 August 2020 Spruce Grove GSA, What’s Happening! The Spruce Grove GSA Society respectfully acknowledges that we are situated in Treaty 6 territory, traditional lands of First Nations and Métis people. What’s Happening! Our regular GSA meeting place has temporarily moved due to the outbreak of Covid 19. We are currently meeting outside in the yard of St. Andrew’s United Church at 1A Fieldstone Drive, Spruce Grove. We are maintaining all levels of health and safety standards, and ensuring we maintain physical distancing, hand sanitizing and mask wearing guidelines. Even when outside, mask use is required to take part in our Spruce Grove GSA meetings. Tentatively, our GSA meetings will be able to be held again in the large meeting hall of St. Andrew’s United Church for September 25th or October 9th! I will be including the PDF of the COVID-19 Protocols for Spruce Grove GSA Society, relaunch strategy. The protective measures Spruce Grove GSA Society has put in place are to protect participating youth, their families, coordinators, volunteers, organizations, renters and groups of St. Andrew’s United Church, and the general public. I am awaiting approval of our recommended protective measures. If there are any adjustments to be made, I will modify the PDF and re-send it. Events & Activities! 2020 Alberta GSA Conference - November 11th – 15th Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services (iSMSS) is hard at work planning the 2020 AB GSA Conference. This year the conference will be going online, delivering workshops and community networking events to GSA/QSA students and teachers across the province of Alberta. If you would like to sign up for conference updates email fyreflys@ualberta.ca with the subject "mail list signup." Perseids Meteor Shower 2020 Will you be watching the Perseids Meteor shower this week? https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronomy/tips-tricks/perseids.asp Every year for as long as I can remember my family and I have watched the Perseids Meteor shower. We take blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows and lay out under the stars. No matter which province we are all, in I know that my siblings and my parents are doing the exact same thing every year around the same time. What do you do with your families or friends each year? Cultural Campfires - Multicultural Heritage Centre 5411-51street Stony Plain AB https://multicentre.org (also available via zoom) August 6th, 13th, 27th. August 30th (via zoom) The campfires run every Thursday starting at 6p.m. and are for the whole family. These events will be in person outdoors at the Multicultural Heritage Centre Physical distancing will be in effect. We recommend masks. LGBTQ 101 – Learning series https://www.showpass.com/lgbtq-101/ Calgary Pride is hosting a series of virtual workshops in partnership with Calgary Queer Art’s Society presented by James Demers. This workshop endeavours to create bridges of understanding about the LGBTQ community. This includes a deep dive into the language developed and used by the community surrounding identity and self-expression, expands on the context of the historical LGBTQ rights movement and how it impacts us today and tracks how these developments continue to shape the world that we live in. This session is open to anyone who is looking to create a deeper understanding of how they can support co-workers, family members and neighbours as we create a more empathetic and connected world. Trans & Nonbinary 101 https://www.showpass.com/trans-nonbinary-101/ This session will cover language, experience and tips for developing your understanding of the trans-identified people. This webinar will also explore the many ways to engage in effective ally-ship, both in a personal and professional context and will leave participants with practical tools to help develop new relationships with the gender and sexually diverse community. This session is open to anyone who is looking to create a deeper understanding of how they can support co-workers, family members and neighbours as we create a more empathetic and connected world. Spruce Grove FCSS & Stony Plain Youth Centre Have gone VIRTUAL! Find them online where they have created a virtual space where youth are invited to engage in activities and have fun. Connect with them for activities, prizes and fun! Spruce Grove FCSS Youth Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sprucegrovefcssyouth/ Website: https://www.sprucegrove.org/community/programs/fcss-programs/virtual-programs-for-youth/ Stony Plain Youth Centre Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/spyouthcentre/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/spyouthcentre?igshid=16ivlhwry0oml website: https://www.stonyplain.com/en/live/youth-centre.aspx?_mid_=733 Taking Care of You Rainbow Masks! We received a donation of custom made reusable 100% cotton cloth Rainbow masks! These are made locally here in Spruce Grove by My Favourite Blankie! These cloth masks are available for our GSA kids if they would like one. They are reversible, so one side is Rainbow, and the other side is plain dark blue. The kids can choose which side they would like to wear. *Please wash the masks in cold water and hang to dry We are still searching for more Rainbow material so we can have more masks made to actually sell to folks! Quite often we receive requests for counselling. Please get in touch with these organizations to check their availability. If you are looking for more information, please connect with us through email or private message our accounts through social media. CHEW Project - counselling chewprojectyeg.org https://www.facebook.com/chewprojectyeg/ (780) 263-2221 CHEW provides frontline support, resources, and education for LGBTQ2S+ youth and young adults (ages 14-29) facing barriers. These barriers may include mental health, violence, poverty, homelessness, substance use, sexual health, sexual exploitation/sex work, and others. We provide a safe place for youth to get basic needs, get off the street, and find hope. We offer inclusive and confidential STI testing, counselling and crisis intervention, Indigenous peer support, a safe place where youth can access harm reduction and basic needs supplies, and so much more! Come check us out at our downtown office, the OUTpost, or on campus at the University of Alberta. The LGBTQ+ Wellness Centre https://www.wellnesscentreab.ca/ info@wellnesscentreab.ca 9117 82 Avenue NW Edmonton The Centre aims to provide quality and timely care to the transgender, non-binary and gender diverse persons in northern Alberta. The Centre focuses on crisis support, outreach to individuals seeking healthcare, education opportunities for family doctors and other healthcare providers, as well as engagement with grassroots organization and other professionals who are interested in or are currently providing care. Institute for Sexual Minority Studies & Services Family Resilience Project https://www.ualberta.ca/ismss/community/family-resilience-project (780) 492-5205 Through a partnership with the LGBTQ Wellness Centre, the Family Resilience Project offers free short-term counselling to sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ) children, youth, and families. Pride Centre – counselling https://pridecentreofedmonton.ca Drop-in Single Session Counselling will be returning to in-person sessions at the Pride Centre on Tuesdays beginning Tuesday, Aug 11, from 2-6 pm. The Pride Centre has guidelines in place to reduce the risk of spreading of the covid 19 virus. Capacity is limited to 10 people in the space at a time, visitors will be asked to sanitize or wash their hands when they enter the space. Appointments will be limited as we currently have one counsellor on-site and will be sanitizing the counselling spaces between each session. If you have any questions or would like more details on how to access in-person or phone/video counselling please email hello@pridecentreofedmonton.ca Meet the Tri-Region Bunch! Find out more about the youth workers in the Parkland Area, and what they’re up to this summer! Connect to all of our websites and social media pages through this one handy site! We will also provide you with resources, support, education, fun, games, it’s all up to you! https://parklandcc.ca/community-resources/ Community Connectors http://www.westviewpcn.ca/theme/common/page.cfm?i=10003566 Community Connector positions support youth and their families to access community and mental health supports by working collaboratively with a coalition of community stakeholders, social service agencies, and health care providers. Community Connectors assist in the implementation of the mission and vision of the coalition; to ensure that youth and young adults aged 11-25 have improved and coordinated access to mental health, primary care, and social services within the communities of Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, local indigenous communities, and the greater Parkland County. Our Community – Help our GSA grow together! Please help to stay open and continue to grow by saving your bottles or by making a donation online. We will continue to be a Safe Space where our youth can feel included, respected, and protected. Are you able to help set up a fundraising committee? How can you contribute? Our community is filled with folks with amazing people that care about youth and their surroundings. Our GSA is a Community GSA, help us grow together! Some of the ways you can fabulous: Please Help. Monetary donations, click on the donate button on our website, spend time with us at different events, parades or resource fairs) Contributions of any size will be used to support youth through the purchase of materials that will be used at our meetings, as well as to fund excursions to special events within the community. They will also support the GSA as a whole by helping us with operational expenses. We are a 100% volunteer-run organization; all funds will go to ensuring we can continue to offer services to youth. Please Donate your bottles to the Spruce Grove GSA Society! We will gladly arrange to pick up bottles once a month. This will greatly help out with our fundraising goals! Thank you to the folks who are currently donating to our GSA! Important Phone Numbers Kids Help Phone 1-800-668-6868 Text CONNECT 686868 kidshelpphone.ca/what-is-kids-help-phone 24-hour, anonymous phone counseling for children and youth, 100% confidential they do not trace calls, they do not have call display, you do not have to tell them your name. You can connect by phone or mobile app, or through the website. RCMP 911 780-962-2222 Spruce Grove 24 hours 780-968-7267 Stony Plain 24 hours Trans lifeline http://www.translifeline.org The Hotline: Canada: 1-877-330-6366 US: 1-877-565-8860 Need to talk? Call! Our peer support hotline is run by and for trans people. 211 Alberta Canadian Mental Health Association-Edmonton https://www.ab.211.ca https://edmonton.cmha.ca 211 (phone) 211(text) 24-hour distress line Resources for Albertans daily needs. When you see someone in distress, you can help before police or emergency services are needed by calling 211 and pressing 3 to dispatch the 24/7 Crisis Diversion Team. MyHealth.Alberta.ca https://myhealth.alberta.ca Health Information and Tools Spruce Grove GSA Website sprucegrovegsasociety.org On our website you can find all of our information such as dates of our GSA, tips on Safe Spaces, health, recognizing abuse and Resources. Find us on Facebook and Instagram COVID-19 Protocols for Spruce Grove GSA Society
To reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, these protocols have been put in place to help ensure the health and safety of the following:
Although we have taken care to adhere to the guidance of the Government of Alberta, by attending the Spruce Grove GSA you acknowledge that, even with the best precautions in place, it is impossible to guarantee no exposure to COVID-19 whether while traveling between your home and the GSA or within the confines of the Spruce Grove GSA. Screening for Symptoms:
If any person has or develops symptoms, they will be removed from the group and asked to stay an appropriate distance from the rest of the group until and a safe route home is ensured. Distancing Measures
Cleaning All high touch surfaces to be used will be cleaned prior to youths’ entry.
All high touch surfaces will be cleaned after the last youth exits the building, to ensure the next group’s safety.
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) & Inclusive Measures
Contact information for staff and volunteers
The protective measures Spruce Grove GSA Society has put in place are to protect participating youth, their families, coordinators, volunteers, organizations, renters and groups of St. Andrew’s United Church, and the general public. If these protective measures are not recognized or followed, the organizers of Spruce Grove GSA Society will take the appropriate action and temporarily remove the individual in question until the protective measures are agreed to and followed accordingly. We appreciate everyone’s efforts to ensure that the Spruce Grove GSA continues to be a safe and welcoming place for youth. Sincerely Jody Tucker (she/her) The Spruce Grove GSA Society respectfully acknowledges that we are situated in Treaty 6 territory, traditional lands of First Nations and Métis people.
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