March 2-3 Reclaiming Our Bodies and Minds (ROBAM)

Nothing About Us Without Us  An Inter-Campus Disability Conference in Toronto

March 2-3, 2018, Ryerson Student Centre

Keynote by Sarah Jama FREE ATTENDANCE 
RSVP at robam2018.eventbrite.ca

March  06   2019 Wednesday) Free Concert Series: Vegas Breeze

At the Four Seasons Centre! JAZZ SERIES – Former Nylons frontman Micah Barnes explores the sound of the Las Vegas with songs from his new album, Vegas Breeze.

(Concert dates: Mar  12, 14, 19 & 20   Apr 03, 04, 09, 10, 16, 17, 18, 23, 25 & 30) (different performers each time, concerts take place @ 12pm or 5:30pm)

At: 145 Queen St W (@ York St)    Four Seasons Centre For The Performing Arts  –  Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre Time: 5:30pm: //bit.ly/2HEt3TV

InkWell Writer Workshops

//www.inkwellworkshops.com/schedule

Poetry w/Stuart

• Wednesday, March 6 and 27 2:00—4:00

Writing for Young People w/Mahak

Wednesday, March 13, 2019 12:00-4:00

Facing Your Inner Critic w/Mahak

• Wednesday, March 13, 2019 12:30-1:30

Blue Pencil w/Kathy

• Wednesday, March 20, 2019 12:00-2:00

Fiction w/Kathy

• Wednesday, March 20, 2019 2:00-4:00

IWD TORONTO 2019 RALLY & MARCH

WE ARE FEARLESS

Organizing Our Communities

Supporting Each Other

Growing The Resistance

Saturday, March 9, 2019 Rally from 11:00am – 1:00pm Auditorium, OISE (Ontario Institute for Studies in Education). 252 Bloor Street West Toronto, ON M5S 1V6 March starts at 1:00pm Rally & March organized by Women Working with Immigrant Women & IWD Toronto. ASL interpretation available other accessibility requirements contact iwdtoronto.committee@gmail.com

March 9 Indigenous Perspectives on Trauma-Informed Care

Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto

Topics include:
Intergenerational trauma & homelessness, Indigenous wellness paradigms, S2 and LBQT trauma-informed histories, suicide crisis, intercultural models of harm reduction, and much more!

March 21 Migrant Rights in Canada: Resisting Racism, Seeking Justice

Marking International Day for Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD), Urban Alliance on Race Relations and Toronto and York Region Labour Council co-host a Forum titled, Migrant Rights in Canada: Resisting Racism, Seeking Justice

At Toronto City Hall from 7-9pm Thursday March 21

Friday, March 22 Launch of Cell Count #87, the courage issue

Courage in the face of confinement: personal stories of resistance from in and out of prison

Join us for the launch of Cell Count #87, the courage issue

When: Friday, March 22nd, 7pm-10:30pm!

What to expect: Kyle King, Nikki Browne, Steve Dewar, Lindsay Jennings and a representative from Hope Program, will all speak on the topic of courage in the face of confinement. We will also read words of courage sent to us for this event by people who are currently incarcerated, and if everything works out, we will have one of our writers from this issue read their submission to this issue.

Music: DJs Coco Supreme & Bobby Lee will be on deck to provide some most excellent tunes throughout the evening.

Food: We will also serve home-cooked Jamaican food provided by J&L Catering

The space: The Garage inside CSI Annex.

Accessibility info: CSI Annex is a scent-free and wheelchair accessible (via elevators) venue. Due to much of our material potentially coming in last minute, we may not be able to have deaf interpretation at this event. We will keep you posted on this.

Cover: $5 or pay what you can, and each attendee will receive a free copy of Cell Count.

A bit about Cell Count: “Cell Count started at PASAN in 1995 by Zolton Lugosi as a newsletter by and for prisoners, and others concerned with the HIV crisis in prisons. During this time, people in prisons living with HIV were not given equal access to health care, and treated with cruelty and isolated due to misinformation and stigma from those running the prisons, which carried over to other prisoners. Cell Count was a platform that prisoners living with HIV used to counter this misinformation through articles, poetry, artwork and other contributions.

Today, Cell Count is a popular publication inside among many prisoners, regardless of health status. There is still focus on HIV and HCV, and in the context of the current overdose crisis, it has grown to encapsulate experiences related to the crisis inside. Beyond that, Cell Count is also a space for people to express frustration and anger towards the general experience of being incarcerated, as well as philosophical, emotional, spiritual and artistic pieces.

​Cell Count goes out to anywhere between 700-1200 people inside of prisons across Canada, four times a year. It is also mailed to families of prisoners, individual subscribers and organizations that work with people who have experiences with incarceration.

Cell Count is free for people living with HIV, prisoners, ex-prisoners and their families in Canada. For everyone else, becoming a member of PASAN at a suggested donation of $20/year and have the option of subscribing to printed issues of Cell Count. PDF versions can be emailed to you at a suggested donation of $5/year. ”

Check out back issues of Cell Count here: www.pasan.org/cell-count

March 19 Flying to Freedom

Al Green Theatre 750 Spadina Ave, Toronto, Ontario M5S 2J2, March 19 1-5 pm
Info and tickets: //bit.ly/2EbhnrP 

Nearly 10 years ago, Huronia, Rideau, and Southwestern Regional Centres, the last large government-run institutions for people labeled with an intellectual disability, closed forever.

We know that creating and maintaining such institutions was one of the most harmful things we have done as a society. Despite the doors of the institutions having been closed for nearly a decade, institutionalization remains.

People continue to struggle. Harmful and controlling approaches still occur, and people are sometimes required to give up their rights and liberties—not all people are respected and welcomed citizens.

Organizations within the disability community, including institutional survivors, People First of Ontario, and the Council of Community Living Ontario, have organized Flying to Freedom to commemorate the closures, examine how we change attitudes and prevent people from being institutionalized, and commit ourselves to creating a fully inclusive society.

Hear and learn about engaging and diverse projects that are addressing institutionalization and supporting survivors and people who have an intellectual disability to lead meaningful lives in the community.

Agenda:

1:00 pm – Welcome | Opening Remarks

1:15 pm – Legal Assistance of Windsor and Respecting Rights at ARCH Disability Law Centre | Q&A with panel

1:55 pm – Break

2:10 pm – Family Alliance Ontario, Community Living Kingston & District, and People First of Ontario | Q&A with panel

3:00 pm – Break

3:15 pm – Vita Community Living Services and Community Living Dundas County | Q&A with panel

From Trauma To Trust operates a free clinic that provides service to people with intellectual disabilities who have experienced trauma. The service includes art therapy, counselling psychotherapy, and expressive arts therapy. People may choose from a menu of services that includes individual counselling or participation in group work. The clinic sponsors an expressive arts therapy drop in, “The Studio,” an ongoing ‘Aerobics and Affirmations’ group, as well as more formal groups. Though the service operates out of Vita Community Living Services, our therapists have been able to provide group therapy for individual agencies at their locations as well as through e-therapy.

The people we serve primarily come from the Greater Toronto area but with the advent of e-therapy our reach has extended province-wide. We have placed no restrictions on referrals and therefore we provide service to people with a broad range of intellectual disabilities. We do not require that an individual have speech or other forms of traditional communication in order to participate in the therapeutic process. Some of our greatest gains have been seen in those traditionally thought unable to benefit from any form of healing therapy.

The clinic aims to be data-based and data is collected on every session and people with disabilities are fully able to comment on the services they get on an ongoing basis. This allows our therapists to ensure that the needs of the individual are being met and that their voice is guiding the process. It also allows us to evaluate our services on a daily basis.

Presenters: Amanda Gee, Virginia Jahyu, and Ayodele Moffat

3:55 pm – Break

4:10 pm – Remember Every Name and Participation House | Q&A with panel

Healing Through the Arts is a partnership project between Participation House Support Services, Hutton House, L’Arche London, and the London Arts Council, funded as a result of the settlement of the Huronia, Rideau, and Southwestern Regional class actions. Healing through the Arts aims to celebrate the resiliency and spirit of people returning home to their communities after years of living in provincial institutions. Through six-week ‘open studios,’ the project encourages participants from diverse backgrounds to build meaningful relationships and to celebrate each other’s gifts through arts activities that draw on their stories, experiences, and ideas. Sessions are facilitated by professional artists, held in accessible community spaces, and are offered in dance, visual arts, and songwriting. Since its inception in April of 2018, 25 of 33 people named on the class action suit who are served by the partner organizations in London, Ontario have attended Healing through the Arts sessions. Many have attended several sessions and a few attend on an ongoing basis. The presentation will include a brief outline of the program development, and feature highlights of the project impact to date, including recordings of songs and images of visual art pieces created collaboratively over the past year. Presenters will include a project artist, a core participant from Participation House Support Service, and project partner staff.

Please note: The 6 PM performance of Birds Make Me Think About Freedom by L’Arche Toronto’s Sol Express is a separate event and also requires participants to be registered. To register for the performance, click on the following link – //www.eventbrite.ca/e/flying-to-freedom-birds-make-me-think-about-freedom-tickets-56340876077

March 28th Safe Injection Comedy Fundraiser: Toronto Edition

Date: Thursday March 28, 2019
Times: doors at 8pm, show start at 9pm
Location: 120 Diner, 120 Church Street, Toronto, Ontario
Price: $15 at the door

Can laughing help in adverse times? We think so.

Tickets to this night of comedy and community are $15 at the door (if this doesn’t sell out) and all of the money raised will go directly to their responsive, life-saving work. Doors at 8pm, Show starts at 9pm. General seating, so come early. (no online or pre sales)

Big love and thanks to Mandy Goodhandy and 120 Diner for generously donating the space for free, so let’s fill it!

This night of funny is conceived and hosted by comedian Mark B. Hughes who has made waves in Vancouver joking about his own story with addiction, the DTES and the prison system via his stand-up and his one man show Tragedy + Time Served = Comedy, which was a hit at this year’s Vancouver Fringe. Mark is the perfect pilot to navigate through a night of laughs in the face of challenges.