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Save Street Work Spring Update

by Head & Hands on
Gina and Cynthia, our Save Street Work team

Gina and Cynthia, our Save Street Work team

This month, we said goodbye to McGill MSW intern Gina and Save Street Work Campaign Coordinator Cynthia, who’ve been working tirelessly since fall to bring back this essential program. They connected with a range of community members to assess current needs and identify partnerships, while raising awareness in our communities about the necessity and importance of street work services. In preparation for the relaunch of street work at Head & Hands, they wrote a report on their findings from other street work organizations across Canada as a resource for future teams. Using their research, they also led our staff through an update of the street work job description and explored funding opportunities. So far, their efforts have secured $37,500, and they have applications to a number of other funders whose answers we’re still waiting on. Funding two full-time street workers for one year will take $85,000. Securing funds for harm reductive support to street-involved youth is always a challenge, and today’s political climate makes it even more difficult, so our fundraising efforts continue.

To Gina and Cynthia, we extend our most heartfelt thanks for your passionate and invaluable work on this campaign. We hope you both have amazing summers! To the rest of our supporters, we invite you to get involved in helping us to bring this essential program back. Here’s how:

  • Send us a tip if you know of a grant opportunity!
  • Get in touch if you have strong writing, editing, or translation skills you want to contribute to grant applications!
  • Spread the word and reach out to your networks!

And, of course, you can always donate directly to the Save Street Work campaign!

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

by Head & Hands on

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.

Transsexual and transgender women denied access to shelters as temperatures drop in Montréal

by Head & Hands on

Reposted from ASST(e)Q, in solidarity and in support of their work and advocacy.

ASTT(e)Q urges Québec shelters to change discriminatory practices

25 January, 2013 – As temperatures drop to extreme lows, transsexual and transgender women in Montréal continue to be turned away from many homeless women’s shelters. Over the past week of bitter cold, ASTT(e)Q, a local trans health project of CACTUS Montréal, has witnessed several of our members be denied shelter on the grounds of being trans. While such refusals are frequently justified by administrative regulations, members of ASTT(e)Q believe that these exclusive practices are rooted in discriminatory attitudes towards trans people.

A majority of women’s shelters throughout Québec require trans people to have undergone sex reassignment surgery, and/or to have changed their legal sex. “Such requirements are unattainable for most homeless trans people, due to prohibitive costs, and extensive administrative requirements,” says Mirha-Soleil Ross, staff of ASTT(e)Q. “Trans women are left with no alternatives, as men’s shelters are clearly not an option. With no place to turn, homeless trans women find themselves on the streets, which in -30 below temperatures is nothing short of deadly.”

“Just this week, a trans woman who had her surgery months ago was refused access to a woman’s shelter because she didn’t have an ‘F’ on her identity documents! While we believe trans people should have access to shelter and housing regardless of surgical status, this is a clear case of discrimination disguised as administrative regulations,” continues Ross.

“We are currently seeing many important legal and social advances for trans people, including in neighbouring Ontario where one can change their legal sex regardless of surgical status,” says Nora Butler Burke, coordinator of ASTT(e)Q. “In Québec, trans people have been relentlessly educating intervention workers and calling for shelters to address the exclusion of homeless trans people for decades. Yet shelters continue to refuse trans people based on the outdated policies of the Québec Department of Civil Status.”

In the context of life threatening temperatures, ASTT(e)Q urges all shelters to immediately remove barriers to admission for trans people based on the legal documentation in their possession and/or their surgical status. More broadly, we advocate for access to shelters, as well as other gender specific services, to be available according to one’s social identity rather than according to their legal or surgical status. We encourage organizations across Québec to work in collaboration with trans community groups to ensure that trans people are no longer denied access.

About ASTT(e)Q (Action Santé Travesti(e)s et Transsexuel(le)s du Québec)

ASTT(e)Q aims to promote the health and well-being of trans people through peer support and advocacy, education and outreach, and community empowerment and mobilization. We understand the health of trans people and our communities to be interrelated to economic and social inequalities, which have resulted in trans people experiencing disproportionate rates of poverty, un(der)employment, precarious housing, criminalization and violence. We believe in the right to self-determine our gender identity and gender expression free from coercion, violence and discrimination. We advocate for access to health care that will meet the many needs of our diverse communities, while working collectively to build supportive, healthy and resilient communities.

For interviews: Nora Butler Burke at 514-347-9462
Email: nora@astteq.org
For terms, definitions and additional information about trans people: www.santetranshealth.org

Moving Forward – Together

by Director on

Dear community,

The official announcement has just been made – unfortunately, we did not win one of the grand prizes in Aviva’s online competition. However, we did win $5,000, and you can rest assured that we will use it to bring Street Workers back to NDG as soon as possible!!

Although we are sad to hear the news, overall participating in the Aviva competition has been a rewarding experience. In just a few weeks, we managed to gain 4877 supporters and over 11,000 votes from people and organizations who believe, as we do, that NDG’s at-risk youth deserve to be supported. We are extremely grateful to be part of a community that is so fiercely dedicated to youth health, and who supports our work with such strength and love.

WHAT ARE WE DOING NEXT?

We are working hard to carry the momentum created by all of you far beyond this competition.  We have received letters of endorsement from multiple community organisations who supported us during the competition and can’t wait to work side by side with our street workers again.  We’re excited to share these letters alongside our funding applications that are already in progress for a range of promising government and foundation grants.  We are happy to announce that we recently secured our first successful “save street work” grant of $15,000 from the Silver Dollar Foundation, which means that a quarter of the first year’s budget is already covered!

Although we’re doing the best we can, grant-based funding alone might not be enough to bring this program back as quickly as it is needed.

Head & Hands has always believed that social services are strongest when they are offered for the community, by the community.  If you are able to contribute any amount towards restoring this essential service to NDG, please click the link below!  Write “save street work” as an instruction with your donation, and we will designate your gift specifically for the return of this program. If you prefer to give “offline”, please check out other giving options on our website. 

 

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Another great way to contribute is by organizing a fundraising event!  If you have time and energy to help us in this way, please get in touch so we can share some tips and guidelines: funds@headandhands.ca

Again, thank you so much for the amazing support you’ve already shown us.  Together, we will put street workers back in this neighbourhood and ensure that our community’s most vulnerable youth get the support they need!

SAVE STREET WORK ONLINE PARTY!

by Director on

Dear friends of Head & Hands,

Thank you for joining the SAVE STREET WORK ONLINE PARTY!!!

A bunch of us are at Cagibi (5490 Saint-Laurent, Montreal) tonight between 8pm and 11pm. Join us if you can!

This is it, the semi-finals of the Aviva online competition ends tomorrow, Wednesday Dec 12th, at noon. We have to be in the top 10 of the medium budget category to get to the final. We’re not there yet, BUT WE’RE JUST A FEW VOTES AWAY!

We’re too close. We can’t loose. This is too important. We’ve clicked too many times. We’re gonna get this. JUST LIKE LAST TIME!!!

Thanks to your AMAZING support, we have come SO FAR in this competition. With more than 3806 supporters and 8705 votes, we are SO CLOSE to getting 5,000$ and having a chance to win $87,000 to bring 2 Street Workers back to NDG for 1 year!!!

Until government budget cuts stopped the program last year, our Street Workers went out into the community to support vulnerable youth, distribute basic essentials, provide clean drug-use and safer sex supplies, and help make connections to other services. THEY REACHED YOUTH WHO ARE FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS LIKE NO ONE ELSE CAN.

For more info on why this is SO IMPORTANT and to vote: http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf16385

SO LET’S PROMOTE THIS COMPETITION TOGETHER TONIGHT LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW AND WIN THIS THING!!!

Here’s how you can help us rock this competition:

  • Send a mass email to your contacts. Use our template email.
  • Share the link http://www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf16385 on your Facebook timeline. Urge people to vote today and tomorrow before noon!
  • Send a chat message to your online Facebook friends asking them to vote. Keep a list of names to make sure that you don’t message the same person twice. You can do the same with Google Chat or other chat platforms!
  • Do you know anybody who knows a lot of people (e.g. celebs, social media personalities, etc.)? Ask them to promote our campaign in social media tonight and tomorrow!
  • Do you have direct access to any list serves? Use our template to send a message on the list serve. 
  • Do you know any organizations that would support this cause? Write messages on their social media.
  • Tweet about the competition. Use these hashtags: #rockaviva #savestreetwork #cdnndg
  • Share our Why I’m voting for Street Work photo testimonials.
  • Make your own “Why I’m voting for Street Work photo or video testimonial. If you’re at Cagibi tonight, come join us at the Speakers’ corner! We can help you create one. Share it on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram, etc.
  • Share this informative video with testimonials from past Street Work clients and H&H staff on why Street Work is SO IMPORTANT.
  • Share this funky music video, inspired and endorsed by Peaches!
  • Share this cute little video, inspired and endorsed by Austra!
  • AND DO WHATEVER ELSE YOU CAN THINK OF TO ROCK THIS COMPETITION!!!

***If you’re at Cagibi tonight and you’re running out of ideas, come see us at the brainstorming corner!***

You can also use our media coverage to spread the word:

THANK YOU SO MUCH, WE LOVE YOU!

The Head & Hands Team.

Why I’m voting for Street Work: Ralph

by Director on

“I’m voting for Street Work because it helps me connect to the youth on the street and understand their needs, to be able to provide adequate support.” Ralph, Head & Hands Legal Coordinator

Vote for us every day between December 3 and 12 to help us win $87K and bring back Street Work!

Why I’m voting for Street Work: Jon

by Director on

“In many ways, street work is the essence of why Head & Hands exists – we *need* this program to support the youth in our community who get the least help from others.” Jon, Head & Hands Director

Vote for us every day between December 3 and 12 to help us win $87K and bring back Street Work!

Why I’m voting for Street Work: Gina

by Director on

“Street work has been a crucial part of Head & Hands since its inception in 1970. Since then, street workers have played a variety of roles in our community: conducting outreach and making youth aware of our services, running prevention and education programs, and extending the reach of essential services beyond our doors to reach youth in greatest need. Researching this history has made me realize how vital this program is for NDG youth; it is essential that we bring back this service to our neighborhood! “ – Gina Metallic, Master of Social Work Student Intern

Vote for us every day between December 3 and 12 to help us win $87K and bring back Street Work!

Why I’m voting for Street Work: June

by Director on

“I’m voting for Street Work because I think every youth should be valued and supported, no matter what challenges they face.” Juniper, Head & Hands Fundraising and Development Coordinator

Vote for us every day between December 3 and 12 to help us win $87K and bring back Street Work!

Why I’m voting for Street Work: Vaughn

by Director on

‎“Street Work clients deserve to have someone’s undivided attention as they articulate what options work best for them.” Vaughn, Head & Hands Front desk Coordinator

Vote for us every day between December 3 and 12 to help us win $87K and bring back Street Work!