ACT Newsletter Spring 2011

Spring 2011
News
WOMEN OF
ACTION
MESSAGE FROM
HAZELLE PALMER
E
ver since the AIDS crisis first hit Toronto, women and men
have worked arm in arm to confront it. In the early 1980s,
when gay men started to become sick with a mysterious illness
and governments were slow to act, women and gay men worked
together to found a community response in our city.
Drawing on lessons from the women’s health movement, early
AIDS activists changed the way we think about health care and
people living with illness. Instead of being passive recipients of
the medical system, feminists taught us that we all deserve to
be in the driver’s seat when it comes to our own bodies and our
own health. “Nothing about us without us” still lives on today in
the HIV/AIDS movement, through principles such as the Meaningful Involvement of People Living With HIV/AIDS.
Today, HIV affects many more communities than those early
days. Although gay men remain the community most affected in
Toronto – still making up the majority of new infections – one
out of every five people newly infected with HIV in Toronto
today is a woman.
We are also seeing patterns in which women are most at risk.
Almost half of women living with HIV in Toronto are from countries with high rates of HIV infection in Africa or the Caribbean;
communities that already face discrimination and barriers to
health care in Canada.
ACT has responded to these changing trends by expanding our
programming to reach these women. We are pioneering new ways
of doing outreach and delivering services by involving women
from the communities that are most affected by HIV.
As we face the challenge of meeting these increasingly diverse
needs, financial resources for our work are shrinking – due to
shifts in government priorities, a decrease in charitable giving,
and a perception that HIV is no longer an issue locally.
Despite this, we are committed to adapting to the changing reality of HIV. Our new Strategic Plan – Resilience: Together We Are
Stronger – outlines three priority populations in which we will
focus our efforts over the next four years: gay men, women, and
youth. We want to keep you updated on how we are putting this
plan into action, starting with our new and ongoing women’s
programming in this issue.
I believe it is possible for our programming to meet the diverse
needs of all of the communities most affected by HIV in our city,
but we need your support to make it happen. Please see the back
of this newsletter for information on how you can become a
Partner in ACTion, or even make a one-time gift to help us reach
more people living with, affected by, and at risk for HIV.
Gay men, women and youth in Toronto are depending on us for
information and support. By working together, we can make a real
difference in their lives and make our communities stronger.
Sincerely,
Hazelle Palmer
Executive Director
AIDS Committee of Toronto
ACT Newsletter | 2
WOMEN AND ACT:
A BRIEF HISTORY
1983: ACT is founded in
response to a mysterious
illness primarily affecting
gay men in the city.
1998: ACT works with other
agencies to offer annual
wellness retreats for women
living with HIV.
1986: Joan Anderson becomes
the first woman to chair the
ACT Board of Directors.
2000: ACT collaborates
with other agencies to offer a
monthly Community Kitchen
for African, Caribbean and
Black women living with HIV.
1988: ACT launches the
Women and AIDS project.
The goal of the project is to
provide education and training
on HIV and women to service
providers and communities.
1992: ACT launches its
“A Little Less Latex” campaign
to let lesbians know that oral
sex is low-risk for HIV. At the
time, such messaging was
controversial.
1992: ACT launches a
support group dedicated to
women living with HIV.
2005: Women’s Coffee Nights
– a monthly social support
discussion group for women
living with HIV – start at ACT.
2010: Thanks to a grant from
the M•A•C AIDS Fund, ACT
leads the Positive Work for
Positive Women pilot project
to address the employment
needs of African, Caribbean
and Black women living
with HIV.
ACT Newsletter | 3
2010: As part of the Government of Ontario’s Women and
HIV/AIDS Initiative, ACT is
awarded funding to hire staff
to provide HIV-related information, resources and training
to service providers who work
with women.
Late 2010: After the closure
of Voices of Positive Women in
June 2010, the Public Health
Agency of Canada puts out a
targeted call for agencies to
apply to take on the work that
they had funded. ACT applies
and is successful. These
additional funds enable ACT
to enhance support programs
for women living with HIV, and
to expand the annual wellness
retreats to women living with
HIV from across Ontario.
WOMEN'S
COMMUNITY
DEVELOPMENT
T
he idea behind ACT’s new Women’s Community
Development program is to create a network of
services that can effectively support women living with,
and at increased risk for HIV across Toronto. A big part
of that work involves training on HIV-related issues with
staff who work in agencies that serve women.
making an effort to go into these communities and
build a network of resources women can rely on,
wherever they are.”
The program is part of a network of similar positions
strategically located across Ontario that form the basis
for the Women and HIV/AIDS Initiative (WHAI).
WHAI grew out of provincial research and consultations
that indicated that the best ways in which to educate
women at risk for HIV infection, and to increase access
to support for women living with HIV, was to increase
understanding about HIV and women within organizations where women are already accessing services.
“We can’t expect all women living with HIV across
Toronto, or those at increased risk for HIV
infection to come into ACT,” Ana Mateus, Women’s
Community Development Educator explains. “We are
Ana is excited about the program’s possibilities. Through
her experience as an ACT case manager and HIV
educator in the Portuguese-speaking community, she
has seen first-hand the barriers facing women living
with and at risk for HIV.
“Many women living with HIV tell us stories about
having doors closed on them by service providers,” Ana
says. “So going into an agency to conduct an HIV
workshop can have a huge impact on the lives of
HIV-positive women who access services there, as well
as women who may be at risk for HIV infection.”
With statistics showing that almost half of women living
with HIV in Toronto have immigrated to Canada from
countries with high rates of HIV infections in Africa
and the Caribbean, the program identified settlement
agencies as a key sector in which to focus outreach and
ACT Newsletter | 4
ANA
education in the first year.
“My work is about building bridges,” Ana says. “Through
community outreach, networking, training and
workshops – my goal is to educate and inform service
providers so they can provide better services and
referrals to their clients, who may be HIV-positive
women, or women at risk of infection.”
After the first year of the program, Ana will shift
focus to women’s shelters and other organizations
that work in the violence against women sector.
“If a woman is being abused, she is obviously not at
her highest comfort level for discussing and
negotiating safer sex or getting tested for HIV,”
Ana explains. “There’s a need to reach these women,
whether they are HIV-positive or at risk of infection,
to make sure they have access to woman-centred and
woman-focused HIV information and support.”
To help agencies in all of these sectors better support
women living with or at risk of HIV, the Women’s
Community Development program will also create and
update resources for them to use in their work.
With so much information being accessed online these
days, a big component of the program will be the
creation of a website for service providers where they
can access information about HIV and women. The
added bonus will be that the website will also be relevant
and accessible to women at risk of, and living with, HIV.
ACT Newsletter | 5
FOR POSITIVE WOMEN
POSITIVE WORK
“Keep the public focused on
HIV/AIDS as a critical issue.
Continue to keep the issue of
HIV/AIDS visible and continue
to fight for the rights of
HIV-positive people.”
B
efore the introduction of new medical treatments
to treat people living with HIV in the 1990s, an
HIV-positive diagnosis often meant taking temporary or
permanent leave from regular employment in order to
take care of your health.
Ten years ago, AIDS service organizations in Toronto
noticed an influx in service users who were living
healthier and wanted to re-enter the workforce. In
response, Employment ACTion was born, a program
to provide skills training to people living with HIV and
place them in jobs with supportive employers.
The benefits of working for an income are more than just
monetary. Working helps to improve self-esteem, give
a sense of purpose, and reduce social isolation – all of
which are factors in improving mental health.
But for many people living with HIV, other income options are needed. Women – especially African, Caribbean
and Black women – often face challenges integrating into
the Canadian job market for a variety of reasons, including
family responsibilities, language barriers, and a lack of
recognition of international credentials and experience.
To address these barriers, ACT initiated a pilot project
through Employment ACTion called Positive Work for
Positive Women, in partnership with the Black Coalition
Nadia
“ACT needs to figure
out who it can serve
well, and not try to
be everything to
everyone.”
ACT Newsletter | 6
for AIDS Prevention, Africans in Partnership Against
AIDS, and Women’s Health in Women’s Hands.
What is micro-finance?
Microfinance has been around
for 30 years in international
development. Small amounts of
money are provided to people
who otherwise wouldn’t qualify
for loans from a traditional
banking institution. The money
is used to start a small business that provides additional
income for their families, such
as running a vegetable stall at
a farmers’ market or providing
services such as haircuts.
“We held a day-long forum in November that was all
about building employment skills, one component of
which was self-employment,” says Nadia Bello, Project
Coordinator for Positive Work for Positive Women. “A
lot of those women have since come forward expressing
interest in starting their own business.”
Thanks to a grant from the M•A•C AIDS Fund, the
pilot project will provide five of these women with a
small seed grant to assist in the development of their
own micro-business, following four months of training
and support from Business Development Consultant
Yamoa Apea.
Although the concept is wellestablished in an international
development context, microfinance is not widely practiced
in Canada. Positive Work
for Positive Women is a pilot
project intended to find out if
micro-finance is a viable means
of income generation for people
living with HIV in Ontario.
“A lot of the women in this pilot project come from
cultures where microfinance is well-established, where
there’s a culture of entrepreneurship, where people
really do what they have to do to make ends meet,” Nadia
explains. “The issue is not that these women don’t know
how to be entrepreneurs. The issue is how do you do that
in a Canadian context and in a Canadian market.”
“We hope that the training will give them a new set of
skills, build their capacity to develop a new business,
and help them achieve financial independence.”
What is a micro-business?
A micro-business is defined as
any business founded with less
than $5,000 startup capital.
Most businesses in Canada
are small businesses, and most
of those small businesses are
micro-businesses.
Yamoa
ACT Newsletter | 7
RETREATS FOR
WOMEN LIVING
WITH HIV
T
alking about living with HIV can be difficult at
the best of times. When you’re juggling responsibilities at work and home, or living with or caring for
people who don’t know your HIV status, it can become
almost impossible to find a time and a safe place to do
so. This is often the situation faced by women with HIV
who wear different hats as partners, mothers, workers,
friends, caregivers and more.
This is one of the reasons ACT holds wellness retreats
for women with HIV in addition to our retreats for men
and youth. Retreats give people with HIV a chance to get
out of the city, to focus on themselves for a weekend and
connect with each other in a safe and relaxing environment. Participants are able to talk and learn about living
well with HIV, but it’s also an opportunity to talk to each
other about the other challenges they face in their lives.
“We offer a safe space for women to get together for the
weekend, to enjoy time with each other, and to connect
on lots of different levels around living with HIV,” says
Kate Murzin, Group Programs Coordinator at ACT.
“They talk about how it affects their families, work life,
social life, dating, and financial matters – all the different aspects of their lives.”
ACT Newsletter | 8
The retreat held in March 2011 was the fifth that
Kate helped organize and facilitate for women living
with HIV, and this year she was joined by ACT’s new
Women’s Support Worker, Fikilé Mazambani.
Retreats are different from meetings and conferences,
because they create an environment where participants
can learn from each other, not just the presenters and
facilitators.
“The women at the retreat gain a lot just from being
around each other and sharing experiences,” Kate
explains. “We really try to create a relaxed atmosphere
where women can make those connections.”
Although retreats have included workshops on everything from HIV treatment to the challenges of disclosing HIV status, they also include time for fun and
rejuvenation, through activities like bonfires, karaoke,
movie nights, art therapy, scavenger hunts, as well as
manicures and massages.
“Many of the women can’t afford these things, to go
and pamper themselves and relax,” Fikilé adds. “It’s a
good thing.”
Previously, Women’s Wellness Retreats had been offered in collaboration with Voices of Positive Women
and the Ontario Aboriginal HIV/AIDS Strategy. With
the closure of the former, and the latter heading in a
different direction, last year’s retreat was offered by
ACT, and open to women with HIV in Toronto.
After the closure of Voices of Positive Women in June
2010, the Public Health Agency of Canada put out a
targeted call for agencies to apply to take on the work
that they had previously funded Voices of Positive
Women to do, which included funding to support a
provincial retreat for women with HIV. ACT applied
and was successful, and as a result held a retreat for
women living with HIV/AIDS from outside of Toronto.
This led to a stronger relationship with the Peterborough
AIDS Resource Network and the AIDS Committee
of Durham, with all three organizations merging two
separately-planned events into one that would reach
more women living with HIV.
“It worked out great,” Kate says. “Staff from other
AIDS service organizations were able to spread the
word about the retreat to service users in their own
geographic area, and their presence at the retreat
helped make women from their area feel more
comfortable. ”For more information about upcoming
retreats for people living with HIV, contact Kate at
[email protected] or 416-340-8484 ext. 283.
To find out about programs and services for women
at ACT, contact Fikilé at [email protected]
or 416-340-8484 ext. 239.
KATE
FIKILE
ACT Newsletter | 9
Evaluating Ourselves
A
CT is constantly changing its programs and
services to respond to the changing needs of
the people we serve.
1980s,” says Lydia Makoroka, ACT Research Coordinator. “With 18,000 people now living with HIV in our city,
from so many different communities, we need accurate
research telling us how to tailor our programs today.”Ф
How do we know who is being overlooked in our
work, and what we could be doing better?
That’s where our Research Department comes in.
Through program evaluation and community-based
research, the team identifies new trends affecting our
service users and the communities we work with.
“If you keep delivering programs the way it’s always
been done, you’re going to end up leaving people
behind,”Фsays Jessica Cattaneo, Manager of Evaluation and Program Development at ACT. “Toronto has
changed a lot over the course of our agency’s lifespan –
demographics, social services, and the reality of
living with HIV. Our work needs to keep up with
these changes in order to stay relevant.”Ф
Right now, Jessica is working on a collaborative
research project between ACT and Casey House,
looking at the needs of people who have been living
with HIV for a long time. Known as long-term
survivors, the study will try to answer a wide range
of questions, even whether the term itself is relevant
to all communities and populations, such as women.
“The AIDS movement pioneered the successful concept
of tailoring health promotion services to the communities
that need them, starting with the gay community in the
Looking at issues through a gender lens is a major component of research and program evaluation at ACT, along
with race, class, sexual orientation, and other social determinants of health. With women making up an increasing proportion of people living with HIV in Toronto, the
Research Department examines whether ACT services are
accessible to women living with and at increased risk for
HIV, and respond to their unique needs.
In addition to collecting information to inform our
own programming, ACT exchanges our knowledge with
others who work in the field of HIV/AIDS. The annual
ACT Research Day creates a platform where research
generated in clinical and community-based settings
can be shared with other AIDS service organizations,
policy-makers, researchers and community. This year’s
ACT Research Day will feature a presentation on the
Ontario Women’s Study. (For more information, visit
www.actoronto.org/researchday)
“Research allows us to identify the assumptions we
might have about the people we work with,” Jessica
adds. “Engaging service users in community-based
research and evaluation is essential to breaking down
barriers to services.”Ф
ACT Newsletter | 10
Jessica
Lydia
ACT Newsletter | 11
Q&A
COUNSELLING
Q&A with ACT Counsellors John Gaylord and Marsha Malbari
How is counselling women with HIV
different from counselling men?
What’s your favourite part about
working with women?
John:
John:
“Women are traditionally caregivers. They aren’t
necessarily, and of course everyone’s different, but
women are more likely to be the ones providing care
rather than seeking out care. And if they’re in the role
of caregiver, they often just don’t have time. They may
put their needs second, to the point where it can
affect their mental health and physical health.”
“I find that women work really hard at their
counselling goals. They mean what they say and they
are kind of no-nonsense in that way. Of course that’s
not true for everyone. But that’s been my experience.”
Marsha:
“What’s important for people to know, especially
women, is that it’s okay to come to someone to ask for
support. By asking for help, you are taking the first
steps to gain control. A good analogy is this: when
you’re in an airplane and those oxygen masks come
down, you’re told to put it on yourself before you help
to put it on others. You have to remember to take care
of yourself first in order to take care of others.”
Marsha:
“Many of the gay men I see are already very open.
That doesn’t happen as frequently with women. So it’s
very challenging and exciting for me when I can draw a
woman out, and she’s able to share her concerns with
me. There’s a real sense of connection when she feels
safe enough to actually tell me her story. If she can
open up and tell me her story, I feel like half of my job
is done, because that’s the hardest part.”
ACT counsellors are available to see everyone, regardless of their circumstances or
HIV status. Whether you are newly diagnosed as HIV-positive, a long-term survivor
of HIV, or if you have a friend or family member living with HIV, we’re here for you.
You can call 416-340-2437 to make an appointment or to find out when a counsellor
is available that day on a ‘drop-in’ basis. You can also view the drop-in counselling
schedule online at www.actoronto.org/counselling
John
MARSHA
ACT Newsletter | 12
"I would say this is one of the
best places to volunteer "
VOLUNTEER PROFILE
andy Whitbread is one of the most familiar faces
for anyone who accesses services at ACT, as one
of the most frequent volunteers at the 4th floor
Information Desk.
S
From there, she got more involved with ACT, going
through Volunteer Core Skills Training and taking on
a volunteer position at the Information Desk, the first
stop for service users coming in to ACT.
“Service users and staff absolutely adore her!” is what
Sergio Martinez, ACT’s Program Volunteer Resources
Manager, says. “Sandy always brings a little bit of
sunshine every week to our Service Access Centre.”
“I thought I would come in and I would be helping
other people, but they seem to be helping me when
they come in. To help someone else, or even to give
someone else a smile makes me feel good.”
“It’s for the love of my daughter,” Sandy says. “You do
things because you’re proud of your children, and I
care an awful lot about her.”
Sandy answers telephone inquiries, welcomes people
to the office, and helps people use the public computers in the newly renovated Service Access Centre.
Sandy’s daughter Jessica was diagnosed with HIV
in 2001, and soon after, her family started to get
involved with ACT.
“I would say this is one of the best places to
volunteer. The staff are wonderful, it’s a comfortable
environment to be in. It’s just an easy place to be,
so I know why the clients enjoy it so much.”
“We needed an outlet,” she explains. “Our first outlet
was going into the AIDS Walk. It was good for us. It
really was good for everyone. To give back also helps
yourself, no matter what.”
ACT Newsletter | 13
YEARS OF SERVICE
Every year, long-time staff and volunteers of ACT are recognized at our Annual General Meeting with years of service
awards. This past September, ACT acknowledged the following individuals for contributing hours of service to people
living with, affected by, and at risk for HIV in our community:
20 Years of Service (1990 to 2010)
Duncan MacLachlan (Staff)
Bill J. (Volunteer)
5 Years of Service (2005 to 2010)
Daniel D. (Buddy Program)
Dwayne H. (Meet and Eat Hot Lunch Program)
Dennis J. (Buddy Program)
Suzette M. (Practical Assistance-Furniture Bank;
Buddy Program)
Glenella D. (Development)
Dorinda L. (Development)
Jeffrey L. (Development)
Michael M. (Development)
Loxley P. (Development)
Suki S. (Development)
Andrew T. (Development)
Alan W. (Development)
George M. (Development)
Kelly H. (Development)
15 Years of Service (1995 to 2010)
Gord K. (Practical Assistance)
Todd R. (Gay Men’s Outreach)
Bryan A. (Development)
Bob N. (Development)
Annie J. (Development)
10 Years of Service (2000 to 2010)
Tim O. (Finance)
Mike S. (Support Group Facilitation)
Julie B. (Employment Action Computer Trainer)
Christine E. (Access Centre)
Brian R. (Volunteer)
Jonathan C. (Development)
Kris K. (Development)
George L. (Development)
ACT Newsletter | 14
10 Years of Service (2000 to 2010)
Thank you for
coming to my
10th birthday party.
Founding Media
Sponsor
Event Sponsors
New Media
Sponsor
Food & Beverage
Sponsor
AV Sponsor
Print Materials
Sponsor
presents
Register now at www.priderun.org
Proceeds from this year’s run will benefit the AIDS
Committee of Toronto (ACT) and the Triangle Program.
A portion of this year’s proceeds will also go towards the
Pride and Remembrance Foundation.
ACT Newsletter | 15
Sunday, September 25, 2011
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