Not wanting to be stuck indoors and in an effort to retain \u201csome semblance of sanity,\u201d Cassell took her then 18-month-old baby to check out the playgrounds near her house, taking it upon herself to map them all out with Google pins and sharing the locations on Facebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe information I shared of all these really amazing playgrounds was being received very well from parents who were in the same boat as me, parents just looking for something to do in Winnipeg during that time,\u201d the stay-at-home mom says.<\/p>\n
While the pandemic kickstarted the mapping-winnipeg.com site and its corresponding Facebook page, Mapping Winnipeg\u2019s roots can be traced to 2015, when Cassell published the inaugural Winnipeg Halloween Map, following it up with Winnipeg Christmas Lights Map a year later.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the Christmas map had really taken off, I started seeing feedback from people wanting more maps. And something that stuck out to me were parents looking for things to do. That\u2019s where the playground map came from,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n Carol Cassell started Mapping Winnipeg during the pandemic while exploring playgrounds in her neighbourhood.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Cassell, 37, credits the endeavour with keeping her motivated during a difficult period in her life. At the time, the new mother was grappling with post-partum depression.<\/p>\n \u201cI had prenatal depression while I was pregnant, which just got worse after my daughter was born. I was suicidal. I was self-harming. I had non-stop intrusive thoughts and I was crying all the time barely able to handle life. It was horrible. I had it for three years before I got help, started medication and began going to regular therapy,\u201d Cassell says.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have depression it is very hard to find the energy to do anything. That little bit of dopamine from doing those maps helped keep me sane. I made the maps for myself so I could go out, but what really kept me motivated was knowing it was helping other people, too.\u201d<\/p>\n When she was 26, Cassell, bored in her retail job, sought guidance from a career counsellor.<\/p>\n He asked her what it was she really wanted to do so she told him the truth: she wanted to do something that helped other people.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd when I told him that he laughed at me. He said, \u2018Oh, everyone wants to do that.\u2019 It was like being slapped in the face,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n If only he could see her now.<\/p>\n \u201cI try to make everything as accessible for every different kind of person.\u201d<\/p>\n Cassell\u2019s Mapping Winnipeg Facebook page has grown to 24,000 followers, a responsive community of parents and caregivers who chime in with their own experiences, jot down quick little reviews and make suggestions whenever she posts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the kind of organic engagement social media managers dream about \u2014 a relationship built on trust because Cassell, like them, is a parent. She\u2019s been through what they\u2019ve been through, she knows exactly what they\u2019re looking for and she\u2019s done all the hard work for them.<\/p>\n Cassell checks the page several times a day to answer questions and moderate in case followers step over the line. Luckily it\u2019s not something she\u2019s had to deal with on that particular page.<\/p>\n It has, however, become somewhat of an issue in two of her other Facebook groups \u2014 Winnipeg Halloween Map and Winnipeg Christmas Map, which have nearly 90,000 followers combined.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year I\u2019ve noticed a rise in more racist and bigoted comments, a lot more hate than I\u2019ve ever experienced before. Previously I\u2019d have to get rid of one or two comments in a season and now I have to moderate almost every day,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \u201cAnyone who makes hateful comments I just immediately remove and block from the group.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe process is much more chaotic and much less organized than you may imagine.\u201d<\/p>\n On the Mapping Winnipeg website, there are 11 active maps covering everything from seasonal activities to thrift store locations to the ever-popular Winnipeg Playgrounds Map, which has 751,000 views and counting.<\/p>\n Cassell has been approached when out and about by people requesting what they would like to see on the site.<\/p>\n She chats with parents during special events she runs at her local community centre and has ongoing conversations with families and caregivers she meets at playgroups and during school pickup \u2014 invaluable community interactions that help her decide what to map next.<\/p>\n She\u2019s also active on parenting groups and says one of the most repeated requests is for birthday party venues aimed at specific ages.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you Google \u2018birthday party locations in Winnipeg\u2019 the results are filtered. You don\u2019t just see a list of every local business that offers parties; instead, it\u2019s blogs and Reddit threads and advertisements and then a few actual local business websites. There is nothing comprehensive related to what you are looking for,\u201d she shares.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I try to make everything as accessible for every different kind of person; by having maps, by having lists, by having photos\u2026 everything I can think of to make Winnipeg more accessible for families.\u201d<\/p>\n One of Cassell\u2019s more important ongoing projects is her map of free drop-in groups for families with newborns to five-year-olds, an important resource for those isolating early years of parenting.<\/p>\n Cassell calls it a hobby, but there\u2019s a lot involved to keep on top of a website, three Facebook pages and maps that need constant updates, especially if you\u2019re doing it all by yourself.<\/p>\n She doesn\u2019t use aggregators to compile her lists or web scrapers to trawl the internet, using keywords to pull everything into one handy file.<\/p>\n Working in the evenings with a show lined up on TV and all three of her devices \u2014 phone, laptop and desktop computer \u2014 she goes through new suggestions, searches for places to include in her maps and updates her 2,000 listings and pictures.<\/p>\n \u201cThe process is much more chaotic and much less organized than you may imagine. It\u2019s just me digging through websites and photos to get information that is helpful to parents and caregivers. I tried using Chat GPT to pull basic information, but it wasn\u2019t always accurate,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t MIKAELA MACKENZIE \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n The Mapping Winnipeg website has 11 maps covering everything from seasonal activities to thrift store locations.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Accuracy is important to Cassell. She wants the information she provides to be up-to-date, correct and, most importantly, free.<\/p>\n Cassell is not interested in monetizing any aspects of Mapping Winnipeg. She has been approached by people with offers to turn the site into a passive income stream but has declined. She\u2019s has no plans to paywall the site or make it it a subscription-only service.<\/p>\n \u201cI had the monetization feature turned on on Facebook but I\u2019ve made one cent, so I don\u2019t know if I\u2019m doing it right,\u201d she says, laughing.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want it to become like a job. I enjoy doing it as a hobby. I would love to do some sort of social media job one day, but not with Mapping Winnipeg. I enjoy that it\u2019s free to everyone. I think information should be free. It\u2019s important to me that it is as accessible as possible to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Conceived as a way for her to meet her own needs, Cassell\u2019s maps have grown far beyond that. Not only has she created an invaluable resource that addresses the needs of local families in a practical way, she\u2019s also built a village of similarly minded parents and caregivers.<\/p>\n \u201cI have gotten to meet so many different people by doing these maps. I feel like I\u2019ve had dozens of interactions with people I never would have met, and I\u2019ve learned a little more about what makes Winnipeg a great place to live. It matters to me that I am having a positive impact on other people\u2019s lives and the lives of their children. It\u2019s very rewarding to know it\u2019s helping other people,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/avkitching<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t AV Kitching AV Kitching is an arts and life writer at the Free Press. She has been a journalist for more than two decades and has worked across three continents writing about people, travel, food, and fashion. Read more about AV<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting AV produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n \t\t
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