Spectrum is grateful to be receiving a grant from the Region of Waterloo Upstream Fund that will help us to hire a full-time Fundraising and Events Coordinator for 2024-2026.
You can read more about the Upstream Fund and the impacts it is having in the community in their most recent Yearbook.
TAKE NOTICE that the Annual General Meeting of the Members of SPECTRUM Waterloo Region’s Rainbow Community Space (“SPECTRUM”) will be held on October 29, 2024 at 7pm at Libro Credit Union (165 King St W, Kitchener, ON N2G 1A7) for the following purposes :
Spectrum is pleased to announce that we have received funding under the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program for our Aging with Pride program.
This federal grants and contributions program supports projects that are led or inspired by seniors who are making a difference in the lives of others in their communities.
The funds will be used to help us create a 2SLGBTQIA+ Friendly Visiting program in which 2SLGBTQIA+ volunteers will visit 2SLGBTQIA+ seniors to help ensure they stay connected to the local rainbow community.
Thank you to the Government of Canada’s New Horizons for Seniors Program for the funding support provided to Spectrum. It will make a significant difference in the lives of seniors in our community.
For more information, visit New Horizons for Seniors Program – Community-based projects.
If you’re interested in volunteering to be part of this program please check out the listing here.
Spectrum is grateful to be receiving a grant from the Waterloo Region Community Fund and the Janice and Robert Deutschmann Family Fund held at Waterloo Region Community Foundation.
With these funds, Spectrum will provide five 2SLGBTQIA+ peer support and discussion groups to help participants connect with each other and create a sense of belonging and well-being. The funds will allow us to pay the co-facilitators of these groups for their important work.
Ace & Aro Space is an existing group for people who identify as asexual and/or aromantic. Ace and Aro people are often invisible in both 2SLGBTQIA+ spaces and mainstream spaces because of the assumption that all people experience attraction. This has become an important group for Spectrum, giving Ace and Aro folks a place to belong and call their own.
Spectrum on the Spectrum is an existing group for people who identify as queer and trans and autistic. This was developed over the course of a year in partnership with Waterloo Region Family Network. We conducted community conversations and research which revealed a need for this group because such a high number of queer and trans people also identify as neurodiverse and sometimes struggle to participate in our regular peer support groups.
Bi & Pan Space is an existing group for people who are bisexual or pansexual. Bi and Pan people often experience erasure in both 2SLGBTQIA+ spaces and mainstream spaces. Especially if they are in a hetero-presenting relationship, bi and pan folks tend to be seen as “not queer enough” for 2SLGBTQIA+ spaces but “not straight enough” for mainstream spaces. This group started this year after many requests.
The Queer Women group is a new group for anyone who identifies as a woman and queer. Often, women do not feel completely comfortable in groups with men or masculine folks and they have been requesting a space of their own. This will be the first Spectrum program exclusively for women.
The Fabulous 40s groups is also new. We have a group for young adults aged 25-40, and a group for older adults aged 50+, but people in their 40s have not been
well-served. We have received frequent requests for a group like this.
Find the job postings for these co-facilitator positions on our employment page.
Special thanks to Waterloo Region Community Foundation and their Fundholders for their support of 2SLGBTQIA+ programs in our community.
We are pleased to share our new Rainbow Newcomers Toolkit! This is a guide to help 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers with settling in Waterloo Region. This project began with Rhea Bhat (she/her), a Psychology major at Wilfrid Laurier University. Rhea received a Menich Award which allowed her to work with a not-for profit of her choice. It has taken a full year to develop and design this toolkit. That included a great deal of research and also getting feedback from our Rainbow Newcomers Connect team, and partners at COMPASS Refugee Centre and the City of Cambridge.
Rhea Shares:
The Rainbow Newcomers Toolkit is something I will always hold dear as a Brown, queer woman and an international student who had to settle down in Canada with no knowledge of various processes.
Working on the toolkit allowed me to learn more about the Waterloo Region Community and the various essential supports offered to newcomers on a multitude of topics. For newcomers, it is always a challenge to figure out where to start and how to navigate through the multiple resources available. I wanted to make this daunting process easier on newcomers by creating a one-stop guide that could help them start this process, along with contacts to resources within the community.
I chose to work with Spectrum and aimed the toolkit at 2SLGBTQIA+ newcomers because it can take time to explore and find their community, especially for those of us who have moved from unsafe environments. This experience has not only helped me develop invaluable skills but has also helped me realize that I would like to continue working with newcomers to Canada in any capacity that I can.
Thank you, Spectrum, for an experience I will always cherish!
National AccessAbility Week (NAAW) takes place from May 26th to June 1st, 2024. We’d like to take this opportunity to share some of the work Spectrum has done to become more accessible over the past several months.
We’re also pleased to share that the City of Cambridge is hosting a series of webinars on dismantling ableism in the community, healthcare, and education. The webinars will feature presentations from local organizations, service providers and individuals with lived experience. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about best practices and tools on how we can create a welcoming and inclusive community.
For more information and to register, visit Cambridge.ca/accessibility
You can also visit the Canadian Council on Rehabilitation and Work (CCRW) for resources and ideas for observing NAAW in a meaningful way.
The Transmasc Peer Support Group has returned to its regular schedule — the 1st and 3rd Monday of the month from 7-9pm!
The full schedule of Trans Peer Support Groups is:
-Transgender Peer Support Group – 1st and 3rd Thursday and 2nd and 4th Monday
-Transmasc Peer Support Group – 1st and 3rd Monday
-Beyond the Binary – 4th Tuesday of the month
-Cambridge Trans Peer Support Group – biweekly on Thursdays
Be sure to check the Rainbow Community Calendar for the most up to date details on all of Spectrum’s programs and other 2SLGBTQIA+ events across the region!
A special thanks to the volunteers who make these groups possible!
We are pleased to share our new Strategic Plan for 2024-2027.
Spectrum’s Board of Directors and Executive Director struck our triennial Strategic Planning Committee in July of 2023 and began working on a new plan. The work included doing a new environmental scan, new SWOT and PEST analyses, in-depth reviews of three years of feedback from program participants, a review of our community engagement project on creating Trans-Autistic supports, a review of our community engagement project with Black, Indigenous, and racialized folks, and a series of surveys of our board members.
The work culminated in a full-day strategic planning session on November 19, 2023 during which we established three new Strategic Priorities for 2024-2027:
Sustainability and Stability: Spectrum is committed to becoming a more stable and sustainable organization. We will work to become an equitable employer of choice through fundraising and fund development, community collaboration, and partnerships. Being an equitable employer will give us the capacity to better meet the needs of 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Waterloo Region. Spectrum will continue to work towards an inclusive community where all 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals are welcomed, celebrated, and supported as their authentic selves.
Accessibility and Inclusion in Programs and Personnel: Spectrum is committed to continuing our journey to becoming a more inclusive, equitable, and accessible organization that is welcoming and relevant to members of all 2SLGBTQIA+ communities. We will create programs and recruit personnel using an anti-oppressive and intersectional framework. We will prioritize accessibility, inclusivity, equity, and well-being – celebrating and affirming our diverse community.
Community and Advocacy: Spectrum is committed to continuing to build and maintain strong relationships and partnerships that increase capacity to serve 2SLGBTQIA+ people in Waterloo Region. Spectrum acknowledges the importance of public policy dialogue and development activities, where reasonable, to advocate for 2SLGBTQIA+ people having healthy and vibrant communities where they feel a sense of belonging.
These priorities build on the work we achieved with our 2021-2023 plan and we look forward to continuing the momentum we have established. Special thanks to our Board of Directors for their volunteerism and commitment to governance.
Read the complete Strategic Plan for 2024-2027.
We’d like to thank the Kitchener Sports Association for a grant of $3,500 that will allow us to purchase sports equipment for our 2SLGBTQIA+ Multi-Sport Drop-In!
The Multi-Sport Drop-In is totally free and is run out of the Downtown Community Centre and Stanley Park Community Centre in Kitchener. Each week we play a variety of sports like badminton, pickleball, volleyball, and basketball. From time to time we invite guest coaches for special events like Muay Thai and yoga.
Almost every participant that comes, comes because they want to meet other queer folks and move in a space exclusively for queer folks. Participants are at all levels and abilities. We have some people who are brand new to sports, while others are trying out for national sports teams. We’ve created a space that allows all abilities to play and have fun.
We’re also starting a Queer Run Club! Stay tuned for details.
The Forest of Reading is Canada’s largest recreational reading program! This initiative offers ten reading programs to encourage a love of reading in people of all ages. The Forest helps celebrate Canadian books, publishers, authors and illustrators. More than 270,000 readers participate annually from their school and/or public library. All Canadians are invited to participate via their local public library, school library, or individually.
In the 2024 nominees are four titles with 2SLGBTQIA+ themes that the Waterloo Catholic District School Board (WCDSB) has placed in it’s “PRO Section”. This section is used primarily by teachers but students are able to access the materials — provided a teacher first gives them “Catholic context”.
Some activists are calling this a “shadow ban” of these books. Restricting access to books that include 2SLGBTQIA+ content is discrimination. We know how important it is for 2SLGBTQIA+ children and youth to see themselves represented in media. It has a significant impact on their sense of belonging and well-being. It’s also important for straight-cisgender children to read books that have 2SLGBTQIA+ themes so they can be better prepared to live in a world where 2SLGBTQIA+ people have always existed, and will always exist.
You can read a Cambridge Today article from November 16, 2023 about this, here.
Spectrum has added these titles to our lending library where they can be borrowed without restriction.
If you’d like to write to the WCDSB trustees, their email addresses are below:
· kathy.dohertymasters@wcdsb.ca
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