Central Opening Doors Conference,
October 7-8, 2010
The Central Opening Doors Conference is a conference for Professionals, Service Providers, people living with HIV/AIDS and those affected. Topics will address real issues faced by those living with and involved in HIV/AIDS including:
HIV & Women,
Reentering the Workforce,
HIV/AIDS & Aging
Addictions,
and Settlement and Immigration. To be held at the:
Hilton Garden Inn
3201 Highway 7
Vaughan
Space is limited so register early! Details of registration to follow.
This event is funded by the AIDS Bureau and the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care.
ACYR's Second Annual Volunteer Appreciation Night and BBQ - what a great night on July 28! The rain held off and the sun came out, and The Bob Seger cover band played at the Aurora Town Park. Support from M&M Meats again this year helped make this event a tasty one. A very special thank you to Vivian and Alyia for all their work on this event. We could not have done it without you. Hope everyone enjoyed themselves!
Jacqui Locke
Coordinator of Events and Volunteer Program
905-953-0248 / 1.800.243.7717
voloordacyr@bellnet.ca
Multicultural Festival, Fairy Lake,
Newmarket, July 24, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
PRIDE festivities in York Region were successfully held from June 6-13 with a range of activities for the entire week. This year's celebrations began with a church service in Richmond Hill on the first Sunday to start off the week, a movie presentation in Stouffville, social events in Newmarket, a fun youth event, and a successful barbeque/picnic at the Community Safety Village on Sunday, June 13th for the closing ceremony. PRIDE flags were raised in four municipalities (Georgina, Aurora, Stouffville & Newmarket) and the entire region proclaimed PRIDE week in a formal manner. Several community partners, including the York Regional Police and social service agencies, as well as volunteers from the LGBTTQ community gave their time to honour this important week. Congratulations to all for another successful year!
ACYR staff ready for York
Region
PRIDE celebrations
'In My Shoes' takes
2nd place for best documentary
Mayor Frank Scarpitti of Markham awarded ACYR for our documentary In My Shoes with the second place award for best documentary at the York Region Multimedia Film Festival in May. In My Shoes is a documentary that discusses HIV and Stigma in York Region. The documentary was produced in collaboration with people living with HIV, dedicated media professionals and the Unionville Presbyterian Church.
York Region Multimedia Film Festival was launched this year with five successful screening events that were hosted between the Town of Markham and Georgina which gave voice to a number of courageous conversations all across our region. At the Awards & Closing Gala on May 19, Radha Bhardwaj, below, received the award on behalf of the organization and all the people living with HIV in our region.
A Taste for Life - close to
a sellout on April 28, 2010
April 28 was our Fourth Annual Taste for Life! We would like to say a special thank you to everyone who came out to dine on that special fund-raisng evening. We sold out at nearly all of the participating restaurants thanks to you! We could not have had such a great year without our Corporate Sponsors and all our community partners who gave so generously to our Silent Auction. Our volunteer commitment is what makes this event truly a great one! Thank you everyone for such a great night and hope to see you next year! For more information on our event, including participating restaurants, please visit http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=251869028333.
Please enjoy our slide show!
Events | Past
Central Opening Doors Conference 2010, February 17 to 18, 2010
The Central Opening Doors Conference in Partnership with Peel HIV AIDS Network, and AIDS Committee of Simcoe County was held February 17 to 18. It was an opportunity for service providers in York Region to network and interact with other service providers from the two neighbouring regions as well as learn about the issues as they relate to people living with HIV in all three regions. It was an enriching professional development opportunity where theparticipants learned in a workshop setting, but also from personal stories shared by those living with HIV.
Brown Like Me, January 29, 2010
ASAAP and ACYR presented Brown Like Me on January 29 in Richmond Hill.
Brown like Me follows the stories of 6 queer identified South Asian youth living in the Greater Toronto Area who speak candidly about identity labels, homophobia, coming out, pride, resiliency, and family.
World AIDS Day:
December 1, 2009
To mark World AIDS Day on December 1, the AIDS Committee of York Region hosted a half-day Community Forum for Municipal Leaders and the Community in York Region called:
Speaking Out: Health, Housing, Stigma and HIV/AIDS
Included in the Community Forum were guest speakers: Keith Hambly, the Executive Director of Fife House in Toronto (A North American leader in supportive and transitional housing for people living with HIV/AIDS) spoke about how they developed an HIV/AIDS specific housing strategy. Dr. Sean Rourke, Director of The Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), and James Watson, Peer Researcher at the OHTN spoke on Positive Spaces, Healthy Places, a community-based research initiative exploring HIV, Housing, and Health. Jane Wedlock, Executive Director/Community Strategist from the Alliance to End Homelessness, addressed housing and health in York Region, and Devan Nambiar from Rainbow Health Ontario talked about stigma, health, and living with HIV/AIDS. The forum also provided a space to receive input and support, in the form of a panel of speakers who are HIV positive, on addressing some of those barriers.
For news coverage, please go to Rogers TVFirst Local for December 1. The ACYR Speaking Out segment begins about 6-1/2 minutes into the program.
Another World AIDS Day activity in which ACYR participated was highlighted by Rogers' Focal Point, where we were part of the panel discussion.
Solstice CD launched at Benefit Concert on November 13
The AIDS Committee of York Region launched their new CD Solstice, on Friday, November 13, at Aurora United Church with a Benefit Concert. Attendees listened to the great sounds of a number of terrific performers who have songs on the Solstice CD. For a YouTube video from the concert go to www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnIMi53-_3w, and for a rewiew of the concert by Board member Brent MacKinnon, go to his business website at committee-of-york-region-launches-cd-solstice-transforming-lives/.
For information on purchasing the CD, contact:
Jacqui Locke Coordinator of Events and Volunteer Programs
905-953-0248 volcoordacyr@bellnet.ca.
ACYR 2009 Annual General Meeting: Tuesday, Sept 22, 2009
The ACYR held its 2009 Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, September 22, at the Newmarket Health Centre Auditorium, 194 Eagle Street East, Newmarket:
The ACYR 2009 AGM was a great success with more than 50 guests present for the occasion. The key note speaker was Greg Wood on Growth and Change Management. Other speakers included Devan Nambiar (Board Advisor) on the Ninth International Congress on AIDS in Asia and the Pacific (ICAAP), as well as the remarkable reflections of the youth served by the ACYR. Awards were presented to key community partners from the York Region District School Board, York Regional Police and MAC Cosmetics. We thank all those who joined us to celebrate the many successes at our agency.
Walk to the Water - Sunday, August 23, 2009
The AIDS Committee of York Region held Walk to the Water from Aurora to Georgina to raise awareness about HIV/AIDS on Sunday, August 23. The walk was a great success - a grueling marathon, yet a tremendous triumph of the participants' spirits!
Can we talk? Negotiating HIV treatment options with your doctor - August 20, 2009
The AIDS Committee of York Region presented an interactive and educational evening with Dr. Guiang from 410 Sherbourne, a satellite clinic of St. Michael’s Hospital. The session was to educate and empower those living with HIV or supporting someone living with HIV to negotiate treatment and treatment options. The informative discussion ran from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Newmarket Health Centre.
For more pictures and more ACYR past events, please visit our Archives.
Revised August 19, 2010
Emergency? Call The Community Crisis Response Service, 310-COPE
