Archive for the ‘Sense Project’ Category

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!

Special Edition Faggity Ass Saturday: Hanky Code!

Reviving an old Faggity tradition, this weekend’s theme is hanky code! What is hanky code?

“IT’S HOW YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF! WEAR HANKYS TO TELL PEOPLE WHAT TURNS YOU ON, WHAT GETS YOU OFF, AND WHAT CAN MAKE YOU SCREAM! THE HANKY SYSTEM IS EASILY AVAILABLE BY GOOGLING IT (SO READ IT CAREFULLY! YOU WANNA MAKE SURE YOU’RE SENDING THE RIGHT VIBES TO THE RIGHT PPL) BUT YOU CAN ALSO MAKE UP YOUR OWN! ALL HANKYS ARE GOOD AND GAY HANKYS!”

Bring your favorite hanky or buy one at the door to cruise for someone whose (wet) dreams match yours! Wear it to the left if you wanna do it to someone (dom/top), to the right if you want it done to you (sub/bottom), and in the middle if you’re flex. Traditionally you flag from your back pocket, but you can also put your hanky around your wrist, around your neck, in your hair, in your boot, or anywhere else it’ll grab someone’s attention. Says your host for the evening, Princess Johnston Newfield, “It’s approachable and dirty to be able to express your (perhaps sometimes hidden) sexual desires through clothing – especially when everyone’s doing it! It’s a bonafide free-for-all of sexy cravings!”

Fall is back-to-school, which means the Sense Project is gearing up for a year of queer-positive, trans-positive, empowering sex ed! Featuring a performance by Vincent Chevalier and DJs Tamika and Sam behind the decks at the Royal Phoenix, this FAS is a perfect start to your September.

Ça Marche

Photo: Neal Rockwell

On September 30th, Head & Hands supporters, staff, and board, will take to the streets as part of Ça Marche, the Farha Foundation’s annual HIV/AIDS walk.

And as you may have heard… we don’t walk the walk…we DANCE IT!!!

Join us as we shake our groove thang to raise $15,000 for our work around HIV testing, education, and support: our three weekly medical clinics and the Sense Project peer-based sex-ed program. Last year Head & Hands services were accessed over 22, 000 times by Montreal youth, and this year we want to make sure we can do even more!

Love Head & Hands? Want to get involved?

Join our team, collect pledges and walk with us on September 30th! Sign up online!
Donate by making a gift through the Farha Foundation’s secure website, or at Head & Hands (5833 Sherbrooke O). All gifts above $20 will receive a charitable tax receipt.

For more info, please check out our Facebook event or contact Fundraising and Development Coordinator Juniper at 514-481-0277 or membres@headandhands.ca.

Want to be a Sense Animator?

We are currently seeking new volunteer animators for the 2012-13 school year!

Interested in facilitating sex ed workshops with youth in high schools? Getting involved with the Sense Project at Head & Hands is a fantastic opportunity to support the well being of youths in Montreal.

Some need-to-know info about applying to be a Sense Project animator:

New animators must be aged 25 and under
We’re looking for people who can commit to being an animator for the entire school year (Sept-early Dec, Jan-May)
Animators should be committed to Head & Hands principles of anti-oppression, harm reduction, and non-judgment.
Animators should have at least some availability on weekdays during the day. Last year’s animators volunteered an average of 70 hours each throughout the school year, but how much you end up volunteering depends on your schedule and your availability.
Bilingualism is not mandatory, but it’s an asset! The training will be bilingual (FR-ENG).
It is also an asset if you have previous animation experience or experience working with youth, but it’s not a requirement.
It is mandatory to attend the full animator training.

Animator training dates
Tuesday Sept. 11^th 6-9pm	Thursday Sept. 13^th 6-9pm	Saturday Sept. 15^th 11-4pm
Tuesday Sept. 18^th 6-9pm	Thursday Sept. 20^th 6-9pm	Saturday Sept. 22^nd 11-4pm
Tuesday Sept. 25^th 6-9pm	Thursday Sept. 27^th 6-9pm	Saturday Sept. 29^th 11-4pm

If you meet these criteria, please complete the Volunteer Form and send it to Gabrielle at healthed@headandhands.ca. We’ll then book a short screening interview with prospective volunteers. The deadline to apply is Monday, August 6^th.

If you have any questions, feel free to call Gabrielle at (514) 481-0277!

Volunteer Call-Out: SERVE 2012

SERVE 2012 is around the corner and we are getting ready to bump, set, and spike for the 7th year in a row! This year’s annual SERVE Volleyball tournament is gearing up to support Sex Ed and raise awareness to support the Sense Project, our peer-based sex education project. For more info about this cutting edge, harm-reductive and queer/sex/trans-positive sex ed program, check out Sense’s page.

The SERVE tournament is an exciting, fun, and sexy event that engages the vibrant bar and restaurant community in a fresh approach to fundraising and provides us with a unique opportunity to share our holistic vision of youth empowerment and wellness with Montrealers at large.

The tournament will be held on Sunday, July 29th 2012 at Jeanne-Mance Park. We are currently looking for approximately 60 volunteers to help make SERVE 2012 a success! We need volunteers for a huge variety of roles so if you are interested please contact Shanice ASAP at intern.headandhands@gmail.com or at 514-481-0277 to sign up! You will all have a chance to hit up the BBQ, grab a beer or two and ride our Slip ‘n’ Slide. Most importantly, you will help us reach our ultimate goal of $35,000 for the Sense Project! For more information about SERVE 2012, visit us on Facebook!

Clients, give us feedback!

As part of our strategic planning process, we’re seeking information from clients who currently use our services or have used our services within the last year. If you have a few minutes to fill out this short survey, please help us out! We would really appreciate your input so we can consider you as we plan our future!

Allies in HIV Work: CATIE Youth Symposium Opened Many Dialogues

(This article was originally published on CATIE’s website! Our two Health Educators attended and enjoyed this symposium earlier this year.)

It’s been 22 years in the making but worth the wait. On February 4-5, 2012, healthcare and frontline service providers, youth leaders, researchers, and policy makers, from across the country serving youth living with, or affected by HIV, gathered in Toronto to discuss their work and the communities they serve at the second national HIV and youth knowledge exchange symposium.

The first national conference that focused on HIV and youth was held back in 1992, at the height of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Organized by Toronto-based Youthlink-Inner City and its Program Manager Laurie Edmiston, coincidentally now CATIE’s Executive Director, the conference aimed to raise awareness about the issues and effects of HIV/AIDS on youth, and to act as a catalyst for developing strategies to cope with the epidemic. Twenty-two years later, the evidence suggests that youth, and marginalized youth in particular, continue to be at risk for HIV, HCV and STIs. In 2009 alone (the latest available statistics) 582 new cases of HIV among Canadian youth were reported. The continuing fact of Canadian youth being at risk of contracting the virus underscores the importance of facilitating young people’s understanding and ensuring an ongoing dialogue around issues concerning sexual health and harm reduction. (more…)

Rapid HIV testing clinic at Project 10!!

Head & Hands and Project 10 are teaming up to offer a special rapid HIV testing clinic! Come on down and get tested at the P10 drop-in on Thursday July 5th between 6:30-8:30pm! Dr Tellier from the H&H clinic will be on site to answer questions about safer sex and sexual health.

For youth aged 14-25
In the basement of 2075 rue Plessis
Limited spaces, first come first served.
It’s free! (bring your medicare card if you have one)

Why rapid testing?

With rapid HIV testing technology, with a simple prick of the finger you can receive your HIV result in minutes. Knowing your HIV status is an important step for preventing the spread of the virus and treating people living with HIV.

Get tested. Know your status. Because knowledge is power.

Ch-ch-changes: Meet Our New Health Educator!

Sensies at the volunteer party! From left: Nikki (outgoing Health Educator), Gabrielle (new Health Educator), Caytee (Sense animator)

As sad as we are to say goodbye to Nikki after four years at Head & Hands, we are so pleased to welcome Gabrielle as our new Health Educator and Sense Project Coordinator! Gabrielle came to Head & Hands as our UQAM sexology intern–and then our resident sexologist-on-strike–this academic year. She worked with Nikki and Jos to produce an amazing new resource, STIgmazine, and facilitated workshops galore with the Sense Project. Her knowledge, skills, and background in sexual health, group facilitation, and collective decision-making will be a huge asset to our team!

Head & Hands

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