Positive Youth Outreach: History
In 1990, two HIV-positive youth recognised the need for services that would deal with their issues and needs. Initially, they organized a 12-week support group and eventually PYO was formed. It soon grew to become an organization where members found relief from isolation, by having access to a safe place where they could meet, share, support and challenge one another. PYO was the first, and presently one of only a few organizations in Canada with this mandate. We continue to be run by-and-for HIV-positive youth!
Over the first five or six years, PYO received support through various agencies, including the Ontario Ministry of Health, the Toronto People with AIDS Foundation and the Youth Substance Abuse Program, with whom PYO briefly shared office space. A volunteer advisory committee was established. The agency ran a few support groups and offered seminars on peer support for poz youth, but eventually moved in a more social direction. PYO faced difficulties in the late-1990s as funding became scarce, the small volunteer base became increasingly overworked and the number of service users decreased. In 2000, PYO kept on fighting: a bit more funding was secured and the agency established its own office at 790 Bay Street. With its own office space, the number of clients increased and the need for services grew; a women's group and a speaker's bureau was formed.
In 2001, PYO's board of directors approached the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT) to entertain the possibility of a partnership, and after much discussion, PYO merged and became a partnership program with ACT on October 1, 2001. The advisory committee continues to meet monthly, is made up of at least 60% HIV-positive youth and provides directional support for PYO. Currently, ACT assumes administrative, financial and supervisory responsibilities for PYO, which has allowed our staff and volunteers to concentrate on delivering services to HIV-positive youth. In August of 2002, PYO moved out of its office on Bay Street and into the ACT building at 399 Church Street, where we remain today. Around the same time, the first issue of our bi-annual newsletter, NO MORE DRAMA (now called "Re-charge") was put together. Today, while taking time to reflect on our history, PYO looks forward to a future so bright that it's practically blinding!
Positive Youth Outreach (PYO) is a Toronto based, peer-driven program with the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). PYO works to empower, support, and affirm the lives of young people under 30 living with HIV.
PYO's programming aims to address all aspects of young people's lives, in order to reduce isolation, self-destructive behaviours, and the cycle of oppression. We advocate for ourselves to ensure that as young people living with HIV/AIDS we can live happier, healthier lives as engaged active citizens. We support the leadership and personal development of our fellow HIV-positive peers through education, skills development and support by providing new opportunities.
While our primary focus is local, we collaborate provincially, nationally and globally in the form of community outreach and educational activities to promote compassion and understanding for young people living with HIV.
