Volume 2, Issue 2, Summer 1999 InStride The Quarterly Newsletter of AIDS Calgary
A Sense of CommunityKevin Midbo, Executive Director We've been thinking and talking about "community" at the agency recently. It's one of those often overused words - the "community" wants or needs this or that; the "community" supports this or that; the organization is "community" based. Communities are often described in physical terms - living in Inglewood, coming from Medicine Hat. Communities also include groups of people with similarities who may not live in proximity - like the gay community or the feminist community. What does community mean to AIDS Calgary? I remember the organization back in 1988, when I first volunteered with Care Teams. It very much felt like an island in the middle of a hostile sea. There was so much misunderstanding about AIDS - and many people coming to the agency for help have been rejected by their families, friends, or communities. The gathering of people at AIDS Calgary during those years created a strong sense of community - people infected and affected by HIV linking together with others to create supportive environments and social change in the broader community. Our sense of community has been challenged recently - by the changing face of HIV, our continual adaptation to changing circumstances, and by changes in staffing, volunteers, and clientele. Our deepening partnership work with other organizations has ended our isolation - we are no longer the island in the middle of a hostile sea. We work to help create supportive environments wherever people living with HIV or people at risk for HIV infection need to go for information or services. We welcome people into our space and into our programming based on their need for support, education, and information. We also look forward to a deepening relationship with our donors, and corporate partners. The organization has received very substantial support from the Calgary business community, and from individual donors in the past year. We are grateful for that. As we look forward to our annual general meeting in September, I encourage all supporters of the organization to purchase annual memberships, and join us for a Community Celebration on September 14th. We are working together and creating community all the time. Please feel free to join our ongoing community response to HIV and AIDS. Fund
Development Hundreds of guests dressed up for an evening out, dozens of balloons with valuable prizes, exciting silent auction items, delicious food from Calgary's best restaurants, and free drinks throughout the evening contributed to the ambiance at the Jack Singer Concert Hall March 20th for Calgary Cares 1999. The evening culminated in a fascinating and creative fashion show created by local designers called Millennium in Motion. This year's Calgary Cares fund raiser provided the organization with an opportunity to renew and invigorate the event. With the help of a strong and professional organizing committee, Millennium in Motion has set the standard for Calgary Cares events for years to come. Thank you to the hundreds of volunteers who contributed literally thousands of hours of their time to make this event a reality. It could not have been staged without your help. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Calgary Cares committees of previous years, who did so much to lay the foundation and ground work for our current and future successes. Calgary Cares Sponsors: Casino 1999 AIDS Walk 1999 Walkers....as the date approaches - set yourself a goal - last year many walkers raised more than $200 each. Use voice mail, e-mail and computer networks to let people know that you're looking for sponsors. Put up notices at school or work. Ask your sponsors to pay in advance and don't forget to pledge yourself! Want to make an even bigger impact? Form a team! Encourage your friends from work, school, gym, club, sports team or place of worship to walk as a team. Donation forms for the AIDS Walk will be available in July - both through the mail and at AIDS Calgary. Watch for the mail out! Volunteers....this year's walk will once again be managed by Terry Field of the Event Network, and David Howard and Jim Button of The Event Group. They will work with an AIDS Walk committee in the weeks leading up to the event. In addition, we need the support of many volunteers on the day of the AIDS Walk to ensure that it happens! If you are interested in helping with the AIDS Walk, contact our volunteer program coordinator - Vanessa Friesen at 508-2500 or by email [email protected]. Program
Updates Community Kitchen Project A Call to All! A Touch...Here and There! A Fond Farewell Prison Project Roger is working in connection with Safeworks Calgary to provide in services at Calgary Correction Centre for the prison population. Roger also provides one to one support to inmates at the Remand and Spy Hill institutes. We have also begun linking with Elizabeth Fry Society to increase our visibility at Bow River Institute, connecting with the female prison population. Community
Outreach Men's Project New Handbook for Speakers Network Volunteers Killing Time Videos Finished A YouthXChange Change Ride the Pride Tide Information
+ Training Volunteer Management Program We are adapting the structure to be more effective and efficient in all aspects of volunteer management from recruitment to placement of volunteers. The process of becoming a volunteer at AIDS Calgary will be a valuable experience, efficient for both volunteers and AIDS Calgary. The fine-tuning will be done in small yet significant steps. For our long-term volunteers this means improved training and continuous learning opportunities which will be valuable both personally and professionally. Training Programs The training will include a set of on-going workshops related to HIV, developed by the Community Trainers. The workshops will be facilitated by the Community Trainers along with other partner organizations. Our goal is to have a standardized training program that will provide staff and volunteers with continuous professional development and learning opportunities. Additionally, it is our goal to train allied professionals in areas of HIV that will enable them to provide supportive and effective services for people infected and impacted by HIV. The workshops are currently in the research and development phase. A calendar will be available in August outlining the dates of all training related workshops and information sessions coordinated through AIDS Calgary. The Training Program is a two year initiative which I am very excited about. Hello Volunteers!! For those of you who don't know who I am, I'm the new volunteer program coordinator at AIDS Calgary Awareness Association. I began this position in the first week of April and my experience here so far has been terrific!! Volunteer Programs The Support Team has been working on creating a Community Kitchen. The goal of the Community Kitchen is to help people with HIV/AIDS maintain good physical health by supplying healthy, nutritious meals. Volunteers will assist with grocery shopping, food preparation and cooking. Volunteers are also needed in support for Care Teams. Volunteers are matched with people living with HIV/AIDS to provide emotional, practical support and assist with transportation needs. We also have three different opportunities in Community Outreach for volunteers to get involved with. The Men's Project requires male volunteers to provide information to men having sex with men about safer sex that enables them to make healthy choices. Volunteers should be comfortable with outreach activities in parks, bars etc. Speakers Network requires volunteers to give presentations about HIV/AIDS in schools and other organizations. Volunteers should be comfortable public speaking or willing to learn. YouthXChange requires volunteers to provide prevention services to high risk street involved youth. Volunteers should be comfortable with outreach activities at group homes, raves and young offenders centres. The Information and Training Team is always looking for volunteers to work in the Information and Reception Area. Information and Reception Volunteers answer phones and perform other administrative tasks as required. We also require casual volunteers for Fund Development. Volunteers are asked throughout the year to help with planning and organizing annual Fundraising events. The Information and Training Program is still relatively new so in the future we are hoping to get volunteers more involved in workshops and training. I will keep you posted. If you are interested in any of the above volunteer opportunities, whether you would like to switch from another area within the volunteer program or you are a new volunteer please call me at 508-2500 ext. 311. Thank you for you interest in the volunteer program at AIDS Calgary Awareness Association. We value our volunteers and the work they do throughout the year. Without volunteers we would not be able to offer the wide range of programs and services that we do in the fight against HIV/AIDS. I hope to see all of the volunteers at the Community Celebration on September 14th!! Thanks! Volunteer
In Profile: For our volunteer in profile we need not look any further than our front
door... On behalf of AIDS Calgary we are grateful for Coral's contributions and the feeling that we can always count on her!! LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS SAFER SEX & HIV/AIDS CHALLENGING STEREOTYPES GENERAL VOLUNTEER ORIENTATION There will be no workshops in July and August, and Training workshops will begin again in September. Fall Workshop dates will be included in the next newsletter. Community Celebration! Go Surfing! AIDS Committee of Toronto CDC National Prevention Information Network AIDS Medicine and Miracles HIV Positive.Com The Body Youthco Welcome New Staff Jay Fiddler Lana Northcott Kendra Gage Azam Kanani Dijana Popovic "Some predict India's HIV infection rate will soon double from its current level of 5 million, reaching levels seen in Africa. In fact, according to a March 3 article in Times of India Online, the small, rural Indian state of Himachal has about 12,000 HIV-infected people. This means Himachal alone has roughly the same number of HIV infections as have been reported in all of Vietnam. In the state of Manipur, in northeastern India, the HIV rate is 176 cases per 1,000 individuals, for an infection rate of nearly one out of five people." AIDS Alert International, May 1999 HIV Watch
HIV Watch In Canada, the proportion of individuals living with HIV/AIDS within prison populations is thought to be larger than in the population at large:
HIV Watch "Since 1994, research shows the rate of mother-to-child transmission
plunged as low as three to five per cent (from 25%) when women took the drug AZT during
pregnancy, labour and delivery-and when the drug is given to the newborn during the first
six weeks of life" HIV Watch The number of Aboriginals who are diagnosed with HIV is increasing at an alarming rate.
Talking Yellow Pages AIDS Calgary maintains a thorough and well-used information site through
the Telus Talking Yellow Pages. For a range of information about HIV/AIDS, call 521-5222,
and enter codes as follows: Other Ways to Reach Us Visit the agency's website at: Board of Directors by the way
For more information, comments about, or contributions to InStride, contact Debb Hurlock at AIDS Calgary, 508-2500. AIDS Calgary is a member of the Canadian AIDS Society, the Alberta Community Council on HIV, and Calgarys HIV/AIDS Strategies (HAS) Coalition. The agency receives funding from Alberta Health, Health Canada, The United Way, and City of Calgary FCSS. |
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