This month the PLDI reached the milestone of 15 years of programming excellence. We are so proud of how PLDI has grown and developed, where we are today, and where we are heading.  We’d like to extend our thanks and appreciation to the more than 1,000 PLDI graduates in Ontario. We believe that the PLDI and your leadership has shaped the Ontario HIV sector into what it now is. We extend our thanks to the people who made PLDI what it is today. We owe deep gratitude to OAN staff past and present including Rick Kennedy and Thomas Egdorf, PLDI

Women’s Health in Women’s Hands (WHIWH) is excited to announce a research study, #SafeHandsSafeHearts – Peer Counselling for LGBTQ+ Racialized Folks! #SafeHandsSafeHearts is a study taking place in collaboration with WHIWH, and they are now recruiting participants for this study! About the StudyThe project aims to support Black, African, Caribbean, Latin American, and South Asian sexual and gender minority communities amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It involves three online counseling sessions to increase COVID-19 knowledge and protective behaviors and reduce pandemic stress (anxiety, depression, loneliness).  How to ParticipateWHIWH encourages adults over 18 who identify as Black, African, Caribbean, Latin American, South Asian, and LGBTQIA+ to apply.

The Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT) is a coalition of affected individuals and organizations committed to promoting the health and wellbeing of people living with HIV (PHAs) who are facing access barriers related to their precarious status in Canada. The Legacy Project is a PHA mentorship program to improve access to health and social services, address stigma, and increase uptake of behaviors that prevent HIV, especially those from racial minority communities and those who are newcomers to Canada. OA45+ is a program under the Legacy umbrella that consists of three-day in-person training for racialized Persons Living with HIV (PHA)

The past few weeks have provided an opportunity for Ontario’s HIV sector to reflect on the realities of anti-Asian racism. It’s important that we stand in solidarity with Asian communities, speak out against anti-Asian racism, and reflect on long histories of anti-Asian racism in Canada.  The OAN stands in solidarity with Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS), it partners and Ontario’s Asian communities who have been hurt by the murder of 8 individuals in Atlanta and a significant increase in explicit violence against Asians. The Board of Directors of ACAS has issued a statement on Anti-Asian Racism found here. We urge all OAN

The Ontario AIDS Network Team wants to hear from all our Newsletter readers.We are conducting a Newsletter Survey and would like to know what you think about the OAN Newsletter. Your feedback will help us to meet your needs and improve our work. This quick survey takes approximately 10 minutes. Thank you for your time.Please go here to begin the survey.This survey closes on Wednesday, March 31st, 2021, at 5:00 pm.

Request for Proposals: Renewal of the Ontario Accord and Living and Serving Issued by: Advisory Committee of People Living with HIV/AIDS, Ontario AIDS Network Project Overview Working closely with the OAN’s Advisory Committee of People Living with HIV and staff, the Consultants will be responsible for renewing the Ontario Accord and the development of an organizational guidance document for Member agencies. Proposal submissions are due on April 9th at 5:00 pm EST. Late submissions will not be accepted. Submit your proposal to the OAN’s Advisory Committee at advisory@oan.red

The five-part British miniseries It’s a Sin comes to our television screens on February 18, 2021. It tells the story of five young people living and loving in the 1980s, at the dawn of the HIV epidemic. Described as heartbreaking but with humour and humanity at its heart, the miniseries allows us to mourn the loss and celebrate the lives of some of the early heroes in the fight against HIV. Watch It’s a Sin in Canada on Amazon Prime Video (in the U.S., it’s on HBO Max).  How TV can change conversations For those of us working in Ontario’s HIV response, It’s a Sin provides us with