Ribbon Community

Recuperate del Pride con nosotros! 6 de Agosto.

Dáte el gusto pero NO EL SUSTO!
Botanas & refrescos
Clínica para enfermedades de transmisón s*xual & PEP
Recuerda: Tienes hasta 72 horas para tomar PEP y evitar la transmisión del VIH

Ven y recibe la ayuda que necesitas! Nuestro equipo está listo para asistirte con atención GRATUITA & CONFIDENCIAL🍆🍑

www.RibbonCommunity.org/Pride2024

Thanks for hosting Burnaby Pride! The Ribbon team was able to take part in this celebration of 2SLGBTQ+ people of all ages, whatever our relationship to HIV.

We had bannock, lip balm, and other treats on hand for those who stopped by to chat with us about our new name, the continued need to support and empower our communities from those who have lived through AIDS firsthand to those who are navigating s*xuality and HIV for the first time in an era where treatment and prevention options vary.

Our role is to support and empower our communities, including people navigating s*x, substance use, and HIV. For HIV-negative folks looking for PrEP or the chance to learn more about today's HIV prevention options and for people living with HIV looking for peer education or support, you are in the right place.

Reach out to our growing team that offers case management, peer support, and group programs in the Fraser region. Call or text 604-315-1968 or email [email protected] or [email protected] to learn more.

PS: Not sure what means? This campaign was developed by people living with HIV to turn scientific evidence into a catchy phrase. The science is clear: people living with HIV who have an ongoing, undetectable viral load cannot pass HIV through s*x - no condoms or HIV PrEP needed. Connect with us to learn more!

People living with HIV deserve better than false hope — they deserve a government that will honour the promise made to them and end the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure in this country.

Send a message to policymakers today at:
https://www.hivcriminalization.ca/take-action-as-an-individual/

We have lots on offer for our communities at Ribbon this August! Check out this month's grocery offerings, our pool outing on August 19, our arts and crafts program, job opportunities with our team, and an event to recupérate del Pride con nosotros. And, the UBC Dental Hygiene Clinic will be back in September.

See you soon at Ribbon!

Details and RSVP information available at www.RibbonCommunity.org/August2024.

Nosotras estamos contratando / We are hiring

We are hiring two temporary Case Manager positions, and a peer facilitator for our Substance Use Support Group to be delivered in Spanish. Apply to be part of the Ribbon team, or sign up for notifications about future jobs.

--> Substance Use Support Group Peer Facilitator, Español
--> 32 hours/week Case Manager position, Español - Vancouver area
--> 16 hours/week Case Manager position, newcomer women & families; candidates outside the Vancouver area may work remotely

Details to apply at https://ow.ly/iNjr50SJPkz.

Happiest of Pride seasons from all of us at Ribbon!

Many of our community members have been busy planning events to celebrate the diversity of our communities. Join us July 31 at The Junction for a bannock burger BBQ hosted by the Indigenous Committee, and a storytelling event called Once Upon A Time: Q***r Stories & Fairy Tales hosted by the In Our Day Collective. Community members will take the stage starting at 4:30pm and speak, sing, and perform from a seasoned 50+ perspective. This event will cover love, loss, triumph, and resilience, and continue to help us pull the past, present, and future of the HIV movement together!

6 de agosto, recupérate del Pride con nosotros! Ven y recibe la ayuda que necesitas! Nuestro equipo está listo para asistirte con atención GRATUITA & CONFIDENCIAL.

Details at www.RibbonCommunity.org/pride2024

Join us Monday, July 22 for meal prep, board games, and community connection and be part of our first ever Friends of May Monday. Everyone impacted by HIV and HIV stigma is welcome to this free afternoon event.

Friends of May is an program that pairs passionate volunteers with older adults at Ribbon Community. Friends of May offers the chance for cross-generational sharing of knowledge, experiences, activism, companionship, and fun.
If you want to connect through this program as a client or volunteer, you will have the chance to connect over shared

interests from gardens to Bard on the Beach to swimming, or are looking for some help around the house or looking for accompaniment on a scheduled visit or outing, Friends of May is here for you. Connect with Sarah McNeil ([email protected] or call/text 236-889-4237) to join the program and be entered into a draw to see a show at Bard on The Beach!

Friends of May is named after one of our longest serving volunteers, May McQueen. She spent over two decades with us, saying, “Everybody needs to know that somebody gives a damn, and that’s what we’re for.” This program is a new take on past programs known as the Buddy Program and Care Teams.

Contact [email protected] or Reception (604-893-2201) to for more details.

We are excited to send community members to a show at Bard on The Beach this summer. New and existing Friends of May clients and volunteers can enter the draw for tickets to this summer's productions of Twelfth Night or Hamlet.

Friends of May is an program that pairs passionate volunteers with older adults at Ribbon Community. Friends of May offers the chance for cross-generational sharing of knowledge, experiences, activism, companionship, and fun.

If you want to connect through this program as a client or volunteer, you will have the chance to connect over shared interests from gardens to Bard on the Beach to swimming, or are looking for some help around the house or looking for accompaniment on a scheduled visit or outing, Friends of May is here for you. Connect with Sarah McNeil ([email protected] or call/text 236-889-4237) to join the program and be entered into this draw. Draw closes July 29!

Friends of May is named after one of our longest serving volunteers, May McQueen. She spent over two decades with us, saying, “Everybody needs to know that somebody gives a damn, and that’s what we’re for.” This program is a new take on past programs known as the Buddy Program and Care Teams.

Contact [email protected] or Reception (604-893-2201) to join the program and enter.

The July programming calendar - and our Grocery Specials - from Ribbon Community is now available on our website, and includes our Surrey events, our three-in-one Positive Talk dinner, and our Pride plans for this year! Catch us at Burnaby Pride and our own Pride event at The Junction on July 31.

On July 9, we are supporting eligible clients to access the free air conditioner program available from BC Hydro whether you live in BC Housing, market rentals, or own a place. On July 22, we are hosting games, cards, and light refreshments as part of Friends of May Mondays. And, on July 10, we are working with HIM and PAN to host a web info session about long-acting HIV antiretrovirals for treatment and prevention.

Full details at www.RibbonCommunity.org/July2024. See you soon at Ribbon!

The Indigenous Committee is hosting a Pipe Ceremony on Monday. Everyone is welcome to join us, Indigenous or not, to celebrate the solstice and Indigenous Peoples Day. Feast to follow featuring bannock salmon sandwiches and hamburger soup. This ceremony will take place on the first floor starting at 11am.
No RSVP required.

The Indigenous Committee at Ribbon Community invites you to join us for a traditional Pipe Ceremony on Monday, June 24 at 11:00 am. Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are welcome to be part of this ceremony as we celebrate solstice and Indigenous Peoples Day. Bannock sandwiches, salad, and hamburger soup to follow. No RSVP required. See you there!

The June programming calendar - and our Grocery Specials - from Ribbon Community (formerly AIDS Vancouver) are now available on our website. This month, we are hosting a pop up Polli & Ester's Closet (June 4-6) featuring new shoes donated by Vessi, a seasonal pipe ceremony, Fiesta Latina (habrá pruebas para detección de Enfermedades de Transmisión Sexual (ETS); tod@s son bienvenid@s), an African, Caribbean and Black group program (featuring food from Kula Kitchen) and bannock served alongside Arts & Crafts with Sabian. See you soon!

Grocery kicks off on May 28 starting at 1pm with luncheon meat, instant oatmeal, peanut butter, and a choice of mac and cheese or rice.

Get the details to join these free programs at https://www.RibbonCommunity.org/June2024.

With our partners at Community-Based Research Centre - CBRC, Afro-Canadian Positive Network of British Columbia, and Vancouver Island PWA Society, we are looking for 10 people living with HIV to guide research on how we can ensure people living with HIV who want it can get long-acting HIV treatment without barriers.

Long-acting treatment is currently available on a case-by-case basis in BC.

Get in touch with CBRC if you are interested in this role, paid at $50/hour for meetings.

https://www.cbrc.net/seeking_community_advisors_for_bc_long_acting_hiv_study

Many people living with HIV are not aware of new long-acting treatment options & in BC, long-acting treatment is only available on a case-by-case basis, which means most people don't have access to this treatment. We want to know more about what people living with HIV have to say about long-acting treatment, including how it should be available.

Working with the CBRC research team, Community Advisors will steer all activities of this project:
➡️ Shaping data collection & analysis plans & tools (e.g., interview guides)
➡️ Interpreting quantitative (i.e., demographic survey) and qualitative (i.e., interview) research findings
➡️ Developing & refining knowledge mobilization efforts
➡️ Overseeing evaluation of the completed research project

Meetings will take place by email, phone, or Zoom each month. Each Community Advisor will receive $50 per meeting as an honorarium.

To learn more about the project & how to apply, click here: https://www.cbrc.net/seeking_community_advisors_for_bc_long_acting_hiv_study

On May 19, Ribbon Community, with members from the Indigenous Committee and the In Our Day collective, are hosting the International AIDS Candlelight Memorial. This is part of an international memorial day coordinated by Global Network of People living with HIV (GNP+) .

Please join us at the Vancouver AIDS Memorial at 4pm for this free event.

We will have symbols of remembrance, a chance to share the names of those we hold dear, and to connect with community over coffee.

RSVPs are optional.

RSVPing will help us plan for event and stay in touch with you afterwards. To RSVP, please visit:
https://ow.ly/xnGh50RB0gx

Trans people are part of the communities we support and empower at Ribbon Community. Across our programs, we work to welcome, celebrate and embrace trans people, and especially ensure space for trans women within our women's programs because trans women are women. New this year, our Financial Assistance Fund includes gender affirming care.

We are pleased to share QMUNITY's campaign, , on this Trans Day of Visibility.

Through the Vision Our Future process, we heard about the parts of AIDS Vancouver that you want to stay the same, and the parts of AIDS Vancouver that need to change. One of those changes will be our name. We heard you: our new name is coming on March 26. Even with this change, the people who lived through, and live with, an AIDS diagnosis, the role of AIDS activism, and the innumerable AIDS deaths here at home and the world over will always be part of who we are.

Ultimately, our new purpose, values, name and look are a celebration of our community: what we have built over four decades and counting, how we have survived and thrived, how we have taken care of each other, and what we have learned along the way through our activism and commitment. We are also celebrating what you told us you want to see change, and most importantly, the ways we will continue to show up for people living with HIV - and our broader communities - for years to come.

On March 26, we will share our new name and look as part of our Community Celebration. While our in-person event is at capacity, we hope you will join our livestream via Zoom webinar and here on Facebook. Sign up for your link and reminder at https://ow.ly/y5EG50QZiKX.

The BC CHIWOS CARMA Collaboration (BCC3) study and AIDS Vancouver present: Healthy Aging Talks - Liver Health. All women (transgender and cisgender) are welcome to join our online event (April 8) or in-person event (March 25). To RSVP, please call the AIDS Vancouver reception at 604-893-2201 or email [email protected].

Monday, March 25
12pm-2:30 pm. Lunch will be served at 12pm-1pm.
Includes: a meal, an information booklet + $25 in cash

Monday, April 8 (4-5)pm
The VIRTUAL event

Learn more about our research into women's health here:

https://ow.ly/sVBC50QWi7v

https://ow.ly/EiYF50QWi7w

We have four new values to share with our communities. These values are just one part of the updates we are making to how AIDS Vancouver shows up, building on what we heard from community members who participated in the Vision Our Future consultations.

These values will shape how we do our work, including how we put our purpose into action and deliver programs and services​ for years to come. Our values are intentionally overlapping and connected, and they can go in any order. In all of them, we have the full diversity of people living with HIV at the centre.

We are accountable.

We nurture meaningful involvement of people living with HIV.

We welcome our communities.

We honour every journey.

Read more about each of our values at www.aidsvancouver.org/values and stay tuned for more updates about the coming next week.

Join the AIDS Vancouver Indigenous Committee next week, on Monday, March 18 for our spring Pipe Ceremony and feast! Everyone is welcome, whether you have been to many pipe ceremonies, this will be your first, or something in between. Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are welcome, including newcomers to Canada.

This ceremony is led by Rob Lamoureux at the request of the Indigenous Committee. Rob is a 2Spirit Métis knowledge keeper, sun dancer, and pipe carrier.

Sobriety is not required to participate in this ceremony, and Rob will share how to participate in the space during the ceremony. After the ceremony, we will serve a feast. All participants will be offered a gift.

Reach out on social media, in-person, by phone (604-893-2201) or email ([email protected]) if you have questions. No RSVPs are required!

Today, we are sharing our new purpose statement, based on our community consultation process to revise our organization's mission, vision, and name. We heard about the importance of HIV-specific services. We also heard over and over again about the stigma – whether related to substance use, mental health, s*x, or anything else - that can be much harder than the virus itself.

We are proud to share our new purpose statement that highlights the role people living with HIV, and our broader communities, have always played in caring for each other. As of today, our new purpose statement is: “We support and empower our communities in overcoming the impacts of HIV and HIV stigma.”

Our new purpose statement reflects what has been happening in the HIV movement for decades: the work to feed, house, and care for people living with HIV with dignity even amid pervasive fear, the direct action to ensure research about antiretrovirals reflects everyone, that information about antiretrovirals is fully accessible, and that whether for treatment or prevention, these medications are meaningfully available, and the community organizing and empowerment behind Indigenous AIDS Awareness Week, Love Positive Women, and the important message of undetectable = untransmissible.

Ultimately, our new purpose, values, and name are a celebration of our communities: what we have built, and what we have learned along the way. We are also celebrating what you told us you want to see change, the parts of us that will stay the same, and most importantly, they ways we will continue to show up for people living with HIV for years to come.

On March 26, we will share our new name and look as part of our Community Celebration – and you’re invited. Get your free ticket now at https://ow.ly/fYvp50QExvB - we hope to see you there!

This month is the four year anniversary of the Health Canada approval for the most recent HIV treatment innovation - a long-acting option that lasts for up to two months. Some people living with HIV have been waiting for decades to an alternative to daily pills that can be a reminder of loss and/or trauma, and often come with risk that someone may discover a person's private medical information. Unfortunately, ongoing HIV stigma means that people still lose jobs, homes, or relationships when an HIV status is shared. Based on these experiences, a number of advocates and organizations, including Afro-Canadian Positive Network of British Columbia, have been asking for real access to this life-changing medication in BC. But, we are not there yet.

Long-acting HIV treatment means more privacy, more choice, and ultimately more dignity for people living with HIV who choose it. Yet, in BC, incredibly restrictive rules (different from elsewhere in Canada) mean that there are people living with HIV who are being blocked from accessing it. Join us in letting your MLA you would like to see this change. https://ow.ly/gb0450QFrsg

The Gresyon Lab at UBC wants to hear from: what do you think about the mpox vaccine?? Receive $50 for a confidential 1 hour interview!

Learn more now at: https://ow.ly/FMjy50QztwA

Join the AIDS Vancouver Indigenous Committee for our spring Pipe Ceremony and feast! Everyone is welcome, whether you have been to many pipe ceremonies, this will be your first, or something in between. Indigenous and non-Indigenous people are welcome, including newcomers to Canada.

This ceremony is led by Rob Lamoureux at the request of the Indigenous Committee. Rob is a 2Spirit Métis knowledge keeper, sun dancer, and pipe carrier.

Sobriety is not required to participate in this ceremony, and Rob will share how to participate in the space during the ceremony. After the ceremony, we will serve a feast. All participants will be offered a gift.

Join us on Monday, March 18 at 11am.

For over 40 years, AIDS Vancouver has been creating and supporting community. In 1983, AIDS Vancouver was founded out of urgent necessity in the early days of the AIDS crisis. People living with HIV/AIDS, volunteers, staff, community partners, politicians, funders, and donors from all walks of life helped create a community of advocacy, support, and belonging. Since then, the epidemic has evolved — and our organization has evolved along with it.

A year ago, we started a community consultation process to revise our mission, vision, and name. Now, we are getting ready to share our new purpose, values, name and look, and celebrate the past and present people and communities who have made this possible.

Ultimately, our new purpose, values, name and look are a celebration of our communities: what we have built together over four decades and counting, how we have taken care of each other, and what we have learned along the way. We are also celebrating the parts of AIDS Vancouver that will stay the same, the parts we heard it is time to change, and most importantly, the ways we will continue to show up for people living with HIV – and our broader communities – for years to come.

In mid March, we will share our new purpose and values, in our online and in-person spaces. And then, on March 26, we will announce our new name and look as part of our Community Celebration – and you’re invited.

Get your free ticket at https://ow.ly/5af150QExc8. We hope to see you there!

What do you think about the mpox vaccine? Researchers across the country want to hear from our communities! Learn more at
https://flex.redcap.ubc.ca/surveys/?s=MPR7JNWEAMJN9H4K.