ABRPO

ABRPO supports ASOs and harm reduction programs by offering impact debriefs, grief circles, peer networking, and online learning opportunities.

Visit our website to learn more. Funded by the Ministry of Health. Explore our Resources: https://linktr.ee/ab

01/27/2026

Today is the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust. Millions of Jewish people, as well Roma people, persons with disabilities, LGBTQIA+ people, and political prisoners were killed for who they were, and those who survived and their families have carried intergenerational trauma with them for decades.

In the early days of ABRPO, our co-founders were counselled and advised by people who survived the Holocaust and worked to communally heal that intergenerational trauma of multiple loss. We learned so much from them about survival, thriving, and banding together with the people who share our pain and also our resilience.

Today we bear witness to the survival of all who were persecuted in the Holocaust, and in the words of Jewish Voices for Peace - never again for anyone.

01/26/2026

During reporting periods it can feel like we’re being asked to reduce the humanity of our service users and community members to mere numbers. We may be reporting on service users who are no longer with us, often from their passing and sometimes from incarceration. The pain of these experiences makes reporting periods grief-filled times.

These swells of grief are known as Sudden Temporary Upsurges of Grief, or STUGs. These upsurges happen when anniversaries, seasons, holidays, or in this case, reporting periods, stir up our grief from previous losses and bring back feelings we might have thought we were “over”. If we know that reporting periods bring STUGs, we can plan ahead and prepare for the support and care we need, whether that is from supportive people or asking for workplace accommodations for this significant of workplace stress.

Join the conversation on Wednesday February 18th and share how you navigate Grief During the Reporting Period. Email Craig our TTOA Co-Ordinator at CraigBoucher@abrpo.org. This session is only for agencies funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health - AIDS Bureau.

01/23/2026

Coping mechanisms and learned behaviours are passed down until someone in the ancestral line is willing to start the healing journey. - Ashley Nadjiwon Grief, Trauma & Healing.

01/22/2026

Winter is grief season. For social service workers, that's often an anticipatory grief for how our service users, clients, and community members will survive the winter. As a shared grief, it needs shared support both in our workplaces and our communities. ABRPO can be a resource for helping workplaces through the winter grief season. We offer collaborative facilitation of grief circles, memorials, impact debriefs, as well as consultations to organizations on supporting workers, and management coaching. All our services are free to agencies funded by the Ministry of Health HIV & HEPC division. Check the links to our services in our bio.

01/21/2026

A book we love: The Wild Edge of Sorrow, by Francis Weller. A communal approach to grief and bereavement that names the ways that dominant culture stifles our willingness to experience and share our feelings. It offers suggestions for rituals to honour the connection between life and death, joy and pain, and sorrow and gratitude.

01/20/2026

National Hugging Day is a warm and friendly holiday dedicated to the power of human touch and emotional support. The meaning of the holiday is to remind people of the importance of a simple gesture that can improve mood, reduce stress, and strengthen relationships.

Why hugs are so important
Scientists and psychologists note that hugs:
* reduce stress levels
* increase the sense of security
* strengthen mutual trust
* improve mood due to the release of "happiness hormones"
* help establish emotional connections between people

01/19/2026

This session will focus on Alternative Self-Care. We will be talking about things you can do to take care of holistic self and that the Self-Care you choose is right for you. Please share this with Peers at your agency and colleagues who may benefit from this session. To register, please email Craig our TTOA Co-Ordinator at CraigBoucher@abrpo.org

01/16/2026

If research doesn't change you as a person, you haven't done it rights. - Shawn Wilson, Research is Ceremony.

01/15/2026

Winter is especially a hard time for feel the distress of systemic failures around the housing crisis and drug policies. This is a significant source of grief - that heaviness and lingering despair you feel could be a mourning for a reality where everyone had access to dignity, safety, stability, and security.
Part of caring for this grief is acknowledgement of the grief, and externalizing the responsibility onto decision makers, rather than within yourself. We can do this for ourselves, and remind our co-workers and colleagues to do the same. And of course, keep uplifting each other to work in alignment with our ethics.

01/12/2026

Grief Never Ends....But it changes. It's a passage not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, not a lack of faith....It is the price of Love. Author Unknown.

01/09/2026

Compassion binds us with all thing through the shared encounter with suffering. - Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow.

Address

Sherbourne Street
Toronto, ON
M4X1K9

Website

https://abrpo.org/

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