JULY 18, 2024

COMMUNITY VITALITY 2024

Regional HIV/AIDS Connection

MAGICAL (Multicultural Accessible Gatherings Improving 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Affirmation in London)

GRANT: $67,000 FOR 1 YEAR

Regional HIV/AIDS Connection is using their $67,000, one-year Community Vitality grant to collaborate with grassroots groups and community leaders to support the well-being of London’s 2SLGBTQIA+ community members, especially people disproportionately impacted by systemic oppression, by creating new joy-centred spaces, opportunities, and resources that provide connection, affirmation, and visibility. These robust community development efforts will focus on providing vibrant and diverse social gatherings, investing in local 2SLGBTQIA+ talent, and fostering future sustainability through volunteer engagement, project impact evaluation, and mentorship opportunities.

Partners in the collaboration include people and groups from a diverse range of backgrounds, such as London’s Queer Muslims Association, Raíces Arcoíris, Andrés Garzon, Late Bloomers, Stompbox, and Robin Henry, among others, to ensure that these community gatherings are affirming, accessible, and culturally resonant to all participants. Appropriately, the project will be known as MAGICAL: Multicultural Accessible Gatherings Improving 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Affirmation in London.

Safe, accessible gathering places for marginalized and racialized 2SLGBTQIA+ folks are vital, as Donavon Trice, Men's Sexual Health Outreach Coordinator at Regional HIV/AIDS Connection, explains:

“Marginalized and racialized queer people are underserved in existing mainstream 2SLGBTQIA+ spaces. The MAGICAL project will support people and groups who are creating affirming spaces for underserved folks, helping to increase their visibility and expand their efforts so everyone feels they belong, and they are celebrated.”

Sessions will include a range of programming, such as social support groups, faith community gatherings, arts-based events, and peer mentoring sessions. While a larger gathering will take place during Pride season, the year-round nature of the programming is vital to the project’s community-building aspect, providing the depth and consistency of engagement needed to develop meaningful and lasting connections.

While individuals taking part in the gatherings benefit from developing new community ties in comfortable, safe, and accessible environments and the reduced feelings of isolation that come along with that, the project also has an evaluation aspect budgeted in that will allow the collaborators to create a best practice resource, aiding in community co-creation of inclusive future gatherings on an ongoing basis, regardless of funding sources.

Find out more about the other Community Vitality recipients:

• Canadian Mental Health Association Thames Valley Addiction and Mental Health Services: Francophone Ethnocultural Friendship Bench ($140,181 for 3 years)

• Changing Ways: Collaborating for a Safer London ($150,000 for 2 years)

• Forest City Gallery: Collaboratory Community Outreach Program ($120,775 for 3 years)

• London InterCommunity Health Centre: Women of the World (WOW) – Childcare provision ($63,000 for 3 years)

• London Public Library: Transitional Case Worker Program ($280,000 for 3 years)

• Low-Income Family Empowerment Sole-Support Parents Information Network (LIFE*SPIN): Empowering London's Low-Income Families: A Fresh Approach to Food Security ($350,000 for 3 years)

• Regional HIV/AIDS Connection: MAGICAL (Multicultural Accessible Gatherings Improving 2SLGBTQIA+ Community Affirmation in London) ($67,000 for 1 year)

• Urban Roots London in partnership with Siloam United Church: Cultivating Food Security Through Urban Agriculture ($282,354 for 3 years)