To be eligible for a "Declared" director position, applicants must be openly HIV+. If you do not want to publicly disclose your status, please apply for a "Non-Declared" position which does not require disclosure.
There are a total of four seats available in the Northern, Central and Western Regions with two At-Large seats available for designates with no specific geographic requirement.
Being on the Board of Directors for the OAN requires 8-10 hours of volunteer work every month, a positive attitude (pun intended) and a commitment to GIPA/MIPA, the spirit of collaboration and in the best interests of the Ontario AIDS Network, its members and affiliates.
To nominate yourself to be an OAN Board Member, download the application form from our website. You will need endorsements from other ASO's and/or community members in your area. New Board member positions will be ratified during our Annual General Meeting on September 8th, 2018.
The deadline for nominations is 5pm July 3rd, 2018.
Sites will be testing for HIV and other STBBI using point-of-care testing kits or blood draws.
If you are interested in holding an HIV Testing Day event in your community, you may contact Gary Lacasse, Executive Director of CAS soon as possible at gary.lacasse@cdnaids.ca.
Support your local initiative - testing matters!
Agency Updates
ACCHO
ACCHO wishes Valérie Pierre-Pierre well in her new permanent position as Senior Policy Analyst on the Hepatitis C team with the AIDS and Hepatitis C Programs at the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care.
Michelle Sumner-Williams will continue in her role as the Interim Director until the Director position is filled.
ARCH
ARCH has moved! Their new location is 77 Westmount Rd, Unit 110 Guelph, On N1H 5J1. Please note that all programs and services including the ARCH Clinic, Trans Health Clinic and Anonymous Rapid HIV Testing Clinics will now be at this new office location.
Offices will be closed from June 25, 2018 and reopening to full service on Monday July 9, 2018 to accommodate this transition.
The Board of Directors of HIV/AIDS Regional Services (HARS) have announced the retirement of Executive Director John MacTavish with the appointment of longtime staff member Deb Kinder as Interim Executive Director.
The search for a permanent Executive Director position will begin shortly.
Like us, the OHTN is also recruiting for Board Members. Board applications are by July 8th, 2018.
Stigma Index
The Canadian HIV Stigma Index is recruiting participants in Ontario. The aim of the study is to collect information about the experiences of people living with HIV related to stigma, discrimination, and human rights.
The HIV Stigma Index is a peer-driven project: it has been developed and implemented by people living with HIV, which means that the Index questions will be asked by another person living with HIV. The Index is carried out in person, and takes between 1 and 2 hours to complete. All participants will be provided with a $50 honorarium.
For more information, contact Colt Burrows by calling 1-877-392-7389 or by email.
Congratulations René & Ryan!
OAN Board Member Rene Boucher and our Manager of Communications and Member Development Ryan Kerr were recently awarded travel grants by the Canadian Society for International Health and the Kingdom of the Netherlands to attend the International AIDS Conference 2018 in Amsterdam!
Winners received a grant to offset travel and accommodation expenses so they can spend a few hours each day of the conference in the Canada Pavilion booth in the conference hall. The other four recipients were:
Chad Dickie from Victoria, British Columbia
Judith Odhiambo from Toronto, Ontario
Maureen Owino from Scarborough, Ontario
René Légaré from Montreal, Québec
We wish them all well as they represent Canada from July 23th - 27th, 2018.
Remembering Robert Bardston
Artist, musician, activist and friend to many, Robert Bardston, passed away June 12th, 2018. He will be fondly remembered as a community member as well as special guest of the OHTN and CATIE events.
In February of this year, a moving video was created to honour Robert at a special concert held in his home of Medicine Hat, Alberta.
We thank Robert for his very public contribution to the art of living and ageing with HIV.
HAPPY (Toronto) PRIDE!
Wishing all of our Toronto and GTA Community a happy and playful PRIDE weekend. Don't forget to save some energy for upcoming Pride festivals in other regions, slowly being added by members to our Calendar!
OAN Outpost is released twice a month and is intended for Members, Affiliates and friends of the Ontario AIDS Network.
To submit news for distribution, please send text and/or images to rkerr@oan.red.
