Parent/caregiver peer and community support funding announcement
Trans Care BC is pleased to announce the following projects that have been awarded Provincial Parent/Caregiver Peer & Community Support Funding:
- Cariboo Proud Parents & Caregivers: Cariboo Family Enrichment Centre, South Cariboo (100 mile House and Cariboo-Chilcotin)
- PFLAG Canada Nanaimo: PFLAG Canada Nanaimo, Nanaimo & Central Vancouver Island
- South Island Families of TGNC2S Children and Youth Support Circle: Parent Support Services Society of BC, South Vancouver Island
- Transgender Support Resources: Stó:lō Service Agency, Chilliwack
Additionally, in partnership with PeerNetBC, three projects have been funded that are led by local community members offering peer and community support services in their communities. These projects are:
- North Island Parents & Caregivers of Trans, Gender Variant, Two-Spirit Children and Youth: Campbell River, Courtenay & surrounding North Vancouver Island communities
- TransParent Peer Support Okanagan: Kelowna & surrounding communities
- Nanaimo Parent Support Group: Nanaimo & surrounding communities
This funding opportunity is for parent/caregiver peer and community support providers to develop new peer support projects or help support services that already exist. This funding (up to $8,000) is just one step toward our long-term goal of building more regional and provincial support for gender creative, transgender and Two-Spirit youth and children and their families.
These projects will be evaluated and if this funding process is successful, Trans Care BC will offer further funding opportunities for peer and community support services in 2018 across the province.
Applications were chosen based on the geographic and population diversity that the project would serve, and the prioritization of peer-led and peer-driven support services being the focus of the application. All applications were scored by a selection committee, comprised of Trans Care BC staff and a representative from a provincial non-profit organization, with standardized criteria. Successful applications are based in a number of communities across the province.
These grants are one of three recent funding opportunities from Trans Care BC. 10 successful projects from the Island Health region Peer and Community Supports Funding call were announced last week. Six pilot sites for a provincial Gender Journeys program were recently announced in July 2017, with pilots starting in early fall 2017. For more information about the work that is underway, go to http://www.phsa.ca/transcare.
Peer & Community Supports Funding, Island Health region Announcement
Trans Care BC is pleased to announce 10 projects that have been awarded peer & community support funding in the Island Health region:
- Big Sibs Little Sibs: Quadra Village Community Centre & Tributary, South Island
- Gender Variant Group: Aids Vancouver Island, South Island
- LGBT2Q+ Peer Youth Group: John Howard Society North Island, Comox Valley
- Queer Peers: Aids Vancouver Island, South Island
- Trans Youth Peer Support Group: Salt Spring Island Community Services, Southern Gulf Islands
Additionally, in partnership with PeerNetBC, five projects have been funded that are led by local community members offering peer and community support services in their communities. These projects are:
- Comox Valley Transgender: Comox Valley
- Gender Spectacular: South Island
- GenQ Conference, Central Island/Nanaimo
- Q2TIPOC Dinners: South Island
- Trans Vancouver Island Website: Island-wide (Regional)
This funding opportunity is for peer and community support providers and community members in the Island Health region to develop new peer support projects or enhance services that already exist. This funding (up to $8,000) is just one step toward our long-term goals of building more regional and provincial support for transgender, Two-Spirit, gender diverse people, and their families and communities.
These projects will be evaluated and if this funding process is successful, Trans Care BC will offer other funding opportunities for peer and community support services in 2018 across the province.
Applications were chosen based on the geographic and population diversity that the project would serve, and the prioritization of peer-led and peer-driven support services being the focus of the application. All applications were scored by a selection committee, comprised of Trans Care BC staff and representatives from two provincial non-profit organizations, with standardized criteria. Four of these projects are youth focused; three are adult focused; and three are intergenerational. The projects range in settings from urban, suburban to rural.
This is one of three recent funding calls from Trans Care BC. A provincial parent/caregiver peer support grant is being announced in the following week, and six pilot sites were recently announced in July 2017 for a provincial Gender Journeys program, commencing in early fall 2017. For more information about the work that is underway, go to http://www.phsa.ca/transcare.
Trans Care BC is excited to be hosting a trans health resource fair and acknowledges that this event is happening on unceded Coast Salish territories. This event on September 21 from 4-8pm is for trans, Two-Spirit, non-binary, gender diverse and gender creative people of all ages, their families and loved ones. Snacks and refreshments will be provided! It will be a relaxed environment for folks to meet with local health and wellness resources. See poster for more details.
Trans Care BC is updating our website to make it easier to access information, programs and resources. To help ensure we are organizing information in ways that are easy for users to access, we are asking for 10-15 minutes of your time to complete a quick online exercise. The exercise will ask you where you would expect to find content on our website and will help inform the website's navigation.
Your answers to the exercise will remain completely anonymous and are not tied to any personal information. At the end of the exercise, to thank you for your time, you can choose to be taken to a separate website to enter your email address to be entered in a random draw for one of five $20 Tim Horton's gift cards.
Click here for online exercise.
July 13, 2017
Gender Journeys
Trans Care BC is pleased to announce that a new support group model, called Gender Journeys, will be piloted in six locations across the province this fall. Gender Journeys is a free eight-week support group that explores gender identity and expression in a supportive environment. The Gender Journeys model has been very effective in Ontario and is a partnership between community members, non-profit agencies and other programs.
Six sites were chosen from a call for applications in the Spring of 2017. We had planned to support four groups but increased the number based on the great response we received. Groups were selected based on the geographic and population diversity that sites will serve and the strength of their application, which was scored with standardized criteria. Two of the pilots will be youth focused; four will be adult focused in settings that range from urban, suburban to rural. Four out of five regional health authorities have a pilot in their regional area; there were no applications received from the North in this call for funding.
We'll share dates for these pilots once the groups are ready to start their Gender Journeys program. If these pilots are successful, Trans Care BC will look to fund more sites in 2018 to expand access across BC. This is just one way that Trans Care BC is contributing to peer and community supports in BC.
The 2017 Gender Journey Pilot Sites are:
- Fraser Health: Ann Davis Transition Society, Chilliwack (Adults)
- Island Health: Nanaimo Family Life, Nanaimo (Adult) and Alberni Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Services, Port Alberni (Youth)
- Interior Health: South Okanagan Women in Need Society, Penticton (Youth)
- Vancouver Coastal Health: Three Bridges, Vancouver (Adults) and CWHWC/PACE, Vancouver (DTES adults)
For more information about work underway, please feel free to contact us at transcarebc@phsa.ca.
The Vancouver-based plastic surgeon, Dr. Bowman, whose office holds the central waitlist for upper surgeries (chest and breast) has been off on a leave since October 2016. This FAQ answers questions about the current situation with upper surgeries in BC.
