A story of resilience in the face of domestic abuse and HIV stigma Stella is an African woman who immigrated to Canada early this year as an asylum seeker. The 48-year-old woman landed in Calgary …
Gavin Walks for Awareness: “My HIV Status Doesn’t Define Me”
Gavin is 29 and just finished his first year of university after being out of high school for ten years. He struggled with alcohol addiction, but stopped drinking six years ago. Gavin has lived in …
February 7 is African, Caribbean & Black Canadian HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Start a conversation. Know your health options. End the stigma! On Tuesday, February 7, HIV Community Link joins the Canadian HIV and AIDS Black, African and Caribbean Network (CHABAC) in celebrating National African, Caribbean & …
My dad died ashamed. The world would just be a better place without the stigma and the fear of HIV
Rae-Leigh’s family has farmed for generations. She has continued this family tradition, currently running a small farm in Tilley, Alberta for 15 years. She had “an average Canadian dad”, she says. He was educated, successful, …
Make an Impact. Help Us Prevent Transmission of HIV!
Dear Friend, December 1 is World AIDS Day, the international day to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic and to remember those who have died of AIDS related illnesses. This year, the theme for …
On a Friday Outreach
It’s Friday, 1pm, and the Positive Living lunch for our clients is just getting started downstairs, in the drop-in space. It’s pretty crowded today, and I’m waiting for Waylon and Chelsea to finish their conversations …
“HIV is preventable and we need to make sure everybody understands it”
Greg Barry is one of the top fundraiser for the Scotiabank AIDS Walk. Although he has a busy life working as a senior manager in a multinational engineering company, Greg puts a lot of passion …
Why I Walk
Aside from the obvious factor of my being a person living with HIV for 17 years there are a number of reasons that have me register, raise funds, promote, and walk the route at the …
Trauma and HIV
What is Trauma? These days we hear a lot of talk about Trauma and experiences that may have been traumatic in our lives. Trauma is described by the American Psychological Association as an “emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape or natural disaster”. The APA goes on to note that “Longer term reactions [can] include unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, strained relationships, and even physical symptoms like headaches or nausea”.
Occupational Therapy and HIV – What Can OT Offer?
had the privilege of spending the last six weeks on placement at HIV Community Link. This was a unique opportunity because I am studying to be an occupational therapist, and there has never before been an occupational therapist at HIV Community Link. During this time I learned a lot about occupational therapy (OT) in the context of HIV, and I would like to share what I learned.