The Toronto People With AIDS Foundation

Mission: We engage people living with HIV/AIDS in enhancing their health and well-being through practical and therapeutic support services and broader social change, and we inspire them to live into their dreams and discoveries.
 

Vision: We live in affirming, sustaining communities where we find inspiration and support for our dreams, health, well-being and meaningful contributions.
 

Philosophy: People living with HIV/AIDS play a crucial role in the governance and operation of the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation, but, most important, are its heart and soul. Although the Foundation seeks supportive partnerships in fulfilling our mission, our response to HIV/AIDS is, more than anything else, inspired by the voices and experience of people living with HIV/AIDS.
 

Founded in 1987, the Toronto People With AIDS Foundation (PWA) is a leading community-based charity dedicated to supporting people living with HIV/AIDS. We aim to help those we serve enhance their health and well-being through practical and therapeutic support services and broader social change, inspiring them to live their dreams.

We are a community-based non-profit registered charitable organization.
 

After the discovery of the HIV virus in 1983, AIDS Service Organizations formed to address the major trends of the disease: to help prevent the spread of HIV and to care for those dying from AIDS-related illnesses.

In 1986, in response to this emerging trend and frustrated by the public’s focus on AIDS prevention and lack of services for people already infected, four gay men living with HIV/AIDS began meeting to discuss ways for people living with HIV to stay healthy and live with dignity. They formed a coalition with a mandate to provide practical, direct-support services to people living with HIV/AIDS using a peer-to-peer model.
 

The first PWA office was housed in the apartment of one of the founders at 44 Huntley Street followed by a brief stay in Casey House until funding could be secured for the location on Yonge Street. Since then, PWA has had numerous homes where the foundation has consistently provided our essential programming:
 

Practical Supports:

•              Essentials Market: This is PWA’s food bank which provides staple food items, Culturally appropriate foods, fresh produce, pet food, home start-up items, and special needs supplies such as baby items.
•              Food For Life: This community program is a weekly frozen meal delivery program for PHAs returning home from the hospital, experiencing severe mobility, acute medical issues, or are receiving palliative care.
•              POZ Community Kitchen: This program provides daily, culturally specific, nutritious meals to community members, ensuring that no one goes hungry. The kitchen is fully staffed by volunteers living with HIV/AIDS who gain employment skills and combat isolation through shared meals.
•              Vitamin Supplements: We provide free community donated multi-vitamins through our Front desk.   Financial Assistance:
•              Health and Wellness Fund: The Health and Wellness Fund helps people living with HIV/AIDS manage some of the financial burdens they face when improving and maintaining their health and wellness. PWA reimburses 50% of eligible expenses until a member reaches a maximum of $300.
•              Positive Children’s Fund: The Positive Children’s Fund helps HIV+ children, and their families manage some of the financial burdens they face with daily living, including such items as outgrown clothes, school activities, diapers and formula.
•              Positive Seniors’ Fund: The Positive Senior’s Fund helps HIV+ seniors manage some of the financial burdens they face when they receive OAS (Old Age Security), including a reduced monthly income and reduced insurance coverage.   Health and Therapeutic Care:
•              Health & Therapeutic Care services at PWA support the holistic health and well-being of people living with HIV/AIDS. These Programs provide free, on-site holistic health care to complement conventional medical care for people living with HIV/AIDS (PHAs). Services include;

o             Acupuncture

o             Massage therapy

o             Art therapy

o             Dental hygiene

o             Hearing test/ hearing aids

o             Nada ear clinic 

o             Eye clinic

o             Denture clinic

o             Hair styling and barbering
 

Dreaming and Engagement:

•              POZ Prevention: The Program utilizes staff and peer educators to provide peer consultations, service provider training, and social group discussions around sexual health and Poz prevention.
•              Health Champion Peer Educators: The program recruits, trains and supports PHAs as peer medical educators who train medical and healthcare practitioner students about the experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS and about how to engage PHAs in their own healthcare in a supportive, nonjudgement and empowering way devoid of stigma and discrimination.
•              Positive Women Empowerment and Resilience (POWER) Peer Support Program: The Peer Support program is a collaborative approach to providing diverse, innovative and practical support services for women (trans, cis and femme) living with HIV/AIDS in Toronto. The Peer Support Program at PWA builds on the value, impact, and benefit experienced by women living with HIV  when they can receive support from other HIV-positive women and those HIV-positive women providing support. POWER Project Peers speak several languages and will support and assist other women in navigating the social service system as follows;

o             Accompaniment to medical and other appointments

o             Immigration support

o             Housing support

o             Interpretation/Translation

o             Service referrals

o             Outreach/Facilitation

o             Social and emotional support
 

Fueled by a vision to create a thriving hub where people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS can access the full spectrum of services in one safe, vibrant space, PWA moved to 163 Queen St. E., Toronto in 2023 with the transformational support of a generous donor and officially launched the Community Health Justice Hub.
 

Created by and for people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS, the Hub is a one-stop shop where community members can access food, healthcare and essential services, nurture their creativity and find healing in safety and belonging.

The Community Health Justice Hub is home to a growing number of AIDS Services Organizations (ASOs) aligned with the mission of PWA. Together, we are a thriving community of support offering a wide range of services to people impacted by HIV/AIDS under one roof.
 

It’s also a deeply innovative model for social enterprise and economic empowerment — a place where community service organizations and individuals alike can pursue growth, entrepreneurship, skill building and income generation.
 

At the Community Health Justice Hub, we’re not just helping people impacted by HIV/AIDS. We’re building community power, changing lives and creating thriving futures. We are currently recruiting new ASOs to join us at the Hub to provide a wider range of interconnected services for people living with HIV/AIDS. We are continually expanding our current programming and piloting new programs to further support our community, such as our burgeoning Psychotherapy program.