The AIDS Bereavement and Resiliency Program of Ontario (ABRPO) is a unique resource to support agencies across Ontario who receive funding from the AIDS Bureau of the Ministry of Health.
ABRPO responds to effectively mitigate the impact of AIDS grief and loss on organizations, staff, volunteers and community members living with HIV/AIDS. To achieve this we:
- assist in assessment and enhancement of individual and agency coping strategies related to loss and transition;
- develop and delivery agency interventions, educational presentations, workshops, retreats and research initiatives incorporating evidence-based knowledge and bereavement expertise;
- provide innovative training to organizations, to increase communication skills, peer support and community resiliency strategies;
- ensure excellence in our work through the development of sustaining relevant, creative and evolving responses to the changing nature of loss within diverse AIDS-impacted communities.
We believe that our work must be:
- Grounded in solid theory;
- Shaped by the experience of the people we work with;
- Linked to people’s broader life experiences;
- Framed within a context of equity and inclusion;
- Trusting of everyone’s unique capacity to survive, thrive and make meaning.
ABRPO works with groups to design workshops, train paid and unpaid workers and assist management in assessing and enhancing individual, agency and community resiliency. The work of ABRPO facilitates:
- workers to maintain high levels of quality in human service;
- organizations to maintain efficacy in the face of significant loss and transition;
- communities to respond effectively to the diverse populations requiring support;
- agencies and community members with the practical implementation of GIPA/MIPA as part of a people living with HIV/AIDS resiliency framework.
2019-2020 was a year of transition and change for ABRPO. ABRPO successfully launched a training model that was increasingly in demand from AIDS Service Organizations. This new model focused on impact debriefings, which gave participants and opportunity to learn and to self-administer ABRPO tools.
In September 2019, the ABRPO facilitation team came together for two days to plan a way forward with developing online content. The strategy includes short instructional videos and other modalities.
Since the mid-March 2020, ABRPO has been focused on providing support and resources online during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include several webinars for Managers, Personal Support Workers and other frontline staff and a resource of grieving from a distance. Much of this work has been developed and delivered in partnership with other HIV Resources Ontario groups. For the coming year, ABRPO will be focused on developing and delivering online content to support people working in the field. This process will include redesigning the ABRPO website to include content to support distance learning.
ABRPO Black Lives Matter Solidarity Statement
Click here to visit the ABRPO website and to learn more about ABRPO services.
Contact Laur Kelly, Interim ABRPO Director at 416-205-9888 ext 224.
