About Jody Paterson
Jody Paterson is a writer, editor and communications strategist with 27 years experience writing for B.C. daily newspapers. She is actively engaged on a number of social fronts in Greater Victoria, and works closely with the community’s sex workers and those living on the streets to raise awareness of their issues and bring about change.
Jody is former executive director of the Prostitutes Empowerment Education and Resource Society and prior to that was an award-winning newspaper journalist and manager at daily papers in Kamloops and Victoria. She continues to write a weekly opinion piece for the Victoria Times Colonist.
As a member of the Greater Victoria Coalition to End Homelessness, Jody leads its Experiential Working Group, which gathers the voices and concerns of the street community to advise the work of the coalition.
In 2008, Jody was named a Harvey Stevenson Southam fellow, and invited to teach journalism in the UVic writing department for a semester.
Jody has three children, two step-children and four grandsons.
You can email Jody at: jodypaterson@shaw.ca
The Downside of Clean, Safe Streets
After travelling through Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam, Jody Paterson finds Canadian streets rather empty … and rather boring.
Mother Never Told You: Love Hurts
I’ve been a mother since before I was even an adult, having had my first child at 17. It’s been an interesting ride, to say the least. I’ve learned some things about motherhood in the 36 years since then. Three kids, two stepkids and five … Read more →
Making Music for the Street
I saw Darth Vader near the Inner Harbour today, a sure sign that spring is approaching. A few hardy buskers keep going through the dark days of winter in Victoria, but street performers like Darth generally keep a low profile until the weather gets … Read more →
We Love the Ones We’re With
Valentine’s Day, 1992. We grin at the camera, our cheeks flushed almost as red as the heart-shaped balloons and streamers draped everywhere in that tiny basement suite we lived in at the time. I was crazy about him then. Now, I look at that … Read more →
From Perky to Practical: Gym-Inspired Thoughts on Aging
I do have fond memories of a brief couple of years as a Mrs. Robinson-like character, and you can’t help but feel just a moment or two of regret when you realize you’ve grown old enough that the young Benjamins of this world now view you warmly as a harmless mother substitute.
The Brothel Project: One Strange Journey
I guess I can consider myself a movie star now, even if The Brothel Project is the only film I ever star in. I don’t know if I’ve ever been as nervous as I was in the moments just before the movie started, having not been allowed to see it before its debut on January 31 at the Victoria Film Festival.
