who are we

Voices of Positive Women is a community based member driven agency which provides free and confidential support and advocacy to HIV positive women throughout Ontario.

Fundamental to the purpose of the organization is the empowerment of HIV+ women, enabling them to live their lives fully, through support, information and education, skills development, and community involvement.

HIV positive women are central to the direction, development and delivery of our organization's programs and services. We remain the only organization in Canada which is solely from the membership. All of our directors, many of our staff and more than half our volunteers are HIV+ women.

We continue to be the only organization in

Ontario providing services exclusively for

women living with HIV.

 our history

Voices of Positive Women was founded over ten years ago, in May 1991 by Andrea Rudd and Darien Taylor both of whom were working on an international Anthology, Positive Women: Voices of Women Living with AIDS."

These two visionary women recognized the need for an organization whose sole mandate was dedicated to meeting the needs of HIV+ women at a time when services and supports for HIV + women were non-existent. Their vision was to build an organization which was directed by and for HIV+ women. They approached Health and Welfare Canada looking for funding of their book, and received organizational funding. (From these humble beginnings, Voices of Positive Women, the organization, was born out of Positive Women, the book.)

Over the last ten years many positive women have contributed to the growth of the organization and today "Voices of Positive Women" provides services to over 500 members across the province.