ACAS 2019-20 Annual Report

2019/2020 Annual Report

25 YEARS OF SUPPORTING THE ASIAN LGBTQ+ & HIV+ COMMUNITY

Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS)

MOVE FORWARD ACAS 2019/2020 ANNUAL REPORT

GREETINGS MISSION STRATEGIC PLAN OUR WORK

3 4 5 7

PROGRAMS AT ACAS Youth Program....8 Support Program.....11 Men’s Program.....14 CHAMPS IN ACTION (C.I.A.).....16 Women’s Program: Pillow Talk.....18 International Students’ HIV Prevention Needs Assessment Project...20

STORIES FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AWARDS PERSONNEL, FUNDERS AND SPONSORS

22 24 26 31

The struggle we are in today is helping us to develop the strength for tomorrow.

A Message from the Board Chair and the Executive Director: When ACAS closed its office to the public in late March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we adjusted our operations to comply with the public health guidelines on physical distancing and working from home.

The Board of Directors immediately developed a Pandemic Planning Policy and Pandemic Planning Checklist to guide ACAS operations and mitigate health and other risks to our service users and employees.

ACAS continues to deliver all of our programs and services. We do virtual workshops and one-on-one meetings. Staff use phone, email, and social media to regularly contact our clients living with HIV. We want to make sure that our clients and service users know that we are with them and that we will go through this period together. In early September of this year, we reopened our office to the public with new safety features and in-person modified services. We will adjust our operations as needed to respond to the public health environment. One thing we will never change, however, is our values and commitment to providing quality services to our community, and to being with them and for them in moments of adversity.

This year’s AGM marks the 26th anniversary of ACAS. As we reflect on the past 25 years, and continue to navigate this special year together, we look forward to the next quarter-century and all it will bring. We feel fortunate to be able to keep serving our community for years to come.

Lastly, our sincere thanks to our sponsors, funders, individual donors, staff and volunteers who continue to support and contribute to ACAS. Your support makes all the difference. Without you, we would not be able to provide the many services you will read about in this annual report, and we would certainly not have been able to accomplish what we have this year under the pressures of COVID-19. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Fiona Lee Board Chair

Noulmook Sutdhibhasilp Executive Director

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MISSION To provide HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and support services to the East and Southeast Asian Canadian communities.

What We’re Doing With your support, we provide HIV and sexual health education workshops, community outreach and forums, support for LGBTQ+ youth, case management, health promotion and referral services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs).

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SUMMARY OF STRATEGIC PLAN (2018-2022)

ACAS2019/2020 ANNUAL REPORT

5

OUR WORK VOLUNTEERS 144

9

Active volunteers

Peer PHA volunteers

7

1,111

Designated PHA peer positions

Volunteer hours

SOCIAL MEDIA 26,077

2,039

1,384

6

Agency website views

Facebook posts (Likes)

2,822

Facebook page (Likes)

6

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Twitter followers

Podcast production

SERVICES 370

70

71

16

69

112

3,709

1,734

678

125

Program participants

Educational workshops

Drop-ins & social events

Condom distribution

Brief outreach contacts

Significant outreach contacts

Peer Educators & Volunteer Training sessions

Peer Educators’ meetings

PHA support service sessions

PHA clients and families served

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Programs at ACAS

YOUTH PROGRAM Program Coordinator: Kai Ip Wong Peer Educators: Angela Wang, Min Ngo, Vale Warren

The Youth Program consists of 2 main programs: Queer and Trans Asian Youth (QTAY) and Health Promotion.

Queer and Trans Asian Youth (QTAY) Queer and Trans Asian Youth (QTAY) is for LGBTQ+ East and Southeast Asian youth (16-29 years of age). For over 20 years, QTAY has acted as a hub for LGBTQ+ Asian youth to create meaningful bonds and foster a sense of community amongst those who share similar intersectional identities and life experiences. QTAY also provides workshops, drop-ins, and support group sessions to empower youth with coping strategies, problem-solving skills and knowledge on how to navigate the social, emotional and mental stress that comes along with their LGBTQ+ Asian identity. One of QTAY’s main programs is When You’re Ready (WYR), an 8-week closed group program where LGBTQ+ Asian youth gather to engage, listen and learn about topics related to their intersectional identity to foster a sense of community, belonging and resiliency. This program is organized and co-facilitated by the QTAY Peer Leadership team, who have been trained and mentored by the Youth Program Coordinator.

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QTAY at a Glance

3

10

6

6

130

50

When You’re Ready (WYR) cohorts with 24 sessions and 30 youth participants

Drop-in workshops and social activities

Participants reached through social drops-ins

QTAY training workshops

Peer Educators trained

Peer Leader Meetings

Impact “...(I am) able to express myself, and it’s a really good feeling to explore and just be myself and not feel so judged or feel pressure to act a certain way. Never be afraid to call out to the collective.”

“All of our experiences are so different as queer and trans Asian youth, but also very similar in that we’re just trying to survive and grow... and this makes me feel more hopeful.”

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QTAY Health Promotion Project (2019-2020) Project Lead: Gabriel Bacani

The Health Promotion Project aims to increase awareness of the impacts of tobacco and smoking for LGBTQ+ Asian youth through workshops that promote holistic well-being and community engagement. Some workshops the Project carried out were: cooking, public speaking and “vision boarding”. These workshops were organized and led by volunteer QTAY Peer Leaders.

Project at a Glance

80

3

7

25

LGBTQ+ Asian youth participated

Health Promotion workshops

10

Peer Leaders’ training workshops

10

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Peer Leaders trained

Peer Leader meetings

SUPPORT PROGRAM Program Coordinator: Alex Ma Women’s Support Coordinator: Amutha Samgam Health Promotion Coordinator: Kenneth Poon

The Support Program offers a culturally and linguistically appropriate case management service, linkages to health and social services, complementary therapies (acupuncture and massage), social events, peer groups, financial assistance, treatment information, and capacity building opportunities to East and Southeast Asians living with HIV. Driven by Greater Involvement and Meaningful Involvement of PHAs (GIPA/MEPA) principles, our program supports, engages, and empowers PHAs to help improve their quality of life by enhancing their knowledge and skills to support self-care and to make positive changes in their lives. In addition, the Support Program organized “United Dinner” and launched the “Love Fearlessly Positive Asian” podcast as a special event for World AIDS Day on November 29, 2019.

Ontario Positive Asians (OPA+) is an independent network for and by PHAs in the Greater Toronto Area and the province of Ontario. OPA+ is supported by ACAS and Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP) and fiscally trusteed by ACAS. In the past year, there were 2 OPA+ gatherings for OPA+ to discuss theHQ Gay Men Health Hub, social connection during pandemic, harm reduction, and combating racism.

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Program at a Glance

125

40

1734

12

10

Meal distribution

6

COVID-19

clients and family members

service sessions including case management, service coordination, complementary therapy, settlement services, and group sessions were delivered to clients.

social events (pre-COVID19 in-person and online)

Podcast episodes produced

12

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participants at the World AIDS Day event

health promotion workshops

during the COVID-19 lockdown

Emergency fund

Impact “I have been a service user for 14 years. I have known my support worker for 10 years. She visited me and delivered meals to me when I was in the hospital. After discharge, she helped me with housing. She helped my daughter when she was studying.

My family treats her like family. She also helped me with my immigration issues, talked to my social worker about my issues, accompanied me to my family doctor.

During this pandemic, she gave me some cloth masks, helped me contact the social worker for my housing. She advocated for and with me during my stay at a temporary housing. We often talk on the phone. She is a kind, great worker. I really appreciate her help.”

“I benefited from the workshops because those topics were relevant to my health. I felt supported in this circle. All of the speakers were knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive to me when I asked them questions despite my English language expression being limited. I felt accepted and free of stigma with the program.”

“The (in-person) workshops were excellent, I gained lots of information which allowed me to support myself and my peers.

The food provided during the workshops was so delicious. Also, I liked all of the presenters because they were so friendly and down-to-earth to us, HIV clients. They even sat with us while eating during break time. Since I don’t get out very often I liked to see my peers and ACAS staff who are always here to support me.”

“Every time I came to the Health Promotion workshops, I felt belong and safe and free from the stigma. I liked the speakers because they were informative.

My favourite workshops were the treatment workshop and the medical cannabis workshop. The peer translator was well prepared. I could understand the workshop well thanks to Kenneth, the Health Promotion Coordinator.”

“The OPA+ Forum was a great safe space where I could be myself and free from the stigma. At the forum, I felt comfortable to communicate with other participants and the presenters. I also made personal connections with the participants from the OPA+ Forum where I received the support too. During the forum, I could safely and comfortably exchange our experiences among each other.”

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MEN’S PROGRAM Program Coordinator: Ryan Tran

The Men’s Program is the first HIV/STIs Prevention and Education Program of ACAS. It hosts social events and workshops, including its signature program, SLAM! (Sex, Love, Asian Men), where individuals can share and learn from each other’s experiences as Asian gay, bisexual, queer cis and trans men who have sex with men (MSM) in relation to sexual health, coming out, dating, and relationships. Men’s Program can also be found on popular gay dating apps providing information on safer sex, HIV testing and STIs. The Men’s Program organizes a number of events such as Hump Day, a fun educational workshop that allows its participants to stay connected together while learning about culturally-relevant sexual health issues; Asian Bathhouse Night at Spa Excess which became a monthly tradition for gay Asian men to celebrate body positivity and embrace sexuality while learning practical safer sex practices; a SLAM forum to engage Asian men in topics on PrEP, testing, mental health, and community activism, with an exclusive session for trans men and trans masculine folks; and a harm reduction support group for Asian MSM who use drugs.

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Program at a Glance

71

900+

44

100%

4

80%

15

85%

participants – Hump Day workshops

participants – Bathhouse Night events

Harm reduction support meetings

participants reached through online outreach

condom packages distributed

of volunteers adopted at least one HIV risk reduction strategy

of volunteers demonstrated improved knowledge on HIV and risk reduction measures

of workshop participants adopted behaviours that reduce their risk of HIV, reported being HIV tested and receiving results

Impact "SLAM is a great place to meet other gay Asian people within the community. It is a great place to learn, network and to feel you're a part of a community."

"It has played a major part in my life for the past few years and I've seen so many great and wonderful changes happen because of the community ACAS has built"

“"ACAS has been a strong and important resource not only for me personally but for everyone in the community. In return, my support for ACAS continues as long as I'm around and hope the majority feels the same."

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CHAMPS in Action (C.I.A.) PROGRAM Program Coordinator: Trisha Steinberg Outreach Worker: Michael Wu

CHAMPS IN ACTION (C.I.A.) is a training program that aims to reduce HIV-associated stigma through structured experiential group learning and enhancing community’s capacity to mobilize against systemic barriers to social determinants of health through social justice causes. It is based on results from the CHAMP Research Study (2016), which was shown to be effective in reducing HIV and mental health stigma, increasing community support and promoting action against discrimination and injustices perpetuated towards PHAs and allies from racialized communities.

C.I.A. is delivered by the CHAMP Alliance, which is made up of the following ethno-racial AIDS service organizations: ACAS, Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT), Africans in Partnership Against AIDS (APAA), the Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP) and the Centre for Spanish Speaking Peoples (CSSP).

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Program at a Glance

12

2

11

Outreach

knowledge exchange meetings with Alliance partners

participants participated in CHAMP workshops

12

reunion events for ACAS graduates

1

pilot, virtual training sessions with 10 volunteers

to community events such as the Filipino Youth Fellowship Event and TD Park People Event

Co-organized

a graduation ceremony for 30 CHAMP Alliance participants who completed the CHAMP training.

online blog created by 2 graduates using C.I.A. practices: https://champsactionstory.wordpress.com/

Impact “It is nice to find a group and be part of it, helping to empower youth like me” “Practicing mindfulness helps me function especially these days when we are going through these tough times because of COVID”

“I truly enjoyed my CHAMP experience, though it was cut short because of the pandemic, I wish to be part of or continue to practice what I’ve learned in those 2 days”

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WOMEN’S PROGRAM:PILLOW TALK (2020)

Program Lead: Dany Ko

Pillow Talk is an annual forum hosted by ACAS that aims to draw lessons learned about sexuality, intimacy, and relationships from real-life experiences of East and Southeast Asian cis women, trans women, and non-binary folks. This year’s forum, Pillow Talk: From Isolation to Intimacy, was a series of five interactive online (Zoom) workshops that took place over the course of two weeks. The workshop objectives emphasized caring for our own bodies while in quarantine and curating the relationships we have between our experiences and our identities. Participants were able to engage in interactive conversations around a variety of topics, including self-care, menopause, mindfulness, and destigmatizing / understanding sexual health.

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Project at a Glance

5

virtual workshops

91%

of participants learned how to be kinder to themselves and to re-examine their relationships with their bodies.

59

participants

Impact “I know how to protect myself, set limits at a sexual encounter, etc.”

“I learned critical ways to think about self-love, healing, growth, and self-care.”

"Viewing my problems from different perspectives, expressing them in more sensual ways vs. just analyzing" “I learned ways to take care of my body overtime”.

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INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS’ HIV PREVENTION NEEDS ASSESSMENT PROJECT (2019-2020)

Program Coordinator: Kai Ip Wong Outreach Workers: Sucre Le, Liem Nguyen, Bill Lu In Toronto, there has been an increase in HIV prevalence of HIV among international students who identify as gay, bisexual, or men who have sex with men (ISgbMSM). To better understand this trend, ACAS conducted a one-year, community-based needs assessment project to explore Asian ISgbMSM’s unique experiences, challenges and barriers to accessing HIV and sexual health knowledge and services. The project team, in consultation with academic researchers, developed interview questions and a survey, and collected both qualitative and quantitative data. Data were analyzed and findings were synthesized to produce a community report. The preliminary report with recommendations on how service providers can better provide support to ISgbMSM with respect to HIV/STIs prevention and sexual health was presented at a knowledge exchange forum in June 2020. The full report will be available online in early December 2020.

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Project at a Glance

11

Asian ISgbMSM were interviewed in English, and Asian languages

32

international students, service providers, researchers, and government officials participated in a knowledge-exchange virtual forum

100

online surveys were distributed in English, and Asian languages

Impact Various recommendations generated from the project findings will be used for ACAS program improvements. These recommendations disseminated to policy makers, health service providers, higher education institutes, and AIDS service organizations can influence health policy and program delivery and will increase access to sexual health and HIV prevention services for ISgbMSM.

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Stories of us at ACAS

Meet Michael My name is Michael. I’m a PHA and newcomer in Canada.

I found ACAS’s information through HALCO (HIV&AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario), and since then I become a member of ACAS family.

ACAS support team lighted up my life with hope from darkness. Two things I want to highlight that how ACAS support team has changed my life: The first thing was ACAS support team has helped me a lot with my refugee claim.

The second thing was ACAS helped me to connect with medical and healthcare.

The words I want to share to other PHAs and myself: Never give up hope, when you lost yourself in darkness and despair, don’t forget the dawn is coming.

Regards, Michael

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Meet Boi-Anh I am a first-generation Canadian and I identify as non-binary. I learned of QTAY through one of their Facebook events; I kept going to these events to meet more amazing people. A friend recommended the When You’re Ready program to me, so I took the plunge. Everything discussed was new and comforting to me as a queer person, and I think this is when I woke up and started taking charge of my life. That’s why I applied to become a peer educator too. I got to develop meaningful relationships with people and help make a difference in their lives. I’m so glad QTAY exists.

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Financial Statements (April 01, 2019-March 31, 2020) Statement of Financial Position March 31, 2020 2020 ASSETS Current Cash Cash - restricted Accounts receivable Harmonized sales taxes recoverable Prepaid expenses

$

EQUIPMENT (Notes 2 & 3) BONDS AND TERM DEPOSITS

LIABILITIES Current Accounts payable Deferred income Amounts held under trusteeship arrangements (Note 4)

64,352 40,028 5,487 18,819 5,395

157,090

134,081

5,036 36,275

5,394 35,963

198,401

$

175,438

$

52,792 76,972 8,982

$

31,105 46,434 26,570

$

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$

$

NET ASSETS Unrestricted Fund PHA Fund Reserve Restricted fund (Note 1)

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74,531 22,440 35,230 20,071 4,818

2019

138,746

104,109

46,197 2,500 10,958

57,871 2,500 10,958

59,655

71,329

198,401

$

175,438

Statement of Revenues and Expenditures Year ended March 31, 2020 2020 REVENUES Grants - CANFAR Grants - Ministry of Citizenship and immigration Grants - City of Toronto Grants - Community One Foundation Grants - Ministry of Health and Long - Term Care Grants - Public Health Agency of Canada Grants - Viiv Healthcare Canada Donations, sponsorships and fundraising revenue Others

$

EXPENDITURES Advertising and promotion Amortization - equipment Bank charges Consultants - projects Equipment and furniture purchased Fundraising Office and general Office rent (Note 5) PHA programs and activities Professional fees Programs and educational materials Salaries and wages Staff development and support Youth internship Travel Utilities, telephone and communications Workshops, conferences and volunteer expenses EXCESS OF REVENUES OVER EXPENDITURES

$

131,442 6,597 331,965 97,210 18,768 49,612 11,485

2019

$

9,027 7,995 122,363 3,903 331,965 100,222 19,120 66,479 14,379

647,079

675,453

643 2,042 181 600 103 3,761 13,303 56,866 12,147 20,253 43,060 470,661 4,503 410 8,456 21,764

2,676 2,367 537 2,966 62 7,433 19,219 55,450 17,446 21,058 42,646 467,549 8,936 882 4,624 8,059 25,459

658,753

687,369

(11,674)

$

(11,916)

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AWARDS

ACAS has created two special awards to honor the contributions of individuals who espouse the core values and visions of ACAS. The Patrick Truong PHA Leadership Award honors a person living with HIV of East & Southeast Asian cultural heritage who has made significant contributions in the areas of HIV/AIDS, human rights and/or related social justice issues in Toronto, Canada or internationally. It was named after ACAS late support staff, AIDS and community activist.

The Awardee is Paul Fernandez (posthumous).

Paul Fernandez

(1962- 2017)

We, the family of Paul Fernandez, are extremely proud of Paul’s work within ACAS and beyond and are very pleased to accept the Patrick Truong PHA Leadership Award granted posthumously. We thank ACAS for its recognition of his leadership and countless contributions to the community.

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It’s never easy to distil a lifetime of contributions and achievements of a person; it’s made more challenging when trying to capture it for Paul. His gifts were many and multi-faceted and they make his attainments, when put together, a remarkable and inspiring legacy.

Born and raised in Singapore, Paul moved to study at the University of Calgary in his youth. He returned to Singapore after graduation before finally making Toronto home. While grateful to Canada for the freedom to be his authentic self and the space to grow and make his mark, his country of birth remained close to his heart, not least because of its association with family he cared deeply about.

From a very young age Paul showed traits of a remarkable leader - vision that was often far ahead of its times, a brightness that challenged assumptions and pushed boundaries, strong passion and purpose, searing insight, a unique eye for beauty many of these in service of the vulnerable and premised on principles of fairness and social justice.

Even when very young, Paul did so well at school that he was asked to coach his cousins of a similar age and he did so with great willingness and a sense of fun and humour. He had a keen intellect that instinctively knew how to teach the much-feared subject of mathematics to others. His cousins remained close to him till the end, grateful for the many fun and loving memories. He brought this ability to support learning into many areas of his personal and community life.

Paul was a great believer in life-long learning and believed everyone has the capacity to grow by learning. Learning was an act of self-love and self-empowerment to him. He was an ACAS facilitator and organizer and among other activities, he ran training workshops to support people living with HIV/AIDS. He knew this would greatly improve their quality of life and their self-esteem and in turn, impact positively on their wellbeing.

Paul actively and courageously made it his mission to address homophobia and racism across countries, as well as within the LGBTQI2S community, despite the discomforts, disappointments and real threats he faced. He achieved this in many ways: through digital activism on internet forums; support for the founding of the ‘Of Colour Collective’ in Calgary in the early ‘90s built on the intersectionality of race and sexual orientation, with the ambition of creating a cross-Canada movement for space for marginalized voices; gave a speech at a Pride rally in Calgary during the same period; promoted programs when he was on the Board and committees of ACAS (and ASAAP); identified and advocated for the evolving needs of community members, and stood up for people who were unable to access resources in their defence of their human rights, including for someone who faced the death penalty. Towards the end of his life, he championed self-organizing among friends and community members to meet their informal social belonging and mentorship needs, working towards drawing in family into the circle.

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During one particular period, when life seemed precarious because of opposition to his views and person, he fought on without giving up. As difficult as it was on him, he tenaciously channeled all his passion into strengthening the lives of others in similar circumstances, always mindful of their dignity. All of his involvements came from a place of sensitivity and deep care for others; qualities often missed because most people were more struck by the eloquence and the keen intellect he brought to his work.

In his life, Paul always equipped himself with facts and knowledge. This was true as much in his personal life as in his life of community and political activism. Whether it was about cooking, music, gardening or politics, he often took in a breadth of information and judiciously evaluated their merit before finding creative and constructive uses for them. It was no surprise to us that one of his valued colleagues at ACAS described him as a thinker, a valuable asset for activist work and for committee meetings. A colleague at ASAAP shared with us how much he valued Paul’s principled stance at meetings, even in the face of opposition.

Invariably this meant that they took strong, collective decisions in their fight against homophobia and racism, that almost always proved to have been the right decision to have taken.

Paul was a precious person on a pathbreaking mission. His legacy in opening up difficult conversations on racism and homophobia in new spaces, community building, especially for the HIV-positive/AIDS community will endure in all our lives and in the organizations he worked at.

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The 25th Anniversary Community Builder Award honors an individual of East & Southeast Asian cultural heritage who is from a marginalized or underserved sector of the community, and who has demonstrated commitment and ability in community organizing or advocacy work related to LGBTQ+, HIV/AIDS, human rights or social justice.

This year’s award goes to Aries Cheung.

Aries has been a valuable member of the ACAS community since ACAS’s inception, and his contributions for helping build the Asian LGBTQ+ community should not be under-appreciated.

Although his professional career is focused in the arts, Aries has devoted huge amount of quality hours to volunteer with ACAS and LGBTQ+ community throughout the years.

In 2019-2020 alone, Aries was committed in the organizing of three projects and was essential in the smooth delivery of these events and programs: STARS 100, a trans performance / fashion / arts / crafts showcase; Midnight Lotus, a social group meetups and workshops for mature queer Asian men, as a steering m ember and the. liaison with ACAS; and Invisible, Footprints, an intergenerational arts and networking project, as an advisory team member and the supervisor of youth project staff.

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In 1997, he coordinated and facilitated Asian Visual Artists Against AIDS for ACAS. In 1998, he helped organize Asian Performers Against AIDS showcase. In 2003, he was an active member of ACFEM - Asian Canadians for Equal Marriage. In 2006, he led the Voices of Asians in HIV/ AIDS, an ACAS performance event (Temple Street) featured at the East and Southeast Asian Zone in the Global Village of the 16th International AIDS Conference in Toronto.

In 2008, Aries helped organize the Red Rib bon Human links, ACAS' first World AIDS Day event in Toronto Chinatown. In 2010, he helped create ACAS's first queer Asian snort film competition and screening, Bamboo Shoot. In 2014 and 2015, he was involved in Rice Roll Production's theatre and video projects utilizing his roster of creative skills in the arts, including illustration, acting, singing, and dancing. He has performed at ACAS's Pink Dot event and at the Miss ACAS Pageant. He has lent his expertise in facilitating va1rio us workshops for ACAS, including media/ public speaking and vocal/singing for QTAY. Besides his artistic, organizing, and mentoring work, Aries has also sat on advisory committees for ACAS service programs and has been a support buddy and translator for Asian living with HIV/AIDS. Today, we are very delighted to honour his work, dedication, talents, and leadership in the Asian LGBTQ+ and HIV/AIDS communities.

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Personnel, Funders and Sponsors

2019-2020 Board Members Fiona Lee, Chair Michelle Tam, Vice-Chair Bradyn Ko, Secretary Lindsey Li, Treasurer Derek Yee, Director Jasmine Ngan, Director Jun Emperador, Director Rainer Oktovianus, Director

Departing Board Fiona Lee Jasmine Ngan Jun Emperador

Staff Members Alex Ma, Support Program Coordinator Amutha Samgam, Women’s Support Coordinator Bryan Quinonos, Rainbow GPS Project Lead Catharine Kozuch, Bookkeeper Dany Ko, LGBTQ+ Together Project Lead Kai Ip Wong, Youth Program Coordinator Kenneth Poon, Health Promotion Coordinator Michael Wu, CHAMP Outreach Worker Mina Heng, Administrative Assistant Noulmook Sutdhibhasilp, Executive Director Ryan Tran, Manager of Education and Outreach/Gay Men’s Sexual Health Coordinator Trisha Steinberg, CHAMP Volunteer Coordinator Departing staff Angelli McGuigan Bill Lu Boi-Anh Huynh Christian Hui Gabriel Bacani Greg Wong Andrew Miao Placement Students Ethan Cha Vivian Tran

James Lee Oojoo Chun PsalmaeTesalona Phi Tran Sucre Li Zack Emirat Our sincere thanks to members of SLAM Working Group, Support Program Advisory, Youth Program Advisory, OPA+ Advisory, ISgbMSM HIV Prevention Needs Assessment Project Advisory, and QTAY Health Promotion Project peers for their dedication and support.

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FUNDERS AIDS and Hepatitis C Program, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund, Public Health Agency of Canada Toronto Urban Health Fund, City of Toronto Investment in Youth Program, City of Toronto CORPORATE AND COMMUNITY SPONSORS Adrienne Mak, Earthsea Acupuncture Buddies in Bad Time Theatre Connie Chung, Acupuncturist DJ Kainan Gilbert Lai, Acupuncturist Gilead Science Canada, Inc. Jade Elektra of POZ-TO medsEXPERT Clinic + Pharmacy Moss Park Pharmachoice Oxford College Pace Pharmacy Rainbow Grants, Community One Foundation Spa Excess Styled By Miss Trish TD Bank Park People Grants The Little Elves Foundation Vachina Dynasty ViiV Healthcare Canada

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ACAS2019/2020 ANNUAL REPORT

COMMUNITY PARTNERS African in Partnerships Against AIDS (APAA) AIDS Committee of Toronto Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention (ASAAP) Buddies in Bad Time Casey House Centre for Spanish Speaking People (CSSP) Central Toronto Youth Services Chinese-Canadian National Council (CCNC), Toronto Chapter Committee for Accessible AIDS Treatment (CAAT) Dignity Network Fife House Gay Men Sexual Health Alliance (GMSH) Hassle Free Clinic HQ Gay Men’s Health Hub Advisory Invisible Footprints Project POZ-TO PROTECH Raging Asian Women (RAW) Thai Society of Ontario The AIDS Network Toronto People with AIDS Foundation (PWA) The Teresa Group Research Partners: St Michael’s Hospital and the Shanghai Commercial Sex Worker and MSM Centre, PrEP among Shanghai and Chinese-Torontonian gbMSM Research Study Ryerson University, Engage Cohort Study St. Michael’s Hospital, Ontario PrEP Cohort Study Ryerson University and University of Toronto, Condom Negotiation Among Gay and Bisexual Men Study ANNUAL REPORT Designed by www.qp925.com We wish to thank all our donors, sponsors and volunteers whose names are too many to mention here for their continued support.

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Asian Community AIDS Services (ACAS) 260 Spadina Ave, Suite 410 Toronto Ontario, M5T 2E4, Canada E-mail: info@acas.org Phone: (416) 963-4300 Fax: (416) 963-4371 Toll-free numbers: 1-877-630-2227 CHARITABLE NUMBER 889432431 RR001