She Was Homeless Twice. Now She's Feeding 1,000 Families a Week | Mystery Furtado | FilAfrik Podcast

Описание: She gave her grandmother insulin injections at age 9. She was homeless twice in London, Ontario. Today she runs a non-profit charity, a natural health brand, and a 1.5-acre urban farm — feeding over 1,000 families every week.

Meet Mystery Furtado — CEO of Type Diabet-It and founder of Granny P's — in one of the most powerful conversations we've had on the FilAfrik Podcast.

In this episode, Mystery shares:
→ Growing up in Guinea-Bissau and learning to give insulin as a child
→ The gaps in Canadian healthcare for people of color and why diabetes advice fails Black patients
→ Going through homelessness, shelters, and family court, and using that pain to birth a vision
→ How Granny P's was inspired by her grandmother "Granny Power" and ancestral natural medicine
→ Getting into Quartermasters, London's leading health food store, after 5 years of grinding
→ Running 1,900 data points across 14 schools and achieving a 40%+ increase in ethnic food consumption
→ Growing food — okra, effocco, hot peppers — on 1.5 acres of urban farmland in London, Ontario
→ Rescuing 2,000+ pounds of food every week for Black and marginalized families
→ What true resilience looks like (and why it's an overused word)
→ "Every day I wake up knowing that I am my ancestors' wildest dreams."

If you are an entrepreneur, a community builder, a health advocate, or someone who just needs to hear that your darkest season is not your final chapter, this episode is for you.

🌱 Support Type Diabet-It Canada: www.diabeat-it.ca
🌿 Shop Granny P's: www.grannyp.ca
📍 Volunteer at the farm (London, Ontario): [email protected]

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📌 CHAPTERS
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0:00 – Opening: "I am my ancestors' wildest dreams"
0:46 – Meet Mystery Furtado — Type Diabet-It & Granny P's
1:38 – What got you started?
2:14 – Giving Grandma insulin at age 9
2:38 – Roots: Guinea-Bissau and East African heritage
4:24 – Moving to Canada and seeing the gaps in healthcare
5:32 – Why diabetes care fails women of color
7:07 – "They told me my son was going to be blind"
8:21 – Navigating homelessness, shelters, and family court
9:47 – What pushed you to start a non-profit?
10:32 – Birthing a vision through trials and tribulations
11:10 – Knocking on 100 doors to find your first believer
12:30 – Becoming a registered charity
13:19 – Starting at the London Food Bank with 4 rows of crops
14:35 – "You never know what you need to know until you need to know it"
14:51 – The poverty nobody talks about: knowledge, resources, network
17:16 – The story behind Granny P's ("Granny Power")
18:37 – Putting science behind ancestral medicine
19:25 – Getting into Quartermasters — the first big stamp of recognition
20:16 – The mistake of expanding too slowly
22:29 – Did entrepreneurship make you a better leader?
24:30 – On resilience — the most overused word
25:20 – "I am my ancestors' wildest dreams" — what that really means
26:06 – "Sacrifice means love"
30:07 – What's happening on 1.5 acres of urban farmland in London?
31:06 – How Type Diabetics got their land (the divine alignment story)
33:07 – London Community Foundation grant + container kitchens + solar
35:06 – Feeding 700–800 Black families every week
36:12 – Rescuing 2,000+ pounds of food weekly — all volunteer
38:43 – The future of Type Diabet-It and Granny P's
41:16 – Goal: 100 store locations for Granny P's this year
42:16 – Why Mystery wants to create jobs, not just impact
45:34 – How YOU can support Type Diabet'It
46:04 – Public Health Agency of Canada partnership
46:23 – 40% increase in ethnic food consumption across 14 schools
49:32 – Rapid fire questions + closing

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🎙️ ABOUT THE FILAFRIK PODCAST
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The FilAfrik Podcast features conversations with African diaspora entrepreneurs, leaders, and community builders across Canada. Hosted by Patrick Dinneya, Founder & CEO of FilAfrik — London, Ontario's Afro-cultural experience company.

🔔 Subscribe for new episodes:    / @thefilafrikpodcast  
📸 Instagram: @filafrikofficial
🌐 Website: www.filafrik.ca

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