Archive for the ‘Health Services’ Category

“Head & Hands gave me the support to take on the world, one day at a time”

Testimonial by Benjamin, 25, former client

I first accessed Head & Hands services at 21, in May 2009. I had just arrived to Montréal from B.C. with no support or knowledge about health services for transsexual individuals residing in Quebec.

I first heard about Head & Hands through my roommate, who told me I could go there to access social and health services on a non-judgmental basis. As a newcomer to Quebec, without a valid medical card, I also could access services without having to pay a heavy fee.

After a brief meeting outside the metro, Anita, a Head & Hands street worker, gave me her card and told me I could call her at any time for clean needles, support, referrals, or if I had general inquiries about navigating the city as a newcomer and as a trans person—all of which I took advantage of as the years came to pass.

For the first time I had a doctor who was committed to monitoring my transition and educating me on issues from how to inject safely to understanding the realities of trans pregnancy. There was a sexual health educator who I could call or email at any time for inquiries ranging from safe sex practices to finding trans friendly alternative health care providers in the city. At one point, the social counsellor Rhonda even made a long distance call to B.C to speak with a family member who was having a hard time accepting my transition.

Head & Hands has not only helped me survive and come to know, love, and appreciate my transness, but has also redefined the meaning of community and family for someone who had very little of both prior to arriving in Quebec. The services that Head & Hands offers go beyond their mission statement and speak volumes to just how much the Head & Hands family is capable of. Head & Hands truly was and is the familial support group that I and many other trans people lack when taking on the world one day at a time.

Though I no longer access Hands & Hands services, as a local trans activist Head & Hands is most often the first place recommended in our community, and has proven itself with the highest regard time and time again.

Dr. T: 30 Years and Going Strong!

Photo by Heidi Hollinger

For the past 30 years, Dr. Pierre-Paul Tellier, or Dr. T, as he is fondly known, has been a fixture at Head & Hands’ weekly youth clinics. “When I started, there was a clinic every week night and on Friday afternoons. To start, I was offered three shifts a week” says Dr. T. Thirty years later, it’s clear that it was love at first sight! Dr. T has not only volunteered his time in our clinic, but also sat on the Head & Hands board of Directors for over a decade. Since the early 2000s, Dr. T has practiced as the sole Head & Hands physician, and has built a strong reputation as a doctor who cares.

“Our approach is different because we make sure to give each patient the time they need. We listen and strive to consider their whole situation,” says Health Services Coordinator Jos. “Many youth come here because they value our comfortable space and our laid back, harm reductive, non-judgemental approach. We see patients who often do not feel comfortable going to other clinics for fear of being judged, for example if they use drugs, lack medical insurance, engage in sex work, are queer, trans*, or are just young and sexually active and need birth control!”

Renowned as a champion of LGBTQ and youth health, Dr. T runs the only informed consent based transgender hormone therapy program of its kind in Montreal out of the Head & Hands clinic. He has also turned our clinic into a popular learning site, sharing his harm reductive, non-judgmental and client-centered approach with innumerable students, residents and fellow physicians over the years. “This is medicine as it should be,” says one client, “people are given the time they need, not jammed into the slot allotted to them.”

Asked what has kept him going after all these years, Dr. T names the Head & Hands environment and staff: “I like the feel of the clinic, and the openness of the people. It is always a joy to come to Head & Hands.” In the words of one client, “Dr. T rocks!!!” Clearly the feeling’s mutual, Dr. T!!

Please join us for a rare “Clinic Open House Soirée” in celebration of Dr. T’s outstanding contributions to youth health on Friday, May 3, 5:30-7:30 pm, at 5833 Sherbrooke Ouest. Free admission, light refreshments, cash bar. Please RSVP. Upon Dr. Tellier’s request, donations to Head & Hands health services are encouraged.

Ask Anything: Seal

How to break seal of a girl??

This is a question that we often get in classroom workshops, and it’s great that we got this as a web question because there are a lot of myths circulating about this topic.

I’m assuming that by “seal,” you’re referring to the hymen, which is a membrane surrounding the vaginal opening. This membrane tends to wear out as one gets older, through day-to-day activities like walking, playing sports, horseback riding, or masturbation, all of which can reduce the size or consistency of the hymen. To make sure that you have a good visual, in a vast majority of cases, hymens are not like a glass window that has to be broken, but more like a donut or a large spider web.

So, by the time somebody with a vagina decides to have (vaginal) penetrative sex for the first time there are often already openings in their hymen. We often attribute the bleeding during first vaginal penetration to the “breakage” of the hymen, and that’s often what we mean when we say someone has “lost their virginity”. However, the hymen is not the seal of virginity. More often than not, the cause of bleeding during the first penetration(s) is less the hymen itself and more other factors like stress and/or not knowing yet what works for your body. This combination will probably make your body tense and your vagina less lubricated, which can make penetration harder or more painful, and could cause some bleeding. Some ways to counter this would be by letting yourself take your time and figure out what feels right for you, communicating openly with your partner(s) about the process, and having plenty of lube on hand to use…and even after your first few times, lube can be one of your best partners whenever you’re having sex. You can always get safer sex supplies, including lube, for free at Head & Hands!

Ask Anything: Unprotected oral sex – HIV contraction?

I was getting oral sex from a sex worker. I am really worry about HIV contraction. Please let me know regarding this issue.

I’ll do my best to answer your question, but I’m missing some details that would let me give you a truly accurate response on the risk level for your situation.

Assuming you’re stressed because you didn’t use a barrier (condom or dental dam) when getting oral sex, I can tell you that the HIV transmission rate during unprotected oral sex is not high. There is a risk of contraction for you, but it’s low. Regarding unprotected oral sex, I would be more concerned with the Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, or Herpes contraction, because the transmission of these STIs can be from a skin-to-skin contact.

The best way to lower your anxiety would be to get tested for these STIs. Something to have in mind before getting tested is that STIs have what’s called a window period. A window period is the time where an STI is alive in your body, is contagious, but is not yet detectable by a test. For example, Chlamydia’s window period is 3 to 10 days, but HIV’s window period is 3 to 6 months.

This means that if you’ve had sex and are worried about having contracted HIV, you have to wait at less 3 months after the sexual incounter that is worrying you to get an accurate test result. In most cases, the test will be accurate after 3 months, but to be sure, it’s important to get tested after 6 months as well.

You can always get tested for HIV (and other STIs) at the Head & Hands medical clinic on Tuesday and Thursday evenings. In the meantime, I would recommend that you use condoms and/or dental dams to make sure that you and your partners are protected.

Saying Thanks After 28 Years!

“28 years ago in the Head & Hands waiting room, I found out I was about to be a young mom. At the time I didn’t have any money for the $5 pregnancy test, and the nurse kindly told me to bring the money whenever I could.

As my firstborn grew, he showed brilliance and independence, but developed some self-destructive habits. As a teen he became chemically dependant and I needed outside support. When he became too old for Youth Protection and his habits were more than the family could endure, I was faced with the decision to ask him to leave home.

Through one social worker or another, he was introduced to Head & Hands. He spoke of people who helped him with various issues he faced, how they gave help but also treated him with dignity and respect, no matter how frazzled or desperate he was.

My son is now clean, and working as a chef. I am a single mother, working toward a career in Human Relations. Now it is time to give back, open my wallet and pay the $5 I have owed since 1984!”

Dana, NDG mother

Ask Anything: When to get tested?

Do you have to get tested after every time you have sex? If not, how often?

I wouldn’t recommend getting tested after every time you have sex. First off, for some people or at certain times in a person’s life, this would mean getting tested many times a week…which could be time consuming! Secondly, and most importantly, there is a technical aspect related to getting accurate test results.

A lot of STIs have what’s called a “window period”. This relates to the amount of time between the transmission of the STI (when someone is infected) and when a medical test would be able to detect the STI. To state it simply, the window period is the time where an STI is alive in your body, is totally contagious, but is still undetectable by a test. For example, Chlamydia’s window period is 3 to 10 days, but HIV’s window period is 3 to 6 months. This means that if you’ve had sex and are worried about having contracted HIV, you have to wait 3 to 6 months to get accurate test results (in most cases, the test will be accurate after 3 months but to be sure, it’s important to get tested after 6 months as well).

So in general, when you are sexually active, you should get tested for STIs every 6 months even if you use protection – that way, you cover all the window periods of the different tests. People sometimes choose to get tested every year, or even less often, if they have one partner and they’ve agreed on a monogamous relationship.

You can also download are bilingual STIgma Zine to get more information on different STIs, safer sex and communication with partners about these things!

Ça Marche 2012: The Movie

In classic Head & Hands fashion, we present our annual Ça Marche dance video for your viewing pleasure!

If you helped us reach our Ça Marche goal this year by giving your time, money, or your moves…well, this one’s for you!

Special thanks to Carol Fernandes and Jess Lee, the super-star volunteers who filmed and edited and made this video as glorious as it is! And to our dancers…we couldn’t do it without you!

Dancing to glory! 2012 Ça Marche campaign raises more than ever!

Groups of passionate people can achieve great things, so when we called on our community to help us raise $15 000 for our youth health services and sex education program as part of Ça Marche this year, we felt like we would give it our best shot.

But when all was said and done this Sunday, we were floored by the amazingness of our community. The results of this year’s Ça Marche campaign were astounding:

More than $20,300 raised for our youth health services and peer-based health education project
46 people fundraised on behalf of Head & Hands
368 community members donated to our cause
And one amazing troupe danced 7km in fierce glory to celebrate the joys of HIV care, prevention, and education with youth!

This year, more than ever, Ça Marche reminded us that we are nestled in a supportive and strong community that will ensure that Montreal youth have access to the health care and information that they need. We are especially grateful to our top fundraiser Ren who raised over $1,500; to Gregory, a new Sense animator who brought in a whopping 26 donors; and Tanya, who dressed in a cat suit to inspire her community to give. These star fundraisers will be rewarded with the Diner’s Delight top prize, cheffed by our haute-cuisine inspired fundraising team.

Big ups to all of our fundraisers, our dancers, walkers and banner carriers, choreographer Claire Lyke of Studio des Bêtes Dansantes, DJs Tamika and Nino Brown, photographer Chase Moser, videographers Carol Fernandes and Jess Lee, and of course to the Farha Foundation, who continues to lead the fight against HIV and AIDs in Quebec.

We can’t wait ‘til next year!

A Fantasy Come to Life, with Ça Marche choreographer Claire Lyke

Prepare your glittery glam sparkles and your divine dancing shoes, ‘cause this Sunday Head & Hands is shimmyin’ and shakin’ all over downtown Montreal as part of Ça Marche, the Farha Foundation’s HIV/AIDS walk! We caught up with Claire Lyke, Ça Marche choreographer for the second year in a row to find out what to kind of moves to expect, and she responded with this little video.

Yes, in short, you can expect a lot of sass and glam this Sunday. And for Claire, each dancer will bring their own flair: “Just like you can walk [in Ça Marche] for a thousand reasons, you can dance for a thousand reasons. For me, when we are out there dancing it is about choosing to live our sex lives with pizzazz—bunches of it!”

This isn’t the first time monthly donor Claire has filled the role of Ça Marche choreographer, so we asked why! Why would she wake up early on a Sunday, rain or shine, to holler herself hoarse for hours to a bunch of spandex-clad youth-health service supporters? “As a queer identified person, I desperately wish I’d had Sense Project animators come give workshops in my high school. Sex-positive workshops on consent, STIs, conception, gender orientation and more? Yes please! Helping to make this happen by leading a pack of dreamy dancers through the street is like a fantasy come to life.”

Well Claire, Ça Marche is like a fantasy come to life for us too! With DJ Tamika (Cousins, Faggity Ass Fridays) on the battery-powered decks and lots of glitter to go around thanks to Salon Identité co owner and Head & Hands boardie Dave Landry, we hope you’ll join us, and bring your groove along, too.

Claire Lyke’s dance studio, Studio des Bêtes Dansantes is famous for it’s amazingly fun “Queer Dance Classes for Everyone”.

September is Ça Marche month on the blog! Let’s come together for the Farha Foundation’s walk on September 30th, and raise money for our HIV prevention, education, and support services for youth. Join our team, make a donation, get involved!

Join Us for the 20th Edition of Ça Marche!

This is Ça Marche’s 20th year, and this will be our 8th year participating, and as always, we’ll be DANCING instead of walking. Why do we dance? We dance because we want to celebrate the lives of people with HIV/AIDS in addition to commemorating those we’ve lost. We dance to celebrate the joys of working with youth, empowering them by providing information, testing, safer sex supplies, and non-judgemental counseling.

Our Ça Marche campaign supports two vital youth services: our medical clinics and our peer-based sex education program, the Sense Project. Last year, nearly 700 people accessed our clinics, and we reached 1389 participants through Sense. Help us reach even more youth this year!

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