September 2023 Recipient: AVI Men’s Wellness Program

Name of your group: AVI Men's Wellness Program

Name of umbrella organization (if applicable): AVI Community Health Centre

Website (if applicable): http://avi.org

Tell us a bit about your group and its purposes/projects. Please include bit about its history. : AVI's men's wellness program has been operating for 5 years and is dedicated to education, prevention and clinical engagement for men who have sex with men. We are a low barrier, gender affirming clinic offering wellness services free of charge to anyone in the LGBTQ2S+ community.

Is there a specific project that this new money would be applied to, or would it be used for your ongoing work? Please describe. : The money would be spent to support unfunded components of our men's wellness program and expand our services and programming.

Please elaborate on how your work or project will benefit the Queer community and how it enhances the community in two or more of these critical dimensions: Inclusion, Diversity, Accessibility and Equality.: AVI has been creating capacity in the queer community for over 30 years and is the only clinical setting available in Nanaimo that is culturally competent for queer people and offers primary care attachment to a physician.

What is the estimated budget for the project that you are proposing or working on?: We are asking for funds to support programming costs like refreshments for our men's hike, badge making supplies for our "Let's Talk" program and possibly a small winter gathering for our service users. We are starting with nothing so we haven't figured out how we want to spend the money but we are very good reporters and are happy to share receipts and results.

What are your other funding sources for this project (if applicable) ? Include approximate amounts if possible.: The parts of our work that are funded come from Public Health of Canada and Island Health. They provide salaries for educators, STI nurses and support workers but not for any programming related costs like art supplies, water, harm reduction supplies or nutritional support.