Sapphic Community Needs Assessment
Contribute to developing programs that prioritize sapphic health and wellbeing.
Project Background:
Since 2002, MAX has been dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of the 2SGBTQIA+ community in the National Capital Region (NCR). As MAX Ottawa has grown and expanded, so too has our mission. MAX Ottawa recognizes the lack of dedicated health programs for Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer women, Transgender, Non-Binary, and Two-Spirit people (2SLBTQ, aka sapphics) in the NCR. We hope to help close this gap by actively engaging community members in developing tailored health programs and services for the sapphic community.
Community is the core of everything we do at MAX, and we believe projects such as this should be run by and for our community. We want to make sure we are incorporating your feedback in the development of health programs to truly address the unmet needs of our community. We want to do this right and that starts with asking you!
As a result, MAX will be conducting a community needs assessment to discuss the availability, quality, inclusivity, and accessibility of health services for sapphics in the NCR.
If you resonate with the sapphic label and have experiences or thoughts to share, we would love to hear from you!
Read the terms of reference here.
Get Involved
Interested in joining? There are three ways you can get involved:
- Join the Community Advisory Group and help shape the project.
- Share your experiences and perspectives in one of the Community Discussion Sessions.
- Fill out the the Community Needs Assessment survey (once it’s developed).
Fill out the form below and let us know what you’re interested in. We'll follow up with everyone as the project advances
If you have any questions, please email us at info [at] maxottawa.ca.
As a member of the Community Advisory Group, you will heavily inform and shape the project. This group will inform the primary focus of the project, how the community needs assessment is carried out, and provide feedback on program recommendations. Group members will use their personal lived experiences, perspectives, and expertise to identify community needs and inform the development of programs and resources for the sapphic community.
What are the qualifications?
Required:
- Lived experience as a member of the 2SLBTQ community
- Passionate about promoting the health, wellbeing, and sexual health of 2SLBTQ people
- Well-grounded understanding of the importance of confidentiality and collaboration
- Ability to communicate effectively with 2SLBTQ individuals from differentan array of socio-economic and cultural backgrounds
Preferred:
- Knowledge of and familiarity with health programs and services in the National Capital Region
- Knowledge of and familiarity with MAX Ottawa’s programs and services
- Ability to work as part of a team
- Knowledge of the social determinants of health
What will you need from me
Preferred commitment to the Community Advisory Group is for a period of three months. It is estimated that approximately 10 hours worth of work will be required, which would include meetings, document review, and feedback. Community Advisory Group meetings will all be conducted in a hybrid in- person/virtual format.
How will decisions be made?
We will aim to come to decisions by consensus within the group as much as possible. Given the advisory nature of the group, final decisions on the development of programs and services will be the responsibility of MAX staff.
Will I be compensated?
We will offer an honorarium of $50 per meeting as compensation to Community Advisory Group members for their participation.
Will my contributions be made public?
All intellectual property produced as a result of this Group and its discussions belongs to MAX Ottawa. Group members may choose to have their contributions acknowledged publicly or participate confidentially. Individual privacy preferences will be followed at all times, and participants can change how or if they wish to be named as part of the project at any time.
The Community Advisory Group will help shape a series of community discussions. These will likely be small group discussions that people attend once to share their thoughts and experiences.
In order to get input from as many people as possible, a survey will be shared as part of the process. The questions will be developed with the Community Advisory Board in the fall.
A note from Avery (Practicum student at MAX Ottawa)
If you’ve read this far, thank you! I hope you’re as excited about this project as I am.
My name is Avery and I am a practicum student at MAX Ottawa, currently completing my Master of Public Health studies. Through my time volunteering at MAX, I learned of their expanded mission and goal to offer health programming and services to 2SLBTQ people (aka sapphics) in the NCR. I was driven to carry out this project by the lack of dedicated health resources for sapphics and a hope of using the knowledge I have gained through my education to serve my community.
As a queer woman, I am continuously confronted by the way our community’s needs are overlooked. I operate from a place of “nothing about us without us” and believe health programs for sapphics should not only be developed with us in mind, but with members of the community as active partners and decision makers throughout.
You deserve to have access to health services that meet your needs, providers who are well informed and affirming of your overlapping identities, and spaces where you feel welcome and safe accessing services. I hope this community needs assessment helps us get there.