)
As a graduate from the Community Economic Development Program, I am equipt with many resources and have gathered experience to share with Myriad. I have initiated an exchange hub in Winnipeg’s Exchange District called Yewtopia, which serves as an urban space for rural Myriad members time to time. In addition to the Vere Hunt Scott Eco-Spheric Library and Archive + more niche books added by myself at Yewtopia, where I worked to process, organize, and display most of the collection. See a new social media link for that soon*
I also began building with pallets in the loft spaces in a historical building. It was fun to experiment and see how they can be measured and matched to make ‘block walls’ (with some heavy long boards to connect the columns of pallets) We made walls to block workshop/furnace room, a loft above laundry and washrooms, and also separate studios to rent out. Short-term: I am building a 3-season cabin on the land, with a few trailer loads of pallets and much more reclaimed materials I have sorted * I also focus on creating berry patches and like to study what naturally grows year-to-year, when the wild seeds ‘fall from the sky’ (from the many birds) or when the wind blows strong and things shift around. Long-term: I would love to contribute a retreat for cleansing or fasting, as well as Markets, Festivals, and Meetups for city folk who may be lacking vitamin-nature or healthy nutrient dense food
Nickeeya Malenfant
I grew up in rural Manitoba, on the edge of town by the river. I remember the silence of laying in the grass, or snow, bringing me to a place of total relaxation and security. I’ve lived in the city for 12 years now, yearning for that country silence and feelings of security once again. Being part of Myriad Village provides my family with these fundamental values of community, sustainable living and the possibility of food security. I love my family, friends… and food! I’m passionate about growing healthy organic foods, having clean water and air, being in contact with the earth and being part of the entire process of nourishing and sustaining these bodies. All the while, not doing it alone but as part of a community!
I truly enjoy traditional methods of cooking and sharing the bounty with good company. Before having my two beautiful children, I spent my early adult life working in the health food industry and studied horticulture and farming on small farms. I’m a mother, partner, artist, dancer, hostess, cook, Reiki master and a palmist! I’m an open person who values family and friends above all else, for I truly believe we are here to make meaningful connections and heal, ourselves and our home, planet earth.
Kat Hay
Apart from spending many hours on the land for recreation and ceremony, to deal with the stress, I started incorporating short breathwork practices from YouTube into my daily routine.
In just a short period, I felt a huge sense of relief as blockages were released. This newfound love for breathing practices and a desire to bring breathwork to others, led me to enroll in Michael Stone’s Neurodynamic Breathwork training and a pranayama teacher training program, which were completed Spring of 2023. See Levity link to learn about what I offer, alongside Keeya *
Aside from my passion for breathwork, I am also a postpartum doula with 14 years of experience and a certified breastfeeding counsellor. It’s amazing how breath and working with infants is connected. After all, the first thing we do when born is BREATHE.
In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my family, making music with friends growing plants and forever being a student soaking up the abundant wisdom offered by the world and beyond.
Francesca Cesari
I have certificates as a Birth Doula, Neuro Linguistic Programming practitioner, and Reiki practitioner. Currently studying hairstyling as a trade, and simultaneously enrolled as an apprentice at Hollow Reed School of Healing Arts. I intend to combine the two for a holistic approach to health and beauty!
I have had dreams of living in an eco-village and a shipping container house since I was about 23 years old, when Zeppelynn was born. Then I met Keeya and Justin a few years later! I truly believe that participation in a community gives a sense of purpose and belonging that is so absent in society. Myriad feels like a safe haven full of health, happiness and connection; A place where creativity, sharing and healing is welcomed and cherished without judgement. I look forward to spending summers there with my daughter Zeppelynn and learning to garden and build together.
Long term I can envision opening retreat/rehabilitation accommodations at Myriad for those struggling with mental illness and addiction. Perhaps wellness /music and art festivals as well as mother/daughter retreats for cultivating connection and free-dance events.
Service offerings include dreadlock installation, maintenance, and care. Call to book 204-481-1947
Indira Rampersad
She is a remedial massage therapist, since graduated from the Massage Therapy College of Manitoba back in 2000.
After years of practicing in Whistler, Indira traveled to Thailand and India to study massage. She now offers skills and experience including cranial-sacral massage out of her home and offers a variety of techniques at Thermea Spa where she works.
She has further studied the mind-body connection with Feldenkrais training. This February, she will graduate from that program in Kelowna, BC, as a Keldenkrais facilitator. Contact her through Indo Massage Therapy & Healing Arts Winnipeg.