SPECTRUM News, WAGE Grant

Community Circles in January 2023

NOTE: The fourth circle has been rescheduled for March 14th. We hope to see you there! Register here.

The next step in our community engagement project is to host four community circles In January 2023. The community circles will each have a different focus and are intended to be organic and open ended conversations with our community to reflect on pressing and relevant topics relevant to Black, Indigenous, and racialized 2SLGTBQIA+ people. These community circles will be a meaningful step for Spectrum to address our lack of affirming actions towards Black, Indigenous, and racialized members of 2SLGTBQIA+ communities.

All four circles will be happening virtually on Zoom.

Circle #1: Tuesday January 10, 2023 7-9pm virtual

  • We would like to discuss Spectrum’s past and hear about any historical harms that may have been done.
  • We would like to get opinions on the survey that is currently open and do some reflection on the survey results.
  • We’d like to hear more from Black, Indigenous, and racialized 2SLGBTQIA+ people about your personal experiences.
  • We’d like to hear which programs, services, and community members are having a positive impact today.

Circle #2: Tuesday January 17, 2023 7-9pm virtual

  • We’d like to discuss queerphobia in our schools, and issues being brought to school boards.
  • We’d like to hear about how best to engage with Black, Indigenous, and racialized families with 2SLGBTQIA+ children and youth.
  • We’d like to discuss the impact of the police force on Black, Indigenous, and racialized queer people in our community.
  • We’d like to discuss anti-oppressive and queer affirming workplace strategies.
  • We’d like to hear which programs, services, and community members are having a positive impact today.

Circle #3: Tuesday January 24, 2023 7-9pm virtual

  • We’d like to discuss housing insecurities.
  • We’d like to discuss addiction and safe consumption.
  • We’d like to discuss equitable access to healthcare.
  • We’d like to hear which programs, services, and community members are having a positive impact today.

Circle #4: Tuesday January 31, 2023 7-9pm virtual

  • We’d like to discuss white supremacy in our community and issues like the removal of the Daughters of the Empire statue.
  • We’d like to discuss supporting queer-run Indigenous organizations.
  • We’d like to hear which programs, services, and community members are having a positive impact today.

These topics are not exhaustive and they may evolve based on feedback we receive in the surveys or based on how the conversation in the circles flows.

If there are any topics not listed that you would like to especially discuss or if there are any concerns please contact info@ourspectrum.com. The community circles will be co-facilitated by Spectrum’s community engagement coordinator Om Prajapati and Aashay Dalvi. The Executive Director of Spectrum, Scott Williams, will be present in an observational role. These circles are intended to be safe spaces for Black, Indigenous, and racialized 2SLGBTQIA+ people to share their honest thoughts and feelings.

To be a part of the community circles and/or be kept up to date on the progress of this work, please provide your email address here.

Register to attend here

If you haven’t had a chance to complete our survey, we’d appreciate hearing your thoughts here.

Please save the dates!

Circle #1: Tuesday January 10, 2023 7-9pm virtual

Circle #2: Tuesday January 17, 2023 7-9pm virtual

Circle #3: Tuesday January 24, 2023 7-9pm virtual

Circle #4: Tuesday January 31, 2023 7-9pm virtual

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SPECTRUM News, Survey, WAGE Grant

Survey on the Experiences of Black, Indigenous, and Racialized 2SLGBTQIA+ People in Waterloo Region

Since July, we have been working on a community engagement project made possible by an extension of the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund grant administered by Women and Gender Equality Canada. Thus far, this work has included an environmental scan to discover what programs and services are available for Black, Indigenous, and racialized people from 2SLGBTQIA+ organizations in Ontario, and video interviews with local community members. The next step is a survey being released today.

Knowing that SPECTRUM Waterloo Region’s Rainbow Community Space has had a lack of affirming actions towards Black, Indigenous, and racialized 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, we are trying to take well informed and responsible steps to amend that. 

We would like to identify the needs, barriers and challenges of Black, Indigenous, and racialized members of 2SLGBTQIA+ communities, with the goal of understanding which programs and services would be helpful in Waterloo Region. The survey will cover topics such as local 2SGLTBQIA+ organizations, personal experiences, educational curricula, workspace hiring practices, and other miscellaneous topics. 

The survey is anonymous and the results will be shared with the community so that not only SPECTRUM, but also other organizations, can benefit from the findings. It is our hope that the information collected will help us understand the experiences of local Black, Indigenous, and racialized community members, and identify potential areas for education and improvement for SPECTRUM.

The survey is not the only opportunity community members will have to engage with us during this project. In the near future, there will also be focus groups to examine specific topics in detail, and we always welcome feedback by email at info@ourspectrum.com. In addition, more video interviews will be conducted in the new year.

We are extremely grateful to those willing to take the time to complete this survey and help us improve so that we can more effectively work towards our vision of an inclusive community where all 2SLGBTQ+ individuals are welcomed, celebrated, and supported as their authentic selves.

Take the survey here.

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WAGE Grant

2021 in Review: We’ve Come So Far…

In January of 2021, SPECTRUM embarked on Project Excelsior, a landmark capacity-expanding project, which was made possible by a generous grant from the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund. This project was envisioned and planned by our former ED, Jim Parrott, and former Trans Services Coordinator Melissa Kennedy, who spearheaded the grant application process to secure a transformational grant of $279,782.

Thanks to that grant, the Project Excelsior team as well as SPECTRUM’s volunteers, Board, and community partners have made incredible strides to expand our ability to affirm and support the well-being of 2SLGBTQ+ people in Waterloo Region.

SPECTRUM Programs

From August 2020 – July 2021, SPECTRUM had:

  • More than 2000 participants across 796 Zoom Sessions, totaling 344,345 minutes of Zoom sessions!
  • An average of 180 Zoom participants each month
  • 270 people participated in our RDT pilot workshops
  • 178 people attended virtual Pride events
  • Through our partnership with OK2BME, 129 counseling sessions were provided for 48 clients between August 2020 and June 2021

In addition, we’ve added seven new programs to our roster, including:

  • A 2SLGBTQ+ Book Club in partnership with Waterloo Public Library
  • A Queer Crafting Circle in partnership with Button Factory Arts
  • A 2SLGBTQ+ Yoga Group in partnership with The Branches
  • A 2SLGBTQ+ Mindful Movement dance therapy group
  • A Social Networking Group for Young 2SLGBTQ+ Adults aged 25-40
  • A 2SLGBTQ+ Youth Peer Support Group for ages 18-25
  • A Transgender Peer Support Group for Cambridge

And we’re not finished yet! We know there is still a need for programming for Black, Indigenous, and racialized people, programming for people with underrepresented genders and orientations, and programming for children, parents, and families. We’re currently working with consultants from local Black and Asian communities to help us understand the needs of those communities and how we can create programming and spaces that are accessible and relevant for them.

New SPECTRUM Resources

The SPECTRUM team has also worked hard to create and launch the following resources for the 2SLGBTQ+ community and their allies in 2021:

And, just wait until we welcome you back to our new physical space which is more than double the size and will be decorated with a mural by Trisha Abe…

We need support to keep going!

We’ve accomplished so much this past year, but there’s so much more than needs to be done! We hope that you’ll include SPECTRUM in your year-end giving to help us continue to keep our doors open and to allow us to provide programs and services that have been life-saving for some members of our community.

Click here to make a donation to SPECTRUM today!

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SPECTRUM News, WAGE Grant

Introducing the New SPECTRUM!

Thanks to a generous grant from the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund that has allowed us to engage in a year-long capacity-building project, SPECTRUM has been able to complete a re-brand that speaks to some of the changes we’ve made to the organization this year and the direction we are working towards.

Meet our new logo!

SPECTRUM’s new logo

Our Project Excelsior team worked with The Public studio, a community-centered, social justice design studio, to develop a new logo and brand standards. The new logo speaks to the way SPECTRUM provides 2SLGBTQ+ communities with a space for refuge, which in turn, leads to both personal and political growth, to challenging  conversations, and, with time, a more joyful world.  

In the new logo, we see the idea of “space” and “refuge” represented by a rainbow form. As letterforms move toward this space, we see them coming to life. We are introduced to a sense of playfulness,  optimism, joy, and resiliency. This concept also allows space to explore the  dichotomies in this work, namely, the joyful, playful, unapologetic ways  of being within the space, alongside the professionalism needed to speak truth to power and advocate on behalf of our communities in the more public sphere. 

The goal was to prioritize the concepts of potentiality, transformation, protection, and growth. We explore the rainbow as a visual cue for both safety and refuge (internal) and celebration and joy (outward). 

The colours we chose and the number of “bars” in the rainbow are intentional. In moving away from the “standard” six colours of the Pride flag, we leave room for places of growth, alternative understandings of who’s included here, and attention to the roots of queer liberation and where these movements come from. In the colour palette, we have colours that still run adjacent to the six-colour flag, as well as warm browns and pinks that aren’t necessarily desaturated versions of the other colours, but are colours in their own right. 

We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to work with The Public on this re-brand. Their team spent a lot of time getting to know SPECTRUM and its people, the ways we work, our history, and our future goals. We believe the new logo does an excellent job of identifying SPECTRUM as an organization.

As we move forward, we’d also like to reflect on our history and thank Eric Chengyang, Thane Robyn, and the late Thom Ryan who created the previous versions of our logo. Eric Chengyang designed our first logo back in February 2013. In September 2015, the logo was cleaned up by Thane Robyn, who separated the textual sub-title of our name (part of our full legal name) from the graphic itself. In June 2016, Thom Ryan modified the image still further by changing the cursive subtitle to a san-serif all-caps version for readability.

Previous versions of SPECTRUM’s logo

We’ve also launched a new website!

We are also excited to be launching our new website designed by our Marketing & Development Coordinator, Ash Kreider. The new site was designed with care taken to respond to feedback that SPECTRUM has received over the last year or so, including thoughts shared by the community in various surveys and focus groups we conducted earlier this year. The new site is accessible, easy to navigate, faster to load, and is designed to reflect the new brand standards created by The Public.

We already have a list of additional changes in the works. These will be implemented throughout the rest of the year. We hope you’ll enjoy using the new site and celebrating our new brand identity with us.

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SPECTRUM News, WAGE Grant

SPECTRUM Recipient of Government of Canada Funding Through the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund

For Immediate Release
February 11, 2021

Federal dollars help to build capacity of local LGBTQ2+ community space in Waterloo Region.

Today, Ministers Bardish Chagger and Maryam Monsef announced approximately $15 million in funding for 76 LGBTQ2+ community-led projects across Canada through the LGBTQ2+ Community Capacity Fund. This includes $279,782 for SPECTRUM, Waterloo Region’s Rainbow Community Space.

Serving people across Waterloo Region, SPECTRUM maintains an inclusive space in downtown Kitchener. SPECTRUM provides both social programs and services including peer support for the rainbow community, and rainbow diversity training for businesses and organizations.

“SPECTRUM has done some amazing work with volunteer power,” says Cait Glasson, President of the Board of Directors, “but in order to meet the needs of as many LGBTQ2+ people as possible in our community we need to become a larger, more sustainable, and more inclusive organization.”

This grant funds Project Excelsior, which will strengthen the capacity of SPECTRUM to advance LGBTQ2+ equality by improving board governance; developing a strategic plan; and focusing on sustainability, succession, and financial planning. The project will also increase access to evidence, data, information, and knowledge sources by performing an environmental scan to assess community needs; and will build the capacity by offering skills training as well as sensitivity training opportunities.

“This project is extremely exciting!” says Jim Parrott, Executive Director. “We’ve hired a wonderful team of three people who have been at work since the beginning of January. I’ve been very impressed with their work thus far and can already see that SPECTRUM will be a vastly different organization by the end of the year.”

“We see Project Excelsior as a jumping off point for what will become SPECTRUM 2.0,” says Melissa Paige Kennedy, Development Officer, “the next stage in SPECTRUM’s evolution as an organization supporting the rainbow community in Waterloo Region.”

Media Contact:

Kristy Skelton, Assistant Executive Director
info@ourspectrum.com

About SPECTRUM:

For specific information about SPECTRUM’s programs and services visit the SPECTRUM website by clicking here.

View the complete list of recipients by clicking here for news release.

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SPECTRUM News, WAGE Grant

SPECTRUM Recipient of Government of Canada Funding Through the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund

SPECTRUM Recipient of Government of Canada Funding Through the LGBTQ2 Community Capacity Fund

Federal dollars help to build capacity of local LGBTQ2+ community space in Waterloo Region.

Today, Ministers Bardish Chagger and Maryam Monsef announced approximately $15 million in funding for 76 LGBTQ2+ community-led projects across Canada through the LGBTQ2+ Community Capacity Fund. This includes $279,782 for SPECTRUM, Waterloo Region’s Rainbow Community Space.

Serving people across Waterloo Region, SPECTRUM maintains an inclusive space in downtown Kitchener. SPECTRUM provides both social programs and services including peer support for the rainbow community, and rainbow diversity training for businesses and organizations.

“SPECTRUM has done some amazing work with volunteer power,” says Cait Glasson, President of the Board of Directors, “but in order to meet the needs of as many LGBTQ2+ people as possible in our community we need to become a larger, more sustainable, and more inclusive organization.”

This grant funds Project Excelsior, which will strengthen the capacity of SPECTRUM to advance LGBTQ2+ equality by improving board governance; developing a strategic plan; and focusing on sustainability, succession, and financial planning. The project will also increase access to evidence, data, information, and knowledge sources by performing an environmental scan to assess community needs; and will build the capacity by offering skills training as well as sensitivity training opportunities.

“This project is extremely exciting!” says Jim Parrott, Executive Director. “We’ve hired a wonderful team of three people who have been at work since the beginning of January. I’ve been very impressed with their work thus far and can already see that SPECTRUM will be a vastly different organization by the end of the year.”

“We see Project Excelsior as a jumping off point for what will become SPECTRUM 2.0,” says Melissa Paige Kennedy, Development Officer, “the next stage in SPECTRUM’s evolution as an organization supporting the rainbow community in Waterloo Region.”

Media Contact:

Kristy Skelton, Assistant Executive Director
info@ourspectrum.com

About SPECTRUM:

For specific information about SPECTRUM’s programs and services visit the SPECTRUM website by clicking here.

View the complete list of recipients by clicking here for news release.

Read More