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  • Calgary
    • HIV Support Services
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      • Safer Consumption Supplies
      • Overdose Prevention Program
      • Well Program
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Blog

The A Word is a place where you can find out more about human rights, learn about new HIV research, discover safe and sexy tips, share personal stories, and so much more. A wide range of topics are covered on the blog that are aimed at providing you with more information about HIV, its impacts and HIV Community Link’s services.

Our blog is a place for us to connect with our community, share our knowledge, and engage in meaningful discussions. We’d love to read your responses, questions, and feedback to our articles in the comments section at the end of each post.

If you would like to write a guest post or request permission to reprint an article from The A Word, please contact us by phone at (403) 508-2500 or by email at info@hivcl.org.

Honouring International Trans Day of Remembrance

Ana Glavan November 12, 2020 Uncategorized

This blog was submitted as a tribute to the people who have died as victims of trans hate crimes. We invite you to read this story and help support and advocate for trans rights. November …

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transtrans rightstransgender

HIV Community Link is Reopening Its Drop-In Spaces with Reduced Hours of Operation

Ana Glavan June 30, 2020 News

We are excited to announce that HIV Community Link is reopening its offices for limited services in Calgary and Medicine Hat. Our goal is to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission while protecting and supporting …

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COVIDsupport

COVID-19 Update: We continue to offer support to clients and community. Drop-in spaces are closed temporarily

Ana Glavan March 20, 2020 News

HIV Community Link is continuing to provide services in Calgary and Medicine Hat. While our office doors are closed temporarily, we are actively providing support by phone and through outreach and delivery services to our …

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COVID-19 Update: We remain open to support our clients. Drop-in support has been suspended, and hours have been limited.

Alisha Ostberg March 17, 2020 News

As cases of the novel Coronavirus continue to spread, we would like to share with you our plans for how we will continue to support you while we all work towards reducing the level of …

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HIV Community Link closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation: Group activities in client spaces are suspended

Alisha Ostberg March 14, 2020 News, Uncategorized

In accordance with guidelines from Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health, HIV Community Link is taking a measured and pro-active response to the COVID-19 situation in Alberta to ensure clients, volunteers and staff have continued support. Our …

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“Everyone deserves the right to be safe at work.” International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers

Alisha Ostberg December 17, 2019 criminilization, harm reduction, human rights, international, sex work, stigma

December 17th is International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (IDEVASW). This day is a day that joins sex workers, allies, and advocates around the world in recognizing violence committed against sex workers globally. …

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“That part of it people need to see. That they are not alone.” – Monica shares her story in support of Community Voices.

Alisha Ostberg November 10, 2019 Blog, events, living with HIV, personal story, volunteer

Community Voices is an annual event held to honour World AIDS Day. December 1st marks World AIDS Day, it also marks the beginning of Aboriginal AIDS Awareness Week. World AIDS Day is an opportunity to …

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Jules Shares His Story of Living with HIV: “It is so important to see that someone else cares”

Alisha Ostberg September 18, 2019 Uncategorized

Every year, HIV Community Link holds The Calgary AIDS Walk & Run, an event dedicated to getting the Calgary community together to show support for those living with HIV. The AIDS Walk is a 3 …

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“I walk because there is work to be done” – Why Mark walks in the Calgary AIDS Walk & Run.

Alisha Ostberg September 6, 2019 antiretroviral therapy, Blog, events, HEAT, human rights, living with HIV, personal story, stigma

HIV Community Link’s HEAT Program Coordinator Mark Randall shares why he walks every year in the Calgary AIDS Walk & Run. The AIDS Walk is a 3 month long fundrasier, that raises money for HIV …

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AIDS WalkCalgary AIDS Walk

“What I have learned about the drag culture, is that it is deeply rooted in freedom of expression and living your own personal truth.” Meet Mike from First Time in Drag.

Alisha Ostberg August 28, 2019 events, Gay Pride, personal story

The follow entry is from Mike, a person who participated in HIV Community Link’s First Time in Drag event. First Time in Drag is a fundraiser for the Calgary AIDS Walk & Run, where participants …

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Find Us In

Calgary: 110 – 1603 10 Ave SW, T3C 0J7 |
(403) 508-2500 or 1 (877) 440-2437 (toll free)
Medicine Hat: 641 4th Street SE Medicine Hat|
(403) 527-5882 or 1 (877) 440-2437 (toll free)
Brooks: PO Box 331, T1R 1B4  | (403) 376-6020

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Lead, Knowledge Translation and Peer Program

Janak is a public health researcher with a background in tropical medicine and global health. Janak is passionate about bringing change in the lives of people living with HIV by implementing programs related to harm reduction, health promotion and disease prevention. Janak is currently working on his Ph.D. in Community Health Sciences at Cumming School of Medicine, at the University of Calgary.

Karyn Jackson

Karyn holds a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Calgary. She is passionate about the intersectionality of ageing and working to create communities that help reduce inequalities and support a just ageing process. Identifying as a radical social worker, Karyn’s approach is rooted in harm reduction and rights-based philosophies from which she adapts tools to help facilitate positive social change. Karyn loves the community that HIV Community Link has helped to foster and is honoured to share the journey with those who engage with the agency.

Bob Noftall

Bob is an independent Executive Coach who partners with leaders to strengthen their leadership impact within their teams, across the organization, and with external stakeholders. With over 20 years of experience as a Chief HR Officer he has significant understanding and experience of the complexities leaders face as they lead organizations through growth and change.

Career experiences include Chief Human Resources Officer Celestica, Chief HR Officer for DH Corporation and EVP HR Americas and Asia Pacific Regions with Cadbury Schweppes PLC working out of Melbourne, Singapore, and the USA. Bob holds a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of Calgary, Master’s Degree in Human Resources & Industrial Relations from the University of Toronto, and a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching from Royal Roads University.

A core value of Bob’s is supporting people who engage directly with vulnerable people in the community. He has more than 25 years of experience on volunteer boards, leading committees on Governance, Strategy, Human Resources and Fundraising. Experiences include Chair of the Griffin Centre, a Toronto based mental health agency for youth, adults, and their families and former board member of the National Ballet of Canada. In addition to volunteering, Bob dedicates a quarter of his coaching practice to provide free coaching to leaders in not for profit organizations. Recently returned to his hometown of Calgary, he is delighted to be able to support HIV Community Link’s efforts in HIV Prevention, Support and Advocacy.

Jordana Goldstein, HIV Case Manager

Working at HIV Community Link fits perfectly with my skill set as a psychotherapist and gives me a fabulous opportunity to further my knowledge, education and experience. With a Masters of Counseling I am given the opportunity to enhance my two areas of specialization; bereavement and as a sex psychotherapist. The diversity, resilience and openness of the community members is a cherished aspect of my position. I appreciate the transparency, non-judgemental, open and welcoming work environment for both clients and staff. I am honored and often find myself humbled when clients share their stories and truly thankful to be a part of their journey.

Harm Reduction Outreach Worker

Kevin has a Bachelor of Health Science degree, majoring in Addictions Counselling from the University of Lethbridge. His passion for working in Harm Reduction developed while working in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside at InSite, North America’s first supervised injection site. Kevin feels very fortunate in having the opportunity to work for HIV Community Link, as he has seen what good they have done in the advancement of Harm Reduction in his hometown of Medicine Hat.

Gordon Laskey-Roest

Gord is very excited to be joining the HIV Community Link Team in Medicine Hat. Gord is a country boy at heart, growing up on the Southern Prairies of Saskatchewan. Gord moved to Medicine Hat last year with his husband Chad for school, and  is a transfer student from the U of L Addictions Counselling program, now enrolled at Medicine Hat College in the combined Addictions Counselling & Social Work Diploma. Gord identifies as a (Two Spirited) Metis male. Gord’s passion is to work within both the Aboriginal and LGBTQ+ communities.

Sipiwe Mapfumo

Sipiwe’s experience in working with various immigrant serving agencies has equipped her with a solid understanding and management of diversity populations. An African woman herself, Sipiwe’s work with Drumbeat is more than just a job as sometimes she feels like an aunt to the African youth in Calgary. It has taken her six years to get to this level of trust and she loves it!

Ana Glavan

Ana started her career in journalism in 2001 in Europe, where she enjoyed covering social and diversity issues. She has been working in nonprofits since 2010 and loves HIV Community Link for the passion that glues the team together and the dedication to its clients’ well-being.

Katelyn Dickin

Katelyn (she/her) is a case manager with both the Shift and HIV Support Services programs. Katelyn is passionate about creating social change that positively impacts populations health. She comes from a background in public health, she has experiences working in sexual health, harm reduction, and population health promotion. What she enjoys most about HIV Community Link is the sense of community that brings people together from all walks of life. When she’s not working, Katelyn is often found traveling as she is always ready to tackle a new adventure.

Jordan Kroschinsky

Jordan joined the HIV Community Link Team as the Volunteer Coordinator. While she just returned from a 6 month posting through Global Affairs Canada  in Laos linking youth to volunteer experiences, Jordan couldn’t be happier staying connected to volunteerism here in Calgary. She believes they’re often the backbone to many social efforts, and bring power to a collective that moves far beyond the task at hand. She continues to see volunteerism as a translation of passion into action, and is very excited to help support HIVCL’s incredible volunteer team.

Coral Bush

Coral Bush has worked at HIV Community link for over 16 years as the Information and Support Worker. She also volunteered for 2 years before she became employed with the agency. She enjoys her job very much, as she has met so many wonderful people over the last 18 years, staff and clients alike. She has watched the agency grow and change over the years always on top of any change and needs our clients require. Coral also coordinates the nutrition program. She believes that compassion, kindness and knowledge are key for a good support team in helping clients  navigate the system and meeting them where they are at.

Mark Randall

Mark a has been living with HIV since 1988. He has traveled a long road from the time of no treatment options to the reality today that treatment works and undetectable equals untransmittable.  He has volunteered or worked for HIV Community Link, formerly AIDS Calgary, since 1997 as a public speaker, educator, advocate, staff person and as person living with HIV. He has done this in order to educate, inform with facts and work to remove the stigma and discrimination that remain entrenched at many levels of policy, law, community and service access points for people at risk for and living with HIV.

Kemi Awolusi

Kemi believes respectful engagement with local communities is critical to the success of any project and long term operations. Kemi has most recently worked in Fort McMurray with the Canadian Red Cross as a Community Outreach Worker. She has also worked in Tanzania and Nigeria as a Health Promotion Coordinator. Kemi has a Master of Public Health from the University of Saskatchewan.

Mike Miller

Mike Miller leads the Health Technology practice for EY Canada as well as the Advisory Analytics practice for Alberta bringing over 15 years of experience in data management, data integration, health informatics and data analytics. He’s worked with large public and private health organizations across North America on projects ranging from Clinical Information Systems, Population Care, Quality Improvement, Patient Safety, Benchmarking and Strategic Planning. He is passionate about helping organizations solve complex business problems through the use of enabling technologies. Mike’s success has been built off his diverse experience in a number of different industries including Healthcare, Oil and Gas, Manufacturing and High Tech. Mike holds a MSc in Health Informatics from the University of Victoria and an BA (Economics) from the University of Calgary.

Jack Janvier

Dr. Jack Janvier is an infectious disease specialist who is based out the Peter Lougheed Center. He also does HIV care at the Southern Alberta Clinic. He has a Bachelor of Science degree (1997) and a Doctor of Medicine degree (2001) from the University of Saskatchewan. He did his internal medicine training at the University of Saskatchewan and then received his infectious diseases training at the University of Calgary. He has been working full time in Calgary since 2009. He has been involved on the advisory board of HIV Community Link’s Strong Voices Aboriginal Program for about 3 years. He has also been involved in an advisory role for collaborative teams looking at tackling the HIV epidemic in Aboriginal populations in Saskatchewan.

Jonathan M. Ablett

Jonathan M. Ablett is a business and real estate lawyer presently working with Quarry Park Law in Calgary. Born and raised in Calgary, Jon is pleased to join the HIVCL Board of Directors for the 2017-2018 fiscal year. Jon obtained his degree with a dual area of concentration in both Management and Organizational Studies and Economics (2006) from the University of Western Ontario, and further completed his law degree (2009) at the University of Alberta in Edmonton. He was called to the Alberta Bar in 2010. Jon enjoys outdoor activities of all kinds, and presently also volunteers with the Kerby Centre in Calgary.

Andrew Matthews

Andrew Matthews’ educational background is rooted in finance and accounting and their impact on strategy and performance on a local, national and international level. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Commerce in International Business (University of Victoria), his Masters of Business Administration (Queen’s) and is also a Certified Management Accountant (CMA (Alberta). Andrew’s varied career has led him to roles in real estate, financial services, project accounting, financial analysis, management and controllership. Presently, Mr. Matthews is the Director of Finance for a Calgary based manufacturer of custom sand control filtration screens, which have applications in the oil & gas, water well, industrial and environmental industries. Andrew brings with him experience in the areas of finance, accounting, strategy and requirements development and implementation, as well as performance measurement and management. Andrew has broadened his experience by volunteering on, and consulting to, small business owners, boards of directors and steering committees in both for- and not-for-profit organizations and enjoys the variety of tasks and challenges these endeavours bring. His belief is that any inherent challenges ought to be treated as opportunities to learn and grow. Mr. Matthews attributes much of his tenacity, leadership and team-based approach to many years of playing and coaching high-level, competitive sports. In his spare time, Andrew enjoys playing sports, spending time with family and friends, and playing and listening to a wide variety of music.

Sebastian Madrid

Sebastian Madrid is a professional in Continuous Improvement, Performance Management and Management Consulting specializing in optimizing business processes through the implementation of data analysis tools and information systems. Sebastian has successfully fulfilled a wide range of business and technical functions and delivered complex projects in the energy, utilities and regulatory industries. Sebastian holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the National University of Colombia as well as a Masters in Business Administration from HEC Montreal. Majoring in Management of Energy Business sparked his interest in the Canadian energy industry, which led him to Calgary in 2009. He is a professional engineer, member of APEGA. Sebastian also sits on the Board of Directors for YPE Calgary, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting successful networking and development opportunities for over 2000 young professionals linked to the energy industry in Calgary.

Leslie Hill

Leslie Hill was appointed Executive Director of HIV Community Link in August 2015. Ms. Hill came to HIV Community Link after contributions at several Calgary-based nonprofit organizations. She was Manager, Programs at the Calgary Homeless Foundation, where she acted as a funder for 60 programs across 28 organizations in the homelessness sector, and before that, she held positions of increasing complexity at Discovery House Family Violence Prevention Society, Distress Centre Calgary, the Canadian Mental Health Association and Aventa Addiction Treatment for Women. Ms. Hill was also the President of the Bowness Community Association for two years, where she played an active role leading the community association’s response to the devastating flood of that year. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with Distinction from the University of Calgary and is an alumnus of the Leadership Calgary program (2012).

Christine Gillies

Christine Gillies, MBA, is the Vice President of Marketing and Communications at Mitacs, a national non-profit offering research and development funding for companies to collaborate with universities. In her current role, she also oversees Alberta operations and public affairs in the province. Having lived in New York City, Holland and Australia, Christine’s career has taken her from European Space Agency through several tech start-ups including Calgary-based SMART Technologies. At SMART, she brought new products to market in the education and corporate sectors.
She is PROSCI Change Management certified and also recently completed the Non-Profit Board Governance certification through Alberta Government. As a community-oriented professional, Christine is committed to volunteering for a local organization that is advocating to improve quality of life for under-represented or marginalized populations.

Mike Peters

Mike Peters is Vice President, Energy and Sustainability at Global Public Affairs, a national government relations consulting firm. His responsibilities focus on environmental legislation, regulatory affairs and environmental policy in the federal, northern and Alberta jurisdictions. In that capacity he worked extensively with federal and territorial governments on policy, legislative and regulatory developments, focused on providing solution-oriented issue management. In addition to his professional work, Mike also volunteers with Shader Kids, a not-for-profit focusing on
fostering youth leadership through outdoor experiences by helping kids attend summer camp. Mike was HIVCL’s Board Chair for three years, and he looks forward to continuing to contribute his experiences in dealing with government and navigating complex policy issues to helping the organization succeed. Mike holds a BA in Political Science from Dalhousie University and a Masters in International and European Politics from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.