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 community. Elder Syexwaliya from Squamish Nation, knowledge keeper Candice Norris, drag performers Chantelle Lee, Synder Starr, Imelda Mae Santos, and Salishan Catering all helped us welcome and celebrate our communities. Rita Kompst and her daughter Zoe of Musqueam Indian Band prepared red ribbons with cedar, celebrating the iconic red ribbon as a symbol of HIV awareness developed in the earliest days of the HIV epidemic. Community members completed a puzzle featuring RIbbon Community’s values, purpose, and logo.
During the community celebration, we highlighted community activism within and beyond AIDS Vancouver for over 40 years, including showing the short videos created to document the first 30 years of the HIV response in Vancouver. These films showcasing leaders and milestones in the response to HIV in Vancouver between 1983 and 2013 are available on our YouTube channel.
Our Executive Director Sarah Chown presented our new name, purpose, and values, in a recorded talk available on our YouTube channel. Sarah highlighted the work to change our name was grounded in the question, “How can we support people living with HIV in 2023 and beyond?”, and our commitment to the generation that built AIDS Vancouver as they age. She shared the journey to a new name, the ways we will continue to honour our roots as AIDS Vancouver, and how we will change and stay the same as we embrace our new purpose, values, name and look. Sarah highlighted the connection to the red ribbon that remains essential to our work as a HIV-specific organization.
