ACT's Strategic Plan 2001 - 2004

ACT's Mission and Values Introduction Strategic Directions Next Steps Appendix

Download this document in PDF format

ACT’s work is guided by a Strategic Plan covering a three-year period. The Plan is the basis for staff workplans that are developed and approved annually. Given its importance, ACT carried out a careful process designed to ensure that this Plan is relevant to current conditions and anticipated trends in HIV/AIDS.

This plan was developed in early 2001 and marks the culmination of extensive consultations that began in October 2000. Our strategic planning was led by a Steering Committee that was selected to ensure it included individuals from diverse backgrounds. Consultants were retained to conduct an environmental scan, including a review of key documents, discussion with ACT board members, staff, volunteers, service users, networks, partner agencies, community media and funders (See Appendix). Strategic directions were then drafted and discussed intensively by board and staff members. Changes were made to the draft based on these discussions, and the Final Draft was adopted by the board in August, 2001.

The Strategic Plan includes five Strategic Directions:

1. ACT’s continued commitment to integrate the principles of access and equity throughout all levels of our organization.
2. ACT’s service to its current constituents (gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men, people living with HIV/AIDS, women and youth).
3. ACT’s commitment to a city-wide needs assessment and planning process.
4. ACT’s international commitment, at an appropriate level, to support the fight against the worsening global reality of HIV/AIDS.
5. ACT’s need to communicate what we do through development and implementation of an effective external communication strategy to ensure visibility of our range of programs and services.

The first two directions build on our past strategic planning efforts and successes whereas the remaining three directions reflect new directions for ACT. Together, these areas of emphasis allow ACT to maintain a commitment to its mission while positioning the organization for continued success.


Top





The AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT), a community-based, non-profit, health promotion organization, provides support, education and advocacy for people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by HIV/AIDS.

Through support, ACT serves the needs of men and women living with HIV/AIDS, in a manner that enhances their independence and dignity. We recognize:

• The diverse and changing needs of people living with HIV/AIDS;
• The diverse communities affected by HIV/AIDS;
• The importance of providing relevant and responsive services in partnership with other service providers.

Through education, building on a health promotion model for people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS:

• We promote the health, well being and quality of life for all people living with HIV/AIDS;
• Consistent with our historic role, we remain committed to addressing the unique health promotion needs of the lesbian and gay community.

Through advocacy, ACT helps individuals and communities meet their needs at the level of practical assistance, specific programs and broader public policy and support.



The AIDS Committee of Toronto strives to develop and deliver services, which are:

• Client-centred and responsive;
• Timely and relevant to the needs of clients;
• Caring and non-judgemental.

We promote respect and independence for persons living with HIV/AIDS and apply this principle to the design and delivery of all our programs and services.

ACT values and affirms the right to informed individual choices about health care, sexuality and reproduction.

We are committed to fighting the spread of HIV/AIDS through innovative prevention and education programs.

ACT values its origin in the gay and lesbian community and is committed to continuing to serve the needs of gay men and lesbians affected by HIV and AIDS.

We are committed to involving volunteers in all aspects of ACT direction setting, decision-making and service delivery. ACT recognizes that without the skill, generosity and commitment of our volunteers, it would be impossible to maintain either the range or quality of our services.

ACT plays its part in the fight against AIDS in the Toronto region by working co-operatively with other agencies, sharing experience and resources and ensuring that needs are addressed in appropriate, sensitive and efficient ways.
Top





This plan was developed in the spring of 2001 and marks the culmination of an extensive consultative process which began in the early fall 2000. The strategic planning process was developed in conjunction with a Steering Committee of the Board, which included key stakeholders of board, staff, volunteer, community, and client representation. Candidates were selected to ensure diverse representation (for example, gender, age, HIV status, ethno-cultural community). The Steering Committee coordinated the hiring of consultants who conducted an environmental scan. This environmental scan included a review of key documents and discussions with ACT board members, staff, volunteers, service users, networks, partner agencies, community media and funders (see appendix).

On completion the consultants identified a number of issues, and formulated draft strategic directions. At this point, the internal consultation with staff and Board began. To discuss the issues and draft directions the consultants facilitated a full day workshop including all staff and Board. The day concluded with a number of suggested revisions to both the formulation of issues and draft strategic directions. The consultants incorporated the points of consensus and developed a revised draft document. Since then ACT management and Board have had the opportunity to revise and refine the strategic directions and present them to staff for further input. After further refinement the Strategic Plan for 2001 –2004 was adopted by the Board of Directors in August 2001.

Top



At ACT, the foundation of our plan is based on the identification of strategic directions. Strategic directions share the following characteristics:

• They are “mission critical” which means they directly relate to what ACT does and how ACT operates,
• They have been identified by multiple stakeholders as key issues for ACT to address,
• They cross the organization and will have impact on other issues that have been identified, and
• They will help the agency focus its resources and its future decision-making.

This plan identifies five strategic directions for ACT over the next three years. They are:

1. ACT’s continued commitment to integrate the principles of access and equity throughout all levels of our organization.
2. ACT’s service to its current constituents (gay and bisexual men and other men who have sex with men, people living with HIV/AIDS, women and youth).
3. ACT’s commitment to a city-wide needs assessment and planning process.
4. ACT’s international commitment, at an appropriate level, to support the fight against the worsening global reality of HIV/AIDS.
5. ACT’s need to communicate what we do through development and implementation of an effective external communication strategy to ensure visibility of our range of programs and services.

The first two directions build on our past strategic planning efforts and successes whereas the remaining three directions reflect new directions for ACT. Together, these areas of emphasis allow ACT to maintain a commitment to its mission while positioning the organization for continued success.



To ensure equitable access to services, ACT will continue to identify, implement and coordinate strategies at all levels of the organization to reflect and serve the diverse communities of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

We are committed to ensuring access and equity throughout our own organization and through our partnerships. With our partners, we assess the needs of the communities we serve with an analysis of the social, ethno-cultural, and economic inequities that affect the determinants of health; we will address those social inequities as part of our work.




ACT’s commitment to its core constituencies builds on the commitments of the last strategic plan and the input from the current environmental scan. ACT recognizes that there are many overlaps between, and immense diversity within, the population groups outlined below. Further, although our programs and services address different components of education, prevention, support, and advocacy, we recognize that they are fundamentally linked.

Gay and Bisexual men and other Men who have Sex with Men (MSM):
For gay and bisexual men and other MSM, ACT will play a lead role in direct and joint programming in HIV prevention, education, support and advocacy. ACT will partner with other agencies serving diverse groups of gay and bisexual men and other MSM. As an integral part of this, ACT will maintain its partnership with VIVER, the Portuguese-speaking HIV/AIDS Coalition.

ACT is already seen to have a clear mandate to lead HIV prevention efforts in the gay community and in the broader MSM community. ACT will take leadership in a health promotion strategy targeting the diverse population of MSM, recognizing the broader determinants of health that affect vulnerability to HIV. ACT’s work will include needs assessments, research on factors affecting people’s change in risk behaviours, and development of new awareness raising programs and educational campaigns appropriate to the changing needs.

People living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs):
ACT will strive to provide relevant, responsive and accessible services to diverse groups of people living with HIV/AIDS. ACT will continue to play a lead role in direct and joint programming in the areas of support, HIV prevention, health promotion, advocacy and referral services. These will include counselling, support groups, practical assistance, employment support, and information services. ACT will work with partner agencies, in particular with the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation, in providing services for PHAs.

Although existing programming emphasizes MSM, women and youth from all ethnocultural groups, ACT recognizes that New Canadians, especially from endemic countries, injection drug users and Canadian aboriginal peoples represent important groups of potential service users. We believe targeted programming for these groups should arise from the proposed sector wide planning process outlined in Strategic Direction #3.

Women:
For women, ACT will provide direct and joint services in HIV prevention, education, support and advocacy. ACT recognizes that it may not be best placed to take a lead role in serving the needs of all women at-risk for, or living with HIV/AIDS. Accordingly, ACT will continue to work with and support partner agencies to enhance their capacity to address HIV issues for women, particularly through its role in the Women’s Outreach Network.

Youth:
For youth, ACT will devise health promotion and education strategies to meet the unique needs of vulnerable youth, particularly young men who have sex with men (MSM). ACT will partner with Positive Youth Outreach to maintain existing, and develop new, programming for youth prevention, education, support and advocacy.




ACT, in partnership with other interested agencies, commits to promoting and seeking support for a city-wide needs assessment and planning process. This work will support participating agencies to clarify roles, accountabilities and focus for targeted programs serving diverse populations infected with, affected by and at risk of HIV/AIDS.

By virtue of its mission, mandate and size ACT has a responsibility to all people infected, affected and at risk of HIV. ACT exercises that responsibility to different population groups in different ways. ACT's strategies to respond to different populations include: direct and joint programming and service provision, network/coalition leadership and participation, referral to other agencies, financial support to other agencies via the ACT Community Partners Fund, infrastructure support, and advocacy. ACT’s strategic direction #2 provides a current assessment of ACT’s service role for various populations; however, in Strategic Direction #3 ACT commits to review its role and strategies with other agencies, as part of a system-wide needs assessment and planning process. ACT believes that this direction will continue to support ACT’s desire to partner when possible, support other agencies where optimal and work collaboratively to close service gaps when needed.

As part of the commitment to support capacity in other agencies, ACT will encourage and participate in opportunities to exchange skills and knowledge. This may include more formalized and structured skills exchange in areas where ACT is seen to have organizational strengths.

Developing a system-wide planning and evaluation process will require delicate planning and considerable negotiation with other agencies. While ACT commits to this process in its Strategic Plan, ACT does not own this process. There may be a role for government funders and existing networks to host or support the planning framework. ACT’s efforts in recent years to improve relationships with other agencies have been successful and well received. As a result, many stakeholders, through the external scan process, have identified the need for more collaborative, systemic needs assessment and planning. ACT is committed to the concept of collaborative planning and corresponding change as is demonstrated by this direction in the Strategic Plan.



The distressing predictions in the past decade for a global HIV/AIDS epidemic have become a reality in the world today. In many developing countries, HIV/AIDS is having a devastating impact. ACT believes that HIV/AIDS is a global problem that demands a global solution, and commits to contributing to efforts to end the AIDS epidemic around the world.

There are many possible ways in which ACT can participate in the fight against HIV/AIDS internationally, including supporting the work of national and international NGOs, participation in international advocacy, sponsoring community forums and twinning with organizations in developing countries.

During the course of this strategic plan, ACT will identify appropriate opportunities for participation in the international effort against HIV/AIDS. This work aims to contribute to the fight against the global AIDS crisis, but also has the potential to enhance the work we do locally.




ACT will develop and implement a comprehensive communications strategy that conveys ACT’s program messages and effectively markets ACT’s services to the communities it serves.

Surfacing from the environmental assessment, a significant finding among volunteers, service users, partner agencies, media and others was the lack of knowledge about what ACT does. The result is that support for ACT in the community is less than it could be. More importantly, people are not accessing services that could benefit them. The lack of visibility of ACT’s program messages can also be linked to the need to see more efforts on HIV prevention. This finding is a concern and has prompted this strategic direction.

Top



The Strategic Plan outlines ACT’s focus for the next three years. Although many of ACT’s day-to-day activities are not mentioned in this plan, these activities are important – they are what will make the Strategic Plan live and develop. ACT will initiate implementation plans related to each Strategic Direction to ensure that our work supports the Directions set out in the Strategic Plan.
Top




February 2001


The findings surfacing from the Environmental Scan have been grouped into three major themes: the changing face of ACT, the changing face of Toronto, and the changing face of HIV.



ACT’s last strategic plan (1998-2001) identified four strategic directions that have guided the agency’s work over the past three years. In summary, the four priorities were 1) to address the issue of diversity, 2) to continue serving communities ACT has served in past and to also respond to women, youth, drug users, PHAs needing employment supports, immigrants and the Deaf community, 3) to stabilize human and financial resources and 4) to continue advocacy efforts.

ACT has made considerable progress on most of these directions. This strategic plan builds on the successes and progress achieved as a result of the strategic directions in the last plan.

ACT has made substantial progress on its diversity challenges. It is seen by many, but not by all, to be more welcoming to a diverse range of service users and partners. All stakeholders agree that continued progress on this commitment should remain a priority.

ACT faces an ongoing challenge of defining whom it serves, in what role, and with what resources. Some stakeholders noted that ACT’s mandate and size requires them to address the needs of everyone infected, affected and at risk of HIV. However, many argued that ACT must target its resources to those with the most compelling needs, those with needs unmet by other agencies or institutions, and those with needs that ACT has the best capacity to address. Many argued that ACT should support other agencies to increase their capacity to serve their communities. ACT’s own capacity to respond to new needs and challenges may be facing limits.

Although further role definition is seen to be necessary regarding some populations, ACT is already seen to have a clear mandate in leading prevention education for gay men and other men who have sex with men. Many feel ACT needs to improve its efforts in this area, given the incidence and prevalence statistics and given ACT’s capacity.

ACT has good and improving relationships with other AIDS organizations, and has provided support to many of them. It is seen to play a lead role in networking, and provides many programmatic, organizational and financial supports to smaller agencies. Some agencies said they would welcome more access to these supports.

Program planning and evaluation activities are limited. In particular, there are few opportunities for input from other agencies to participate in ACT’s planning and limited opportunities for ACT to participate in other agencies’ planning. There is limited ‘system-wide’ planning to identify needs, and identify best agencies and programs to meet those needs. Without this type of integrated planning approach, ACT has a tendency to take on a wide scope of responsibility and to take on services by default.

Many stakeholders argue that ACT needs to be more strategic in planning and evaluating its services. They argue that the commitment to access and equity can be achieved by a coordinated strategy with other agencies. This suggests that ACT develop a strategy to assess needs, identify which needs it can best meet, and support other agencies/communities in addressing their needs.

Given the high level of need, the value of some programs that serve small numbers of people has been questioned.

Many described ACT as a strong, stable, well-resourced agency with a solid history. It is seen to have skilled and dedicated leaders, managers, staff and volunteers. ACT is in a strong financial position, which supports innovative programming. Its fundraising efforts are high profile and successful. However, there is some thought that the fundraising strategy should include new or replacement event initiatives.

However, people do not know what ACT is or what it provides. Even long-time volunteers and current service users find it difficult to articulate and describe what ACT does. Prevention education is not as visible as it once was. Many people find ACT’s prevention messaging invisible or unclear. ACT’s image to many is as a fundraising agency.

Many of ACT’s advocacy efforts have been very valuable. Some stakeholders expressed a desire to see a more focussed advocacy strategy. While there are numerous areas for advocacy work such as community forums, pharmaceutical relations, municipal funding, HIV drug policy, HIV testing issues, and immigration-related issues, an area of growing concern on which ACT has had limited involvement is global outreach. It would appear that there is not always strong support for local organizations to involve themselves in broader international initiatives.



Toronto has a unique population with a significantly higher and more complex level of need than the rest of the province. Changing demographics, social and economic inequalities, access to food and affordable housing, and access to the broad range of health services and social supports are all factors that affect health.

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and the fifth largest in North American with a population of 2,529,280 in 1999. By 2011, the population is expected to grow by another 16%, with much of this growth resulting from immigration. Toronto receives about 36% of all immigrants to Canada and about 40% of all refugee claimants, including an increasing number of newcomers from endemic countries. It is estimated that the number of people living in Toronto who were born outside of Canada has climbed by now to over 50%.

Toronto ranked worse than the national average for rate of HIV infections. Almost 65 % of Ontario’s HIV positive diagnoses are in Toronto.

Toronto has 60% of low-income families and 75% of the households receiving social assistance in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). In addition, Toronto has 80% of the region’s recent immigrants, 69% of the seniors, 78% of the youth that live alone and 62% of the single parent families.

The housing vacancy rate dropped to 0.6% as of October 2000. The Daily Bread Food Bank reports that up to 65% of people using food banks in 2000 paid more than 50% of their income on rent. The unemployment rate dropped from 9.5% in 1995 to 6.1% for the first six months of 2000; however, the number of people living in low-income households grew by 7% and the number of low-income seniors increased by 22%. Considering this situation, it is not surprising that homelessness is getting worse. Between 1988 and 1998 the total number of admissions to Toronto shelters increased by 75%.

At the same time, our health and social service supports have been continually eroded by government cutbacks. The massive restructuring of hospitals, long term care and community based care in the last few years has brought upheaval to the patchwork of health and social services, resulting in less access to care and poorly coordinated services. For individuals from vulnerable population groups who require a higher level of support, the lack of coordinated services often means they fall through the cracks. In addition, welfare cutbacks have made affordable housing out of reach and social support services have not been increased to meet the growing demand.

It seems clear from these trends that the determinants of health that increase vulnerability to HIV infection are continuing to increase in Toronto. The need for appropriate services for people infected with, affected by and at risk of HIV will also increase.

The HIV epidemic continues to grow and evolve since communities began organizing to respond to AIDS in Canada almost 20 years ago. New HIV infections occur daily in many populations. By the end of 1999, over 20,000 people had been diagnosed with HIV in Ontario, with 65 % of them living in Toronto. 89% of all infections occurred in men. The majority of people with HIV (74%) were between the ages of 25-44.

In Toronto, men who have sex with men (MSM) account for 76% of all cases diagnosed. A recent study estimated HIV prevalence (the portion of the population who are currently positive) amongst MSM in Ontario to be 11.5% or 12,638 men and HIV incidence (the portion of the population likely to become positive within a year) to be 1% representing almost 1,000 new MSM infections in 1999 alone. The same study confirmed a 22% increase in HIV infection rates among men who have sex with men in Toronto in the first half of 2000 compared to the previous year.

The number of infections among women has remained stable since 1993 (at about 200 new infections per year). But the proportion of infections comprised by women has grown to 20% in the past three years compared to less than 10% prior to 1993.

Other studies have noted the significant HIV infection incidence in Ontario among people from endemic countries, and 46% of them reside in the Toronto area.

Internationally, the epidemic has reached catastrophic proportions, largely in countries with limited resources to respond. The devastation of HIV/AIDS is evident now in communities previously not troubled by the epidemic and it is strengthening its grip on places where it was already the leading cause of death among adults. For example, in sub-Saharan African countries, there are dramatic increases in infant mortality and reduced life expectancy. More to the point, infant and child mortality rates are expected to double and even triple in the years ahead. An effective vaccine is still years away from becoming reality.

The situation for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) in Toronto also continues to evolve. There are more people living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto than ever before. Many continue to benefit from advances in HIV treatment, but still face health, economic, social and personal disadvantages related to their HIV status. For others, unfortunately, the promise of HIV treatments has been short lived; many PHAs are now facing new health crises as drugs fail them.

The complexity of issues facing PHAs has continued to grow as the epidemic affects an increasing number of people from marginalized backgrounds. PHAs increasingly battle issues of poverty, homelessness, mental health problems and other conditions that challenge their health. At the same time, the health, social service and economic supports available to them have been continually eroded by government cutbacks.

The City of Toronto, which has been a major funder in HIV prevention programming, is currently facing big deficit forecasts and is threatening major cuts to many of its programs.

The Ontario government has set up special task forces to address the needs of the aboriginal populations and people from endemic countries. Ontario is also in the process of developing a new provincial AIDS strategy and is seeking community input.

The Federal government has just completed consultation on developing a new federal AIDS strategy which calls for: improved inter-ministerial collaboration amongst governments, aboriginal governments and communities; enhancing information strategies; improving public awareness programs; improving treatment access; and moving towards a social justice framework to address the determinants of health affecting populations with HIV/AIDS. On the other hand, the recent proposal of mandatory HIV testing and exclusion of all potential migrants with HIV poses new stigma and barriers to immigrant and refugee PHA populations many of whom live in Toronto.

donate

Help ACT by making a secure, on-line donation. All donations are tax receiptable.

what's on

• Totally outRIGHT - Leadership workshops for young gay/bi/queer guys: starts in 2012
• Community Health Forum - HIV and the effects of other conditions: Wednesday February 15, 2012
• Support Groups for People living with HIV: New group members are welcome!
• ACT Volunteer Inservice Training - Harm Reduction 101 February 23, 2012
• Free Income Tax Clinic for people with HIV: Runs February 23 - May 15, 2012

further reading

Home / About ACT ACT's Strategic Plan

Search