AOHC AWARDS

2015Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel

Richmond Hill, OntarioJune 2, 2015

Dinner Roasted butternut squash soup with poached royal gala apples, candied ginger and chives

Boston, baby frisee and organic greens with lychee fruit, roasted pineapple and sweet potatoes, apple cider vinaigrette

Pan seared, slow roasted free range chicken breast topped with artichoke and braised sweet peppers, with Niagara white wine and natural juices, accompanied with smashed sweet potato with plantain and coconut milk with a medley of seasonal vegetables

Dessert tasting trio: Crème brûlée | Cheesecake with strawberry compote| Chocolate lava cake

AGENDA

Welcoming Remarks

Presentation of AOHC Awards

Closing Remarks

Dance Party

The 2015 AOHC Awards will be emceed by Ruben ‘Beny’ Esguerra a multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and arts educator. Ruben leads the 13 piece band New Tradition featuring Indigenous Afro-Latin music. Ruben has worked with some of the most sought after musicians in Canada, performing the spoken word piece that welcomed Canadian Governor General Michaëlle Jean to the ‘Ignite the Americas’ conference. He has written original scores for CBC, City Life Film, Amnesty International, National Film Board and has performed in festivals around the world.

Ruben facilitates drumming and storytelling workshops to inner city and rural schools across Ontario and works with multiple youth arts related projects in the Jane-Finch community. He has been teaching and lecturing at York University since 2002 and is a PhD (ABD) candidate in Musicology/Ethnomusicology specializing in traditional and urban music.

ENTERTAINMENT

The Community Engagement Awards honours excellence in engaging community members in such a way that a program or service is improving health outcomes and increasing a community’s capacity to stay healthy.

The award is given to recipients who have engaged their community in such a way that:• Community members have been empowered and involved at an equal or greater

level in the decision-making and/or delivery of the program/initiative• As a result of the community engagement, the program/initiative was successful in

improving health outcomes and/or community capacity

Recipient: Sustaining Health Advantage Initiative (SHAI), South Riverdale Community Health Centre

Led by South Riverdale CHC’s Newcomer and Family Team, the Sustaining Health Advantage Initiative (SHAI) was developed to address the fact that Newcomers to Canada generally arrive with good health, but generally lose this health advantage within a short timeframe.

Now in its third year, the initiative engages community members in establishing peer-led sustainable programs that help participants to remain well, active and connected. The program has reached 821 community members in the past 11 months through 48 health education workshops in 10 different languages within 3 newcomer communities in south-east Toronto. Participants report regular use of neighbourhood resources, healthier eating habits, and increased physical activity.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT AWARD

The Community Health Champion Award honours the significant contributions made by an individual to the community health field either in the legislative/administrative branches of a local, provincial, or other public or private agency. (To be presented during conference plenary one.)

Recipient: Deena Ladd, Workers’ Action Centre

Deena Ladd has been working to improve wages and working conditions for workers in sectors of work that are dominated with low-wages, violations of rights, precarious and part-time work for the past 23 years. She is active in the Campaign for $15 and Fairness, the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change and in the Social Justice Committee at her local elementary school. Deena is one of the founders and the coordinator of the Toronto Workers’ Action Centre. The Workers’ Action Centre organizes to improve wages and working conditions with low-waged immigrant workers and workers of colour in precarious jobs that face discrimination, violations of rights and no benefits in the workplace.

COMMUNITY HEALTH CHAMPION AWARD

The Emerging Leader Award recognizes an individual who shows great promise and potential in advancing the Model of Health and Wellbeing and who has shown outstanding leadership in championing and/or implementing the Model of Health and Wellbeing in their organization.

Recipient: Raechelle Devereaux, Guelph Community Health Centre

Raechelle Devereaux is the Director of Programs and Services at the Guelph Community Health Centre. Since stepping into the role in 2014, she has enthusiastically led the Primary Health, Community Health and Early Years teams towards a more integrated, interconnected, people and community-centered health system. She has created and supported the development of new programs, including the Warm Connections initiative and a restructured harm reduction model. Additionally, Raechelle is actively leading the Guelph CHC towards becoming an organization that welcomes and embraces complexity amongst their clients, and inspires hope for those most in need. Raechelle works with staff, volunteers and clients to find innovative ways to meet client needs, and represents the Guelph CHC at a number of planning tables with community partners where she advocates tirelessly for health equity and coordination of client-centered care.

EMERGING LEADER AWARD

The Health Equity Award celebrates excellence in advancing health equity with respect to delivery of a service or program. The award is given to recipients who have created programs and services that address the issues of health equity; or developed innovative ways to respond to the issues of health equity; or taken extraordinary measures to raise awareness of the issues regarding health equity; or developed creative advocacy campaign(s) on issues related to health equity; or worked in non-traditional partnerships that have responded to the issues of health equity.

Recipient: Volunteer Physiotherapy Program Team, Guelph Community Health Centre

The Guelph CHC Volunteer Physiotherapy Program was suggested by volunteer physiotherapist Tegan Vermey, championed by Guelph CHC Health Promoter Karrie Cumming and is sustained due to the ongoing commitment of volunteer physiotherapists Stephanie Cherry, Denise Mortley, Karina Cranston and Nicole Stieber-Sze. Free physiotherapy sessions are provided to clients who would otherwise not qualify for physiotherapy services or who experience barriers to access. Sessions are offered in accessible neighbourhoods and translation services are provided. Clinical staff and physiotherapists see an increase in overall wellbeing, especially in those who suffer with chronic pain. The program provides clients with a sense of empowerment over their own health and helps them reengage in the activities of their daily lives.

HEALTH EQUITY AWARD

The Innovator of the Year Award honours excellence in developing a new innovation with respect to primary care, illness prevention, health promotion, community capacity building and service integration.

The award is given to recipients who have:• Developed or implemented an innovative idea in the area of primary care, illness

prevention, health promotion, community capacity building or service integration• As a result of the innovation, the program/initiative was successful in improving

health outcomes and/or community capacity.

Recipient: Langs Community Health Centre and Waterloo Regional Police Service: Connectivity Program

With funding support from the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, the Waterloo Regional Police Service partnered with Langs Community Health Centre in Cambridge to establish a hub program named Connectivity in 2013. Connectivity’s goal is to mobilize health and social services to address risk factors and reduce the incident of crime. Connectivity builds on collaborative relationships to develop and implement early intervention strategies to improve coordination of services that increase the safety and health of residents. With the success of the Cambridge program, Langs has helped to establish hubs in Kitchener and Guelph. Bill Davidson (Executive Director, Langs Community Health Centre) and Barry Zehr (Superintendent, Waterloo Regional Police Service) have shown tremendous leadership with Connectivity across the region. To date, the program has resolved over 150 high risk situations across Waterloo Wellington.

INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR AWARD

The Joe Leonard Award honours individuals, either members or nonmembers of the Association of Ontario Health Centres, who have made outstanding contributions to community health. The award is given to recipients who have shown outstanding leadership with respect to health policy, health promotion, disease prevention, or furthered the recognition of the social determinants of health on a community, provincial, national or international stage.

Recipient: Axelle Janczur, Access Alliance Multicultural Health and Community Services

As the Executive Director at Access Alliance since 1998, Axelle has been a steadfast champion of community health, health equity and social determinants of health. Under her leadership, Access Alliance has become a recognized leader in providing accessible, equitable care for newcomer populations through initiatives such as the Peer Outreach Workers framework, the first contact clinic for government assisted refugees, and settlement services for families, women, youth and LGBTQ+ newcomers. Axelle spearheaded the vision, strategic operational framework and development of the Community Based Research program at Access Alliance which has generated one of the richest repositories of evidence on social determinants of health for newcomers, racialized and low-income communities.

JOE LEONARD AWARD

Nominees must have published a story that explicitly calls for the need for policy change towards healthier public policy and has a determinants of health, health equity or anti-oppression lens. (To be presented during conference plenary three.)

Recipient: Steve Buist, Hamilton Spectator – CODE RED: Health, Wealth and Social Determinants in Canada’s Steeltown

Steve Buist is an investigative reporter and feature writer at the Hamilton Spectator. He is responsible for producing large investigative projects, such as the highly-acclaimed Code Red project, which began in 2010 and has been examining the connections between health and poverty by mapping the health of Hamiltonians down to the level of neighbourhoods. Buist has won three National Newspaper Awards and been nominated five other times. He’s also been named the Canadian Association of Journalists’ Investigative Journalist of the Year three times and been named Ontario’s Journalist of the Year four times. Last summer, Buist won one of the world’s most prestigious cancer journalism awards as he earned the 2014 Best Cancer Reporter Award from the European School of Oncology.

MEDIA AWARD

The Association of Ontario Health Centres would like to congratulate the winners of our 33rd anniversary awards.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS YEAR’S AWARD WINNERS!