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The ACT e-Bulletin
Volume 3, Number 2 | May/June 2008
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ACT’s 25th Anniversary
July 18, 2008 marks the 25th anniversary of the founding of the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). Since 1983, we’ve provided free, confidential support services and prevention education to people living with, affected by, and at risk for HIV/AIDS.
To commemorate this milestone, we will be revealing a brand new agency logo in late June. We will also host a number of events throughout our anniversary year, including a special community event to be held the evening of Friday, July 18 at The Barn (418 Church Street).
More information is forthcoming, but for now, circle July 18 on your calendar!
Registration Extended for Spring Support Groups
Are you living with HIV/AIDS? Do you feel isolated or want support? It’s not too late to join one of ACT’s peer-based support groups:
Creative Journeys of Discovery: Meditation & Expressive Arts
April 28 – June 23, Mondays 1 - 3 p.m.
Stimulate your senses and experience healing and renewal as you enjoy guided imagery meditation that takes you on a path of discovery. Continue this journey through the creative process as you discover the joy and wonder of spontaneous expression. Embrace visual art, clay, movement and writing as ways to inhabit and explore the present and connect your energy to a greater energy. Watch as the canvas of your life emerges, coloured with your individual emotions and experiences.
Art Therapy
First week of May – June 25, Wednesdays 6 - 8 p.m.
Are you living with HIV/AIDS? Do you need an outlet for your feelings, but don’t feel comfortable talking about them? Connect with others and explore your emotions and experiences through art, with the option of sharing as much or as little about your work as you’d like with the group.
Newly Diagnosed Group
May 1 – July 10, Thursday Evenings
Have you been diagnosed with HIV in the past year? Are you working through feelings and experiences related to your diagnosis? This group provides an opportunity for you to connect with other newly diagnosed people in a safe, supportive environment. Join this facilitated group discussion, and support one another in exploring your experiences, feelings and thoughts on the future.
To register for any of these groups, please contact a case manager or counsellor, or contact Kate at 416-340-8484 ext. 283 or kmurzin@actoronto.org.
Community Health Forums: Looking Ahead
With “Youth and HIV: Sexuality, Confidentiality, and Access to Treatment” on April 19, ACT wrapped up another successful series of Community Health Forums. Thanks to all of our speakers and sponsors, and to everyone who attended.
Preparation for the 2008-09 series as already well under way. Look for forums on these and other issues beginning in the fall:
• Post-Exposure Prophylaxis: Sexual Health Beyond the Condom
• Stress and Anger Management for People Living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs)
• The PHA Treatment Experience: What is it?
• And the always popular yearly update from the various major HIV/AIDS conferences around the world.
For more information, contact Robin at 416-340-8484 ext. 219 or rrhodes@actoronto.org.
ACT at Pride 2008
With Toronto’s Pride celebration just around the corner and a very special 25th anniversary campaign in the works, ACT is gearing up for the big day.
We’d like to invite you to show your pride and march with us in the Pride parade on Sunday, June 29. Interested? Contact Sergio at 416-340-8484 ext. 224 / smartinez@actoronto.org, or Rui at 416-340-8484 ext. 247 / rpires@actoronto.org.
We’re also looking for volunteers to assist with our agency booths at the Pride Community Fair. If you’re available for a shift on Saturday, June 28 or Sunday, June 29, please contact Jim at 416-340-8484 ext. 225 or jbilling@actoronto.org.
More details about our Pride Day presence to follow soon.
We look forward to seeing you!
And We Have a Winner!
Congratulations to Tim Leonard, who was the lucky winner of ACT and Conxity.com’s Life Ball Draw. Tim wins two tickets to the Life Ball in Vienna in May. ACT thanks Conxity Travel and the Austrian Tourism Board for their co-operation, and for everyone who participated in the contest and made contributions to support ACT's work. Gute Reise!
The Successes of ACT Research Day 2008
Attended by over 150 community-based researchers, service providers, and students, ACT Research Day 2008 was a success! The agency’s Knowledge and Info Management Team hosted this two-part event at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre on April 3 and 11.
Part I: Understanding Ontario’s HIV Strategies was a rare opportunity to have all Ontario’s HIV strategies discussed together in one forum. Dr. Alan Li delivered a stimulating presentation that looked at the complex challenges immigrants, refugees and non-status PHAs experience and inspired lively debate.
Part II: Knowledge for Access featured interesting and informative presentations on the TransPULSE project, the episodic nature of ‘disability’ experienced by people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs), as well as Aboriginal perspectives on PHA involvement in the response to HIV. Richard Elliott of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network delivered an interesting and thoughtful speech that examined how the research evidence that supports harm reduction initiatives in Canada is being ignored by some political decision-makers.
Special thanks go out to Buddies for hosting the event, and to the organizations that catered the lunch.
This event was made possible from generous funding by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Ontario HIV Treatment Network.
Check out the Research Day website, www.actoronto.org/researchday, for slides from the presentations. Podcasts will be available in the coming months.
Women’s Coffee Nights
Join us for Women's Coffee Night the third Wednesday of every month at 399 Church Street, fourth floor, from 6 - 8 p.m. These evenings are a perfect opportunity for women living with HIV/AIDS to connect with, support and learn from each other. All HIV-positive women are welcome. Come in for a hot cup of coffee and dinner and leave with a warmer heart!
For more information or to RSVP for Women's Coffee Night please contact Kate at 416-340-8484 ext. 313 or kmurzin@actoronto.org.
Commemorating 25 Years
This year, 2008, marks ACT’s 25th year of responding to HIV/AIDS in Toronto. It’s a time to reflect on our accomplishments, as an agency and as a community. More importantly, it’s a time to reflect on the past, to remember the friends and loved ones we’ve lost to HIV/AIDS, and to imagine a future without this epidemic. You can help us to commemorate the past and build that future by making a special gift of your support for ACT or by contacting us at 416-340-8484 ext. 279 or donations@actoronto.org.
Thank you for your support.
The Writing Project Deadline Extended
Tell your story and make a mark! This spring, ACT will publish a collection of stories by gay and bisexual men about their experiences living with HIV/AIDS.
Consider sharing your stories with your community by contributing to this collection of writings. Submissions can be up to five pages in length, or you can tell your story and have it transcribed by an ACT volunteer.
This is a project by and for HIV-positive gay and bisexual men in Ontario. Trans men living with HIV who identify as gay or bisexual are welcome to participate.
The deadline has been extended. Get your story in by May 16, 2008!
For more information, visit www.actoronto.org/writingproject or call Kate at 416-340-8484 ext. 283.
Registration for AIDS Walk for Life Toronto 2008 Now Open
Are you ready to walk? AIDS Walk for Life Toronto is back this September. The big day is Sunday, September 14 and registration is now open! You can register as an individual walker or as a team by logging on to www.aidswalkforlifetoronto.ca. Register and start collecting pledges now!
Stay tuned for more information about the route and entertainment. If you have questions, contact Jasmine at jtaulla@actoronto.org.
Two-day BookAIDS Extravaganza
Once again, ACT is proud to present our BookAIDS event over two days. ACT clients and other people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs) are invited to join us in room 220 at our 399 Church Street offices on Wednesday, June 18 from 4 - 8 p.m. and Thursday, June 19 from 12 - 4 p.m. for free books and CDs. Browse through an amazing selection of titles generously provided to our clients by leading Canadian publishing houses and community donors. For more information, contact 416 340-8484 ext. 230.
ACT’s Condom Dispenser Network Expands
The ACT Outreach Team welcomes the addition of Zipperz bar to our already extensive Condom Dispenser Network. Current partners include Alibi, Black Eagle, Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, Fly Nightclub, George’s Play, Glad Day Bookstore, HALCO, The Barn and Woody’s.
ACT’s Condom Dispenser Network is an outreach program that delivers outreach materials whenever our community partners are open. Twice each week, a team of dedicated volunteer “condom fairies” restocks these dispensers with condom-lube packs and sexual health resources. In 2007, this program distributed more than 150,000 condoms and nearly 100,000 lube packets reaching more than 110,000 people.
Look out for our condom dispensers in an establishment near you!
Employment Action Can Help!
Living with HIV/AIDS? Are you looking for work or wondering if it’s the right time to (re)enter or stay in the workforce? At Employment Action, our experienced career consellors will meet with you confidentially to review your situation and help you make a plan.
Not sure what career is right for you? Our career counsellors are trained can help you figure out what vocation best suits to you.
Concerned about the impact of your earnings on your health benefits? We provide advice about maintaining income benefits after you return to work. This includes how to maintain drug coverage, even if you are coming off income supports, and also how to re-apply for rapid re-instatement of benefits if that should become necessary.
We’re happy to review your work history, discuss any HIV-related concerns you might have, and help you identify disclosure issues and barriers to (re)employment, such as gaps in work history. Your counsellor will then help you develop a step-by-step action plan to achieve your career goals.
Contact Employment Action at 416-623-1782 or 416-340-2437. We look forward to hearing from you!
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