Outreach and Community Education
ACT provides outreach and education opportunities within our priority communities to encourage discussions about HIV, STIs, sexual health and harm reduction.
Outreach and Community Education
ACT provides outreach and education within our priority communities (at-risk women, young people, and gay, bi, and queer men) to have discussions about HIV and sexual health. With a commitment to sex positive, judgement-free, and harm reduction based approaches, ACT staff and volunteers provide free outreach, education, and sexual health and harm reduction supplies where community needs have been identified.
Find ACT on the streets, in bars and bathhouses, schools, and online. We also provide a variety of workshops and trainings for community members and service providers. Learn more about our outreach and education work below.
Community outreach activities are targeted to young people, at-risk women, and gay, bi, queer men.
Timing: outreach occurs whenever meaningful opportunities are identified. Previous events have included the following:
- Pride
- Halloween
- World AIDS Day
- International Women’s Day
- University and College Health Fairs/Student events
For more information about community outreach:
- For events geared towards young people (age 16-29), contact our PYO Coordinator at pyo@actoronto.org or 416-340-8484 ext. 265 to find out more.
- For events geared towards gay, bi, and queer men, contact the Gay Men’s Outreach Team at gmco@actoronto.org or 416-340-8484 ext. 350 to find out more.
- For events geared towards women living with or at risk for HIV contact the Women’s Community Development Coordinators at she@actoronto.org or 416-340-8484 ext. 453 or 276.
Working with our bathhouse partners, our trained volunteers provide gay, bi, and queer men a variety of free safer sex materials, information about sexual health, harm reduction and referrals to community services. We currently provide outreach at Steamworks and Spa Excess.. Call 416-340-8484 ext. 454 to find out more.
ACT has a team of trained online outreach volunteers that are available on all the major dating and hook-up apps for gay, bi, and queer men across Toronto. The outreach team responds to questions about HIV and sexual health.
Online outreach occurs on the following sites throughout the week. In brackets after each outlet is the username where you can find ACT. For location-based cruising apps our availability may vary depending on where you are.
- squirt.org (Look for ACTonline)
- adam4adam.com (Look for ACTonline)
- barebackRT.com (ACTonline)
- bear411.com (Look for BearACT)
- Grindr
- Growlr
- Plenty of Fish
- Jack'd
- Scruff
For more information about our online outreach, program contact onlineoutreach@actoronto.org or 416-340-8484 ext. 234.
Need a break from the dance floor? Bathrooms overwhelming? Our volunteers are there with the latest on safer sex and safer substance use so you and your friends can party safer.
Call 416-340-8484 ext. 454 to find out more and where to find us.
ACT’s party-safer web resource. Surf our detailed Party Drugs 101 (basics info), and harm reduction tips for a wide range of substances, including side effects, mixing, overdose prevention and information for poz guys who use drugs. Visit www.torontovibe.com
Get up to date information on crystal meth (“Tina”) from people who are currently using, have used before, and people who provide support for those affected by crystal meth. Connect and interact online anonymously to share safer use, treatment and recovery strategies. Visit www.himynameistina.com
SPUNK! is a support group for gay/bi/queer and trans men who want to make positive changes regarding drug use, whether those changes are harm reduction or abstinence. The group runs for 6 weeks, twice per year.
We explore substance use from a non-judgemental point of view, and how it impacts sex and sexuality. We teach tools for personal development and provide extensive, tailor-made referrals to services once the group is over.
For more information, contact spunk@actoronto.org or 416-340-8484 ext. 454.
Join us for workshops and discussion groups on everything from dating, relationships, sex and intimacy. Community forums cover a range of topics of interest to people living with and at risk for HIV.
Our Community Health Forums feature presentations for people living with and at risk for HIV from all genders and orientations. The forums occur monthly from September to March. For more information, check out the Forum’s page.
We also offer Totally outRIGHT, a leadership building program for young gay/bi/queer guys (under 29 yrs) held over four consecutive Saturdays.
Positive Youth Outreach (PYO) workshops talk about HIV and young people (16-29 yrs) from all sexual orientations and all genders.
We provide education, information and training to agencies in Toronto who work with women. In that way, these women’s-based organizations can better integrate HIV education and support into their work. To find out more about our service-provider training programs about women and HIV call 416-340-8484 ext. 453 or 276.