ABRPO

Funded by the Ministry of Health, AIDS & Hep C Programs.

AIDS Bereavement and Resiliency Program of Ontario (ABRPO) provides grief care to workers and organizations in response to the traumatic multiple loss of both HIV/AIDS and drug poisoning/overdose.

08/15/2025

Is it HIV or is it age?
Many of the health changes that occur with aging can be similar to the symptoms of HIV or the side effects of HIV drugs. There are several health conditions associated with both aging and HIV.

Some of these condition include: Changes to the immune system, Kidney disease, Cardiovascular disease and many more.

From October 2025 - June 2026, please join our monthly TTOA Virtual sessions where we will be talking about some of the above topics as well as many others that will help you remain healthy in the work that you do. Please email our TTOA Co-Ordinator Craig at CraigBoucher@abrpo.org if you are interested in joining the conversation.

08/13/2025

With many community memorials coming up with IOAD, we are sharing our Gathering to Remember zine, which is a practical guide to support the planning of your memorial event. The guide includes a paper quilt making activity for a community art project. Find the zine here:https://abrpo.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ABRPO_Gathering_to_Remember_Zine.pdf

08/10/2025

Prisoners' Justice Day is for holding outrage and heartbreak at the treatment of incarcerated people across Turtle Island, and advocating for better conditions inside prisons toward the long term goal of prison abolition. Prisons are not a place of rehabilitation, but generate immense grief and trauma through dehumanization that has resulted in the deaths of thousands in the last 50 years. Despite this, support networks by and for incarcerated people bring dignity, advocacy, and ongoing healing.
These support networks and our advocacy efforts are desperately needed right now in Ontario with the passing of Bill 6 that is guaranteed to perpetuate the cycles of trauma and grief that come with criminalization and incarceration. Rather than policing, we need affordable housing, universal basic income, and expanded harm reduction services to meet the needs of people sleeping outside and people using drugs in public.

08/08/2025

The International Day of World's Indigenous People Day is observed on August 9th each year. This day aims to promote and protect the rights of Indigenous People globally as well as here at home in Canada. This day celebrates the unique cultures, histories and contributions of more than 476 million Indigenous People worldwide while highlighting their ongoing struggles, including land rights and cultural preservation. Indigenous people across Turtle Island have taught us that cultural revival and community can be a powerful tool for holding and healing intergenerational trauma and grief.

At ABRPO, we are grateful for the Indigenous Facilitators, Elders and the greater community that has helped shape many of our practices and teachings.

08/06/2025

"The rest of my life is being unwound and seen through a frame of death. And my anger is more about this culture's refusal to deal with mortality. My rage is really about the fact that when I as told that I'd contracted this virus it didn't take me long to realize that I'd contracted a diseased society as well."
- David Wojnarowicz, Postcards from America in Rebellious Mourning

08/05/2025

The OAN is launching a year-long project to explore and document frontline worker wellbeing through storytelling, discussion, and photography. The project will culminate in a resource that highlights lived experiences and serves as a tool for advocacy. Participation is flexible between group and individual engagement, with a time commitment between 4 to 13 hours between now and July 2026. You can find out more here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hzxSqC0bw2ou6iXXmXdxU1_DFBJaCMD9/view?usp=sharing

08/01/2025

August 1 is Emancipation Day which marks the abolition of slavery in canada which came into effect August 1, 1834. Canada has a shameful legacy of forcing African and Indigenous people into slavery between the mid 17th century and 1834. On this day we celebrate the freedom of slaves all across the british empire, and acknowledge the intergenerational grief slavery caused for descendants of enslaved people. While slavery was abolished almost 200 years ago, anti-Black and anti-Indigenous racism persists today not just in individuals, but also in health, economic, and employment disparities that impact HIV transmission and overdose fatalities. Today and everyday, lets commit to rupturing white supremacy and following Indigenous and Black leadership in our movements.

07/30/2025

When creating workshops or events, it is important to understand how others adults learn. By knowing how others learn you are able to create an inclusive learning environment. The TTOA Peer Engagement Facilitation Training focus' on 5 Key Learning Styles.

To learn more about these Adult Learning Styles, or to enroll your agency Peers in the TTOA Peer Engagement Facilitation Training, email Craig our TTOA Co-Ordinator at CraigBoucher@abrpo.org

07/28/2025

July 28 is World Hepatitis Day (WHD) on of the World Health Organization's (WHO) officially mandated global health days.

WHD is a day when the world comes together to raise awareness of viral hepatitis. 300 million people live with hepatitis, with more that 1.3 million lives lost to hepatitis B and C.

To learn more, please visit the following resource page from CATIE https://www.catie.ca/whd

07/24/2025

The work that we do in the HIV/Harm Reduction sector often prioritizes our clients needs before our own, which we know leads to staff burnout and turnover.

On this day we encourage you to make self-care part of your everyday routine and make it a priority. The ABRPO team has shared their best practices on what they do daily to practice self-care.

Share in the comment section what you do to practice self-care in your daily routine.

07/23/2025

"Let grief be part of the movement-building process for which we allow hallowed space, and let it build within us the compassion, wisdom, and rage that propelled us into new battles."

- Benji Hart, Feeling Is Not Weakness, in Rebellious Mourning

07/22/2025

This past Friday July 18, 2025 was Black Leadership Awareness Day. This day happens annual to celebrate the social justice movement in the African Caribbean Black communities.

ABRPO would like to acknowledge and thank APAA, ACCHO and Black-Cap for being the leaders they are in the HIV/AIDS and Harm Reduction sectors for their community.

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Toronto, ON

Website

https://abrpo.org/contact/

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