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LOOK Exhibition is proud to be showing at the 22nd International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2018) (www.aids2018.org/) in Amsterdam, Netherlands. ACAS would like to thank IAS for their support and chance to share this exhibition again! Find the LOOK Exhibition in the Global Village Atrium first floor July 22-26, 2018.   The Photovoice Project empowered a group of East and Southeast Asian PHAs (Persons Living with HIV/AIDS) in Toronto with workshops and training over the course of several months to explore their experiences through photos; To capture their truths and realities of life, hope and living with HIV. We partnered with Taiwan’s Lourdes Association, as HIV knows no borders -why should we? Would their stories be any different than ours? Are we all that different or the same? (Taiwain’s Lourdes Association (www.lourdes.org.tw/) –a non-governmental organization dedicated to supporting those with and affected by HIV in Taiwan.) On the Taiwan side, with a focus on PLWA’s engagement, the expanded “vision” of the exhibition invited affected family and partners, NGO workers and healthcare providers to ensure a panoramic vision. We invite you to visit and open yourself to the still very real, important and continuing issue of HIV. HIV still matters. This exhibition is culmation of all the hardwork of all those involved and is aptly titled LOOK. Let us not forget nor stop paying attention -so look! Generous funding has been provided by the MAC AIDS foundation (www.macaidsfund.org/) For photos from the 2016 exhibition in Toronto and Taiwan see our Facebook album!  

INTERNAL JOB POSTING For members, volunteers, service users, and current employees Outreach Worker Deadline: Monday, August 12, 2019 (6 p.m.) 7 hours/week, $15/ hour ,40 week contract ACAS is seeking a passionate person to implement a HIV needs assessment project that focuses on East and Southeast Asian international students. Responsibilities Work as part of a project team and to assist the project coordinator to 1. Develop participants’ recruitment and outreach plan 2. Develop needs assessment tools (Survey questionnaire, interview questions) 3. Recruit 108 Asian international students who self-identify as gay, bi-sexual, or men having sex with men (MSM) to participate in a survey/interview through outreach activities 4. Transcribe audio recorded interviews 5. Organize a half day forum for 40 participants to disseminate the project findings 6. Maintain statistics for report writing Qualifications • Lived experience in the East and Southeast Asian gay, bi, and MSM communities and international students’ circles • Fluent in Vietnamese language • Some experience in HIV/STIs outreach with Asian gay, bi, and MSM • Have basic knowledge of survey and interview techniques • Excellent interpersonal and communication skills • Thorough understanding of ACAS mission, HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination • Ability to work independently and as part of a team • Willingness to work flexible hours • Computer skills: MS Office • Knowledge on gay dating apps an asset Please send a cover letter and most recent resume with 2 references by email to: Subject: Outreach Worker Job Application To: Hiring Committee - ACAS Email: officeadmin@acas.org We regret that we will only contact candidates selected for interviews.  

After a successful Pride Parade, we wanted to show some extra love for all the hard work that paid off with a beautiful ACAS float!!! A lot of time and work can go unnoticed, but this float would have not been possible without the many many volunteers involved! 😍 It was all the help from volunteers that made this float feel like a fun party 🥳 HUGE THANK YOUs to: The many and most devoted hours, evenings, and weekends spent for designing, planning, woodworking, and technical building of the railing structure. THANK YOU to Thompson, Koji, Ben, Agnes for all that hard handywork <3 We had several volunteers come in everyday to give over 300 pink paper lanterns some extra love with a personal touch!! It really showed the love and support our LGBTQ Asian community has for each other. Each lantern was like a personal love letter to the community. 🏮 And then there were those who helped on the day of the parade starting from 6:30am to build the railing or those that came to help setup onwards. Everyone had a part that made set up AND take down go quickly and smoothly. It wouldn't have been easy to do without everyone's help! Thank you to such generous people who also bought iced coffees and food to share for everyone on the float. So thoughtful! We were probably the best fed float! 🥪🍲🍕 Thank you Jess for taking the whole day to help out wherever you could, including set up/take down, preparing the music, managing the sound equipment, and running on-board logistics throughout the day. Special thank you to drivers (Mr. Tran, Koji, Kyle, and David) for driving back and forth across the city to pick up and return heavy sound system equipment, an electric generator, and wood. [...]

Thank you 新時代電視 Fairchild Television and News Anchor Ritch Lau for coming out to the 2019 Pride Toronto Parade on Sunday to interview with us! You will see our very own Men’s Outreach Worker Alex Ma as well as ACAS volunteer/Korean LGBTQ activist Joon Yeejon Joung amongst others in this news clip!   https://www.fairchildtv.com/news.php?n=b939c12448b26427bf0db4aaacd97e4a&fbclid=IwAR1pbs8_V6ZfRqIuwWqhoN45rG4UGui6QH2e3-lP70M3lAHJHYjQ7DolftE

Be sure to watch OMNI Television’s Focus Cantonese 都市聚焦 <Channel 14> at 8:30 for a special two-part interview with our very own Kenneth Poon and Alex Ma on this year’s Pride Toronto 2019 Festival! In photo: Anchor Kenneth Li 李立本 with Kenneth Poom and Alex Ma

Thanks to the lovely volunteers who dropped in last night to decorate the paper lanterns for our 25th anniversary float! Letting out some creative flow has been surprisingly fun and stress-relieving 🥰 Who's coming today? Drop in today or Friday between 10:30am - 8:00pm or Thursday 10:30am - 6:00pm   Today some of the cutsleeve band members came to give their time and creative style for our paper lanterns! Cutsleeve is a queer East Asian female rock band 😍🎶🎸Check out their Facebook page for more of their music! The best way to enjoy the Pride Parade is to BE IN IT!! March with ACAS this Sunday for the biggest LGBTQ+ Asian group in Toronto! We'll have a float with music to dance along to. To march with us: Meet us at 1:00pm near Bloor St and Church St. Look for our group number B7 and a tall pole with the ACAS logo. To be on the float: we ask that you help out with the decorations during the week, or set up on the morning of! Email Ryan at men@acas.org to arrange. Priority for Asian queer folks, trans women, trans men, nonbinary folks, living with HIV, or with a disability.

Justin recently completed his internship at ACAS in the Spring and is featured in the Much Studios documentary: Positive. Justin also just performed beautifully at last night's AIDS Candlelight Vigil 2019: Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow. We are SO PROUD of you for all you've done at ACAS and already making more contributions for the community since you've graduated! Positive will air on Saturday, June 22 at 8:30 p.m. ET on MTV https://www.much.com/much-studios-positive-hiv-documentary/

PRIDE month is upon us! Where we celebrate diversity and inclusion! Stay tuned for more info on PRIDE events available and hosted by our community! ACAS is celebrating 25 years and celebrating pride! It's going to be a big one! If you'd like to be involved email men@acas.org as our men's team will be handling our FLOAT this year!  

INTERNAL JOB POSTING For members, volunteers, service users, and current employees Needs Assessment Project Coordinator Deadline: June 14, 2019 (6 p.m.) 1-year contract (21 hours/week, $25/ hour) ACAS is seeking a passionate person to implement a HIV needs assessment project that focuses on East and Southeast Asian international students. Responsibilities Work with project steering committee and consultant to 1.       Develop participants’ recruitment and outreach plan 2.       Develop needs assessment tools 3.       Train and support 2 current or former Asian international   students who self-identify as gay, bi-sexual men to be outreach workers 4.       Recruit 108 Asian international students who self-identify as  gay, bi-sexual, or men having sex with men to participate in a survey/interview through outreach activities 5.       Administer the data collection process (online and paper-based survey) and one-on-one interview 6.       Analyze and interpret data 7.       Organize a half day forum for 40 participants to disseminate the project findings 8.       Disseminate educational materials and summary report to community organizations, policy makers and in online space 9.       Maintain statistics and prepare written reports Qualifications Lived experience in the East and Southeast Asian gay, bi, and MSM communities and international students’ circles Fluent in Mandarin, and Cantonese languages Demonstrated experience in HIV/STIs outreach with Asian gay, bi, and MSM Basic knowledge and/or experience in survey and interview techniques Excellent interpersonal and communication skills Computer skills: MS Office Self-directed, and willingness to work flexible hours Thorough understanding of ACAS mission, HIV/AIDS stigma and discrimination, LGBTQ+ issues, healthy sexuality, and harm reduction principles and practices Ability to work independently and as part of a team Knowledge on gay dating apps an asset Please send a cover letter [...]