#hivedmonton

[valentinecandi1]

Panorama view. #festivefeast🎄 #hivedmonton #yeg (at St. John's Cultural Centre - Edmonton) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5_75dxAmEa/?igshid=1itguq8zsbqhu

[valentinecandi1]

A Festive feast! Christmas cheer Christmas sweaters (almost) everywhere! Good Food Good People #yeg #merrychristmashappynewyear #festivefeast🎄 #hivedmonton (at St. John's Cultural Centre - Edmonton) https://www.instagram.com/p/B5_7rbxgiza/?igshid=1634f4t3gkfwm

[valentinecandi1]

View this post on Instagram

#2019edmontonpriderunandwalk #yegpride #hivedmonton #volunteerlife❤️ (at Re/max Field) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByvXkViADHM/?igshid=zz8cov53w0u1

[valentinecandi1]

#2019edmontonpriderunandwalk #yegpride #hivedmonton #volunteerlife❤️ (at Re/max Field) https://www.instagram.com/p/ByvXVA1AzOI/?igshid=mhhfh180x7ba

[valentinecandi1]

#lemongrassnoodles #lemontea #cherrywhiskeycheesecake @centurycasino_edmonton #volunteerlife❤️ I volunteered for banker forgetting its courtroom haha first time as banker and daytime shift!#hivedmonton #volunteerlife❤️ (at Century Casino Edmonton) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv92VRqAzSp/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=fszj8w5vddbj

[facesofedmonton]

Completed: 30 Faces of HIV Edmonton

This concludes our thirty faces of HIV Edmonton project to commemorate HIV Edmonton’s thirtieth anniversary. Thank you for following the series. Capturing these portraits and stories has been a moving experience for us, and we hope that it has touched you and added to your understanding of HIV. Please consider making a donation to HIV Edmonton to support the valuable work they do in our community. 

[facesofedmonton]

In 1982, Ross Armstrong, a man described by his friend Charles Bidwell, as “full of playful spirit, comfortable in his own skin and so open in expressing himself,” earned his spot to swim for Canada in the first ever Gay Olympic Games. Ross won a silver medal in the 200 metre butterfly and was quoted saying, "There were no losers. The first and the last were cheered equally.” He also learned that organization combined with a political commitment is what produces mass awareness and supported action. This was the spirit of Ross, a man committed to honesty, integrity, and change. 

In 1984, Ross Armstrong was diagnosed with AIDS, the first AIDS diagnosis in Edmonton. Shortly after his diagnosis, he became a part of the AIDS Network of Edmonton team (now known as HIV Edmonton), and emerged as the public face of AIDS in Edmonton. Ross died on July 1, 1986, two short years after his diagnosis.

The challenges and suffering Ross endured and the courage he displayed during those first years of the local epidemic led HIV Edmonton to name the hub of their agency, the drop-in centre, the Ross Armstrong Centre. A safe, caring place for HIV positive individuals to meet, have a cup of coffee, or share a nutritious community meal. Breakfast is served every Monday and Friday morning and lunch is served on Wednesdays. Ross Armstrong Week, held Monday and Friday in the middle of each month, provides access to grocery cards, health supplies (multi-vitamins and liquid meal replacement) and hygiene products (razors, shampoo, etc.).

[facesofedmonton]

“Even my husband at the time, he came down with AIDS, and when he died in 1989, at his funeral, nobody would say that he had AIDS. We were just enraged. We fought to make it public so it would start being addressed. We had been together for seven years, and he was playing around, and for some reason I didn’t get it.”

“I was the minister of the Metropolitan Community Church and when the folks like Michael Phair got together and applied for a grant to do something about AIDS, they couldn’t receive the grant because they weren’t established as a not-for-profit organization, and they didn’t have charitable status and all the rest of this. I was a friend of Michael’s, so he asked if the church could take our cheque, and I said, ‘Yes.’ And then we paid whatever bills he submitted to us. So we enabled them to work for a year until they got their own not-for-profit. So yes, I was sort of in on the ground floor.”

“The one good thing that came from AIDS is that the community solidified and worked together to face this threat ... There are some of us old farts still kicking around from back them, but we probably lost about a generation. As a minister, I did funerals, memorial services, and certainly talked to the people who had HIV. I didn’t get to talk to many parents because so many parents, when they found out their kid had AIDS, they were also finding out that their kid was gay, so they were so in shock that most of them didn’t want to talk to a minister."