ACAS October 2013 Update

ACAS October 2013 Update Though the weather has cooled off, ACAS has been busy engaging various community members this past month.  On Oct 1, ACAS held an “Asian Migrant Farm Workers (AMFWs): HIV Knowledge, Practices, and Healthcare” Forum funded by the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) aimed for service providers of AIDS service organizations, sexual health educators, healthcare providers, policy makers, post secondary students, and interested community members in international migration and health issues. Participants not only got an opportunity to hear real-life stories from Asian migrant farmworkers, but they also engaged in rich discussions on labour issues and immigration policies related to migrant farm workers. As a leader and advocate on AMFW issues, ACAS also shared its report on sexual health, HIV knowledge and healthcare of AMFWs from its community-based research project. We sincerely thank all those who had attended the forum. Over $20,000 raised! Thanks for all your support, generous donations, and the commitment of our 26 runners and walkers, ACAS has exceeded our fundraising goal for the year and raised a total of $20,120.91 at the 2013 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, Half-Marathon and 5k! We could not have done it without the generosity, dedication, and energy shown by our supporters, donors and race participants. This year, ACAS has a total of six teams of walkers and runners to raising funds for the agency. Competition has been extremely tight amongst. In the end, the ACAS Men’s Program Team, Fast and Furious, overtook the Women’s Program Team by a small margin. The funds raised will ensure that our East and Southeast Asian service users living with HIV/AIDS can continue to receive the much needed culturally and linguistically appropriate services they need. For example, the ACAS Support Program had been able to hold an health focused retreat for services users [...]