Updates
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Changes @ VPWAS
By the end of May 2025 VPWAS will be facing some major changes. This spring we have been successful in retaining our contract with Island Health through STOP HIV for another five years! However there is a moratorium on any funding increases across the province leaving VPWAS struggling with the increased costs of maintaining our…
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The Corner ‘Zine
For years, participants at The Corner have created an annual ‘Zine. This ‘Zine complies contributions from participants of The Corner program, a confidential drop in space for Male, 2 Spirit, Trans, Non-Binary, and Gender Diverse People who are sex work experiential. It features visual art pieces as well as writing from participants in this program.
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Meet a 2025 Kenneth Lackner Scholarship recipient.
Rick Heffernan is one of two recipients of the $2,500 Kenneth Lackner Scholarship for 2025. Through nearly five years of volunteering with a drop-in for sex workers at Ribbon Community, Rick has witnessed firsthand how systemic inequities affect real people accessing HIV care and prevention. Now completing his Master’s degree in Public Health at Simon…
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From the VPWAS Board – December 2024
Peer support is the root and cause of who we are. If VPWAS has ever provided you with quality of safety and care, then you know Penny. She showed up decades ago and never left. As our long-term peer navigator, she meets people where they are at, —whether long-term survivors working through issues of aging…
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Indetectable = intransmisible
Por sus iniciales en inglés, Undetectable = Untransmittable (u=u).
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Undetectable is untransmissible.
When people living with HIV have an undetectable viral load, HIV cannot be passed during sex. Even without a condom, when people living with HIV have a consistent undetectable viral load and are getting HIV care, there is no way that HIV can be passed during sex.
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?Vives con VIH?
Un Navegador de Pares es alguien que está en tu lugar. Con una experiencia de vida similar a la tuya que comprende tu situación, ellos, pueden ayudarte a navegar por el Sistema de Salud mientras apoyan tu estado de salud y objetivos de bienestar. El programa de navegación entre pares en VPWAS puede ayudarte a…
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AIDS Vancouver is now Ribbon Community
On March 26, 2024, AIDS Vancouver hosted a Community Celebration to share the results of the Vision Our Future process – a year long conversation about our purpose, values, name and look. Well over 100 guests attended in-person, with more joining us via livestream for a celebration of 40+ years of our history, herstories, and…
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GIPA/MEPA
GIPA/MEPA stands for Greater Involvement of People Living with AIDS and Meaningful Engagement of People Living with AIDS. These concepts have evolved over decades of the HIV response, starting in June 1983 at the 5th Annual National Lesbian and Gay Health Conference. While what we now know as HIV had been impacting communities for decades…
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40+ years creating and supporting community as AIDS Vancouver
For over 40 years, AIDS Vancouver has been creating and supporting community. AIDS Vancouver was founded out of urgent necessity in the early, uncertain 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.…
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Vision our Future Updates
The Vision Our Future process at AIDS Vancouver is well underway! The Vision Our Future project is part of our current strategic plan, based on a decision from the membership at a Special General Meeting in February 2023. With great reverence for those who came before us, we set out to revise the mission, vision, values, and…
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Revising AIDS Vancouver’s mission, vision, values, name and logo
At a Special General Meeting on February 6, 2023, the AIDS Vancouver membership endorsed a consultation process to revise the mission, vision, values statement, and brand, including our name and logo. We firmly believe this work will allow AIDS Vancouver to continue to support people living with HIV for many years to come. We remain committed…
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VPWAS Scotiabank AIDS Walk #YYJ for Life Moving Forward, Promoting Grassroots Activism While Engaging our Community
In looking for ways to promote and integrate our history of grassroots activism while still engaging our community in meaningful ways, the Board and Staff of the Vancouver Island Persons Living with HIV/AIDS Society (VPWAS), in consultation with membership, staff, volunteers and allies has decided we will not participate in the 2016 “Scotiabank AIDS Walk…
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VictoriaNeeds.LGBTQ: A legacy project of VARCS
A Survey to Determine the Needs, Desires, and Support for a Queer / LGBT Community Centre in Victoria, BC.
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VPWAS AGM – Letter from the Board
Dear members of the VPWAS community, First and foremost, we express our gratitude for your participation in this year’s AGM. A lot of exciting, frustrating, empowering and saddening events have taken place since our last meeting. We mourn for, and celebrate, the lives of members lost over the last year and continue to remember the…
Be a Ribbon Insider
The Ribbon Insider is our monthly enewsletter. It highlights upcoming groups, activities, events, and other opportunities within the HIV response.
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